Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are the three pillars of Lent. Prayer and fasting are always mentioned first, while almsgiving remains in the wings. But it is more important than you realize. “When you ...

“You can’t take it with you,” I think St. Francis once said. O.K., what he actually (maybe) said was: “Remember, when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received, only ...

COMMENTARY: Conversion means resisting the temptation to ‘sing more loudly’ when confronted head-on with the troubling reality of evil in the world. A young girl prays at St. Andrew's Ukrainian ...

Is there any question that almsgiving is the under-practiced, under-encouraged Lenten discipline when compared with prayer and fasting? (In this magazine’s 110-year-old archives, a search for the ...

“[C]harity requires, first of all, an attitude of inner joy.” “Offering mercy cannot be a burden or a nuisance to get rid of quickly.” “[P]raise God through sacrifice and praise God with alms.” ...

A mother who has been part of a Catholic Relief Services’ program for family nutrition prepares beans for the family’s seven children at their home in Konjiko, Kenya, May 1, 2019. Lenten alms donated ...

Ash Wednesday always seems to show up unexpectedly. It’s on the calendar. We know when it is, but it still seems to come with an element of surprise. Perhaps it’s because of the various commitments ...

We are blessed once again to enter the Holy season of Lent, which unites us in a deeply sacrificial way with Jesus Christ and with one another as baptized children of God. Beginning with the ...

In the remarks section of my report card in second grade, my teacher wrote, “Still uses fingers to add and subtract.” The comment reveals the early, adversarial relationship between me and numbers. On ...

The amount of public almsgiving has increased by 27 percent compared to a year before, Habibollah Asoudeh, deputy for development of people's participation of the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation, said ...