Parish of St. Vincent Ferrer and St. Catherine of Siena

Lecture recorded on Thursday, April 30, 2026, at the Church of St. Catherine of Siena (Q&A begins at 53:29) What does it mean to become "partakers of the divine nature"? How does the Church's prayer draw us into the very life of God? Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., coeditor of The Oxford Handbook of Deification (Oxford University Press, 2024), explores the profound connection between Christian prayer and the mystery of deification. In the Christian tradition, deification (or divinization) refers to the transformative gift of God's grace by which we are made participants in the divine life—not by nature, but by adoption and communion. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, "The Word became flesh to make us 'partakers of the divine nature' (2 Peter 1:4)... 'For the Son of God became man so that we might become God'" (CCC 460). Drawing from the Church's liturgical tradition and theological heritage, Fr. Hofer reflects on the liturgy as the privileged place of this transformation, with insights from his edited volume Divinization: Becoming Icons of Christ Through the Liturgy.   Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

Fr. Cyril Stola's, O.P., Palm Sunday homily contrasts the spectacle of Roman triumph with Christ’s humble entry into Jerusalem. In the shadow of the Cross, we discover the true victory that overturns empires and redefines glory forever. Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

As we journey through Lent, Fr. Peter Martyr reflects on the profound love of God revealed through both the Incarnation and the Eucharist, two moments where God enters the world in order to transform it and us. Lent becomes an invitation to reshape our lives through prayer, sacrifice, and grace so that we can more deeply receive the love God continually offers. In a special way, this reflection invites us to prepare our hearts for our Parish’s Forty Hours Devotion, a time to sit before the Blessed Sacrament and allow Christ to renew and beautify our souls for eternal life. Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

In this homily, we reflect on how Blessed Fra Angelico’s artistic process reveals the true purpose of Lent. His sacred masterpieces were never meant to stop at beauty on the surface; instead, they draw the viewer beyond color and canvas into divine mystery. In the same way, the ashes placed upon our foreheads are not outward badges of holiness, but quiet invitations to interior conversion. Through the lens of Angelico’s prayerful craftsmanship, we explore how fasting, prayer, and repentance are meant to reshape the soul. Lent, like sacred art, is a deliberate work of spiritual beauty. As we journey toward Easter, we are invited to look beyond external practices and allow God to transform us from within so that our lives themselves become masterpieces of divine grace. Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

Fr. Peter Martyr reflects on the enduring legacy of faith through the story of an Irish immigrant, Jane Jane, and the generations who came after her at St. Vincent's. He invites us to see the beauty of our Parish as a living testament built from the humble sacrifices of immigrants who handed on the Gospel. Called to be “fishers of men,” Fr. Peter challenges us to carry that mission forward. The Parish’s capital campaign and ministries are acts of evangelization, ensuring that the light of faith continues to shine for generations yet to come. Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

On Christmas Eve, Fr. Peter Martyr, O.P., reflects on the simple power of TubaChristmas at Rockefeller Center - a fleeting moment when faith gently surfaced in a public place. Returning to the words of the Nicene Creed, he invites us to contemplate the mystery of the Incarnation: Christ entering the world for our salvation. His homily calls us to carry this mystery into daily life, becoming gentle, joyful witnesses to God’s light beyond the church walls. Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

For more than 160 years, our Parish has been rooted in an extraordinary beginning - a three-week Dominican mission that heard nearly 16,000 confessions and gave birth to a lasting community shaped by preaching, daily confession, and reverent liturgy. That history becomes a call for today. Drawing on Scripture, Fr. Peter Martyr's homily invites each of us to evangelize with the same courage - simply by inviting others to encounter Christ, especially at Christmas. Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

In this Thanksgiving Day reflection, we explore the deeper meaning of spiritual gratitude through the lens of It’s a Wonderful Life and the Gospel story of the healed leper. Just as George Bailey discovers that true riches aren’t material, we’re invited to recognize the unseen grace God pours into our lives through providence, the sacraments, and our relationship with Christ and the saints. Genuine gratitude is more than a feeling. It's a deliberate turning of the heart back to God. Consider how to respond to God’s blessings with the most profound offering we can make: the gift of our very selves. Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

In the cells of the 15th-century Convent of San Marco, Bl. Fra Angelico, O.P., painted saints whose emotions come alive. Rejecting the lavish colors of prestige, he chose simplicity to mirror the humility of Christ and revealed heaven not as static or distant, but full of friendship, joy, and peace. His art invites us to glimpse our inheritance: a life perfectly ordered in God. On the Solemnity of All Saints, we are challenged to live as they did - ordering our passions, shaping our hearts, and allowing grace to form in us the “stamp of heaven.” Fr. Peter Martyr, O.P., invites you to see heaven as vivid, relational, and already calling us to live beautifully, even now. Recent Pieces: Fra Angelico and the Miracle of Faith Made Visible Can a Painting Make a Skeptic Believe? Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

Preaching for the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, Fr. Patrick Mary Briscoe, O.P., reflects on the Rosary as a living image of the Christian life, rooted in prayer, marked by suffering, and blossoming in grace.   Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

Our Catholic Tradition lists the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit as wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of God.  Join us as Br. Pius Henry, O.P., leads us in our final installment of our summer Parish Lecture Series. Episode Notes: Q&A begins at minute 36:00 Tuesdays in July | 6:45 PM July 1 - Introduction and Fear of God July 8 - Fortitude and Piety July 15 - Counsel and Knowledge July 29 - Understanding and Wisdom   Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

In Fr. Cyril's homily, we reflect on the transforming power of love through the life of St. Mary Magdalene. Though once afflicted by sin and despair, Mary is restored by the love of Christ, a love that seeks not to use or condemn, but to heal and redeem. Cover Art: The Repentant Magdalen, Georges de La Tour, c. 1635/1640, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC  Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

Our Catholic Tradition lists the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit as wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of God.  Join us in July as Br. Pius Henry, O.P., leads us in our summer Parish Lecture Series in the Lower Church to talk about the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Episode Notes: Q&A begins at minute 38:40 Tuesdays in July | 6:45 PM July 1 - Introduction and Fear of God July 8 - Fortitude and Piety July 15 - Counsel and Knowledge July 29 - Understanding and Wisdom   Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

Our Catholic Tradition lists the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit as wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of God.  Join us in July as Br. Pius Henry, O.P., leads us in our summer Parish Lecture Series in the Lower Church to talk about the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Tuesdays in July | 6:45 PM July 1 - Introduction and Fear of God July 8 - Fortitude and Piety July 15 - Counsel and Knowledge July 29 - Understanding and Wisdom   Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

Our Catholic Tradition lists the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit as wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of God.  Join us in July as Br. Pius Henry, O.P., leads us in our summer Parish Lecture Series in the Lower Church to talk about the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Tuesdays in July | 6:45 PM July 1 - Introduction and Fear of God July 8 - Fortitude and Piety July 15 - Counsel and Knowledge July 29 - Understanding and Wisdom   Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

This homily was recorded as the conclave was set to begin on Wednesday, May 7. We reflected on Christ’s words: “I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.” At that moment, we prayed not for power or politics, but for the Holy Spirit to guide the Cardinals and the future Pope, according to the Father’s will. Cover Art: Interior of St. Peter's, Rome, Giovanni Paolo Panini, 1754, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC    Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

During the Great Schism, Saints Vincent Ferrer and Catherine of Siena supported different popes but, ultimately, worked for unity and holiness within the Church. As a new conclave approaches, their example calls us to pray for a Holy Father who will lead with peace, clarity, and truth. Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

Fr. Peter Martyr Yungwirth, O.P., reflects on piety and honors the life of our late Holy Father, Pope Francis.    Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

Part 2: On Saturday, March 22, Fr. Francis, O.P., led a Lenten retreat for men at our parish. Reflecting on our identity as God’s creatures and inheritors of the Fall, the retreat explored how the tools of Lent—prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—help us rise from our personal falls and journey toward the Resurrection. In this Jubilee Year of Hope, the day was a powerful reminder of the joy found in redemption.   Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

Part 1: On Saturday, March 22, Fr. Francis, O.P., led a Lenten retreat for men at our parish. Reflecting on our identity as God’s creatures and inheritors of the Fall, the retreat explored how the tools of Lent—prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—help us rise from our personal falls and journey toward the Resurrection. In this Jubilee Year of Hope, the day was a powerful reminder of the joy found in redemption.   Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

PRAYING THE MASS | Session 5 – Praying Holy Week Presented by Fr. Peter Martyr Yungwirth, O.P. Download the handout from this session Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

PRAYING THE MASS | Session 4 – Singing Is Praying Twice … or Is It?   Presented by Fr. Peter Martyr Yungwirth, O.P. and James Wetzel, Director of Music and Organist Download the handout from this session Music As Holy Preaching Booklet Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr

PRAYING THE MASS | Session 3 – Liturgy of the Eucharist, Communion Rite, and Concluding Rites Presented by Fr. Peter Martyr Yungwirth, O.P. Download the handout from this session Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr  

PRAYING THE MASS | Session 2 – General Principles for Prayer, Introductory Rites, and Liturgy of the Word Presented by Fr. Peter Martyr Yungwirth, O.P. Download the handout from this session Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr  

PRAYING THE MASS | Session 1 – The Mass as a Memorial Presented by Br. Jeremiah Tobin, O.P. Check Us Out Online: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Flickr