Saint Monica and Saint Augustine by Akili Ron Anderson

Dear Friends,

What a wonderful conference we had last month! We welcomed a record number of attendees — registrations came in from 42 states and 35 countries. Our speakers really shone, providing us profound reflections of the Five Goals of Courage that have been the foundation of our apostolate for the past forty years. Our breakout sessions joined friends old and new from all over the world, many of them attending a Courage or EnCourage meeting for the first time. And we were joined by more than two hundred of our Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters from throughout Latin America, where Courage Latino is celebrating their 15th anniversary. 

Was the conference perfect? Of course not. Would we all have preferred to be able to see each other face to face, to embrace and laugh and sing and pray together? To be sure. But our virtual conference was much more than just "better than nothing." It was a real moment of grace, and I am so grateful to everyone who rose to the occasion to make it possible. I know that we were truly united in prayer and fellowship, even though we could not be present together.

It makes me think of a story from the life of Saint Augustine and Saint Monica (pictured above), who are the patron saints of our EnCourage members and chaplains. One day towards the end of her life, Monica lay in bed with a fever, with Augustine and his brother sitting by her side. Thinking she was asleep, her sons began to argue about where she ought to be buried. But mothers don't miss anything. She looked at her sons and said, "Lay this body anywhere, and take no trouble over it. One thing only do I ask of you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be" (Confessions, book 9, chapter 11).

Though coronavirus and many other concerns may keep us from being together for a while longer, we all remain united whenever we remember each other in prayer, especially at the altar of the Lord. Be sure that you and your loved ones are in my heart and in my prayers whenever I celebrate the Holy Mass. The Courage Office team and I will be praying for you especially at Mass in our chapel at the end of this month on the feast days of St Monica (August 27) and St Augustine (August 28). 

I hope that you will remember us at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be, and pray for the intercession of our heavenly patrons for the whole Courage and EnCourage family.

From our press release:

Fr. Blatchford's term will officially begin on September 8.

(click image of handbook)

The fortieth anniversary edition of the Handbook for Courage and EnCourage Chaplains was introduced at our July online conference. This is the first time our handbook has been made available to the public. A reporter for the Catholic News Agency wrote of a discussion with Fr. Philip Bochanski, Courage Executive Director:

For him, the 40th anniversary year of Courage is a time to be “mindful of the rich legacy we received from our founding members. … Revising and expanding the handbook, and structuring it on a discussion of the goals, seemed the perfect way to celebrate our legacy and to hand it on to the next generation of Courage and EnCourage members.”

Print copies have been sent to all of the bishops in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom as well as to all of the Courage and EnCourage chaplains for whom we have a mailing address.

please send us an email with your mailing address.

Read more about our new handbook in the National Catholic Register

From our press release:

On Saturday, September 26, at 12:00 Noon ET, Cardinal Timothy Dolan will celebrate a special Mass at the site of the very first Courage meeting forty years earlier. Those pioneering Courage members gathered on September 26, 1980, at the parish of Our Lady of the Rosary (Seton Shrine) in New York City. We are making plans to live stream the Mass and will send you an email with details as the date draws closer.

One of the plenary session speakers at our annual conference last month was Deacon Hilmar Pabel, the Courage coordinator for the Diocese of Vancouver, British Columbia. The BC Catholic spoke with him and several local Courage members about their experiences in the Church, with valuable insights for the rest of the lay faithful on how to best support them.

Courage member, author, and speaker, David Prosen, has created a four-part video series on fostering the gift of chastity, drawn from his own experience of growing in this virtue in the context of a relationship with our Lord. He offers six strategies to obtain and maintain a chaste life. His message is addressed to all —since all are called to chastity — but applies well to persons who experience same-sex attractions as David does.

View Chastity 101: Survival Guide for 2020

SpiritualDirection.com recently featured an excerpt from Brandon McGinley's book, The Prodigal Church, in which he writes about how genuine friendship among the members of the Body of Christ is "one of the greatest fruits of the Mass and of all the sacraments."

Jesus at the Last Supper: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends …" (RSVCE John 15:12–14).

Theologian and popular speaker, Dr. Edward Sri, devoted a podcast to unpacking the example of St. Monica in her relationships with her straying son, (now St. Augustine) and her pagan husband. Dr. Sri offers "six practical things we can do to bring our loved ones back to Christ and the Church." He highlights how sometimes "the first step in evangelizing our loved ones might involve changing our own heart and approach to evangelization itself." Given Dr. Sri's wealth of experience with college students, his presentation is equally helpful for young adult siblings and friends as it is for parents.

Courage Internacional website in Spanish

In April 2019 Franciscan University of Steubenville's Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life hosted a conference that shed much light on a difficult subject with presentations from an impressive line-up of experts. "Their message … was one that both urged compassion and service to those struggling with gender dysphoria, but also affirmed an authentic anthropology backed by scientific evidence, history, philosophy, and Christian theology." Presenters include some faces familiar to the Courage family, including Mary Rice Hasson, J.D., and Deacon Patrick Lappert, M.D.

Mary Hasson's opening keynote presentation

View videos of all conference presentations (scroll down on conference page)

In compliance with guidelines to suspend certain types of gatherings during the current phase of the pandemic, Courage International will be reviewing and updating the status of all events. Some events will be moved online, while others may be postponed or cancelled. The current status of events is listed below, but please check back with our events calendar for updates.