By Pamela Seal 
Diocese of Lake Charles

Catholic schools throughout Louisiana will have an exciting opportunity to shine the light on the best of their students during the inaugural Louisiana Catholic Student of the Year Program. The statewide competition — the first time among diocesan Catholic school students only — will debut on March 3, 2023, in Lafayette.

By Pamela Seal
Diocese of Lake Charles

“Faith in action is love and love in action is service.”
— Saint Mother Teresa 

The hands and feet of Jesus Christ were busy throughout the Diocese of Lake Charles and local community recently with the help of more than 260 students from St. Louis Catholic High School. 

By Pamela Seal 
Diocese of Lake Charles  

Family lore has it that when Reverend Don Piraro's parents brought him home from the hospital, his Sicilian grandmother said, "This one will be a priest," as she held him for the first time. He was born in Lake Charles on July 30, 1941. 

By Pamela Seal
Diocese of Lake Charles 

LAKE CHARLES — Pro-life advocate Rebekah Hagan wanted to feel relief after swallowing an abortion pill in 2013 to make her unplanned pregnancy “go away.” Instead, all she felt was instant regret. What happened next would eventually lead her on a path of mercy, hope, and compassion for other young women who think abortion is their only option. 

By Pamela Seal 
Diocese of Lake Charles  

Among Aaron Richard’s collection of nearly 400 rosaries are two rosaries blessed by Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968), whose famous motto was, “Pray, hope, and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.”  

“We should be shining lamps, giving light to all around us.” 
 —  Venerable Mother Catherine McAuley, Foundress of Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Michigan in 1973 

By Pamela Seal 
Diocese of Lake Charles 

“I had a lot of animosity in my heart, but after I met the Sisters, they helped restore my faith,” Theresa Richard said about her friendship with the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Michigan. “Now, when I walk in the neighborhood, if I see Sister Miriam, she will stop and listen. Everyone in the community loves them.”