Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Brendan Gotta sits down with Father Peregrine to explore the powerful and mysterious story of Saint Philomena and why her witness still matters today.

Though little is historically known about her life, Saint Philomena’s story has captivated the Church for centuries. From the discovery of her relics to the widespread devotion of saints like John Vianney, her life is marked by courage, purity, and total devotion to Christ.

Father Peregrine shares the fascinating history surrounding her life, the miracles attributed to her intercession, and the deeper meaning behind her martyrdom at such a young age. Together, they reflect on what it means to be a witness to the faith today and how Saint Philomena challenges each of us to give ourselves fully to God.

This conversation is not just about learning a saint’s story. It is an invitation to live it.

Featured Book

My Name is Philomena: A Saint Story by Father Peregrine

Mentioned Resources

St. Michael's Abbey

The Abbot's Circle

Sponsored by Truthly

This episode is brought to you by Truthly.

Truthly helps you grow in clarity, conviction, and confidence by delivering faithful, trustworthy answers grounded in Christian truth. Whether you’re seeking deeper formation or practical guidance for everyday life, Truthly equips you to think clearly and live boldly.

https://truthly.ai/

Stay Connected

If this episode inspired you to reflect more deeply on the call to holiness, share it with a friend.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gottabesaints/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Gottabesaints/

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Brendan Gotta sits down with Dr. Thomas McGovern to explore the reality of what Jesus endured during His Passion—and why it matters for our spiritual lives today.

During Lent, and especially on Good Friday, we hear the Gospel accounts of Christ’s suffering: the agony in the garden, the scourging, the crowning with thorns, the carrying of the cross, and the crucifixion. But many of us have wondered what these events actually meant physically. What did the human body endure? What truly happened during those final hours?

Drawing from his medical expertise and years of research, Dr. McGovern walks through the Passion with both scientific clarity and deep reverence. He addresses common misconceptions about the crucifixion, explains the physical realities behind events like the “blood and water” from Christ’s side, and offers a powerful look at the depth of suffering Jesus freely embraced out of love.

More importantly, this conversation moves beyond the physical details to the heart of the Gospel: the meaning of suffering. Together, Brendan and Dr. McGovern reflect on redemptive suffering, what it means to “offer it up,” and how Christ’s Passion gives purpose to our own crosses. This episode is not about sensationalizing pain, but about drawing closer to Jesus through a deeper understanding of His love.

About Dr. Thomas McGovern

Dr. Thomas McGovern is a physician and author who has spent years studying the medical, historical, and theological dimensions of Christ’s Passion. His work brings together scientific insight and Catholic teaching to help readers more fully grasp the reality of what Jesus suffered—and how that transforms our understanding of suffering today.

📚 Featured Book

What Christ Suffered: A Doctor’s Journey Through the Passion by Dr. Thomas McGovern
https://www.amazon.com/

🙌 Sponsored by Truthly

This episode is brought to you by Truthly.

Truthly helps you grow in clarity, conviction, and confidence by delivering faithful, trustworthy answers grounded in Christian truth. Whether you’re seeking deeper formation or practical guidance for everyday life, Truthly equips you to think clearly and live boldly.

Learn more at https://truthly.ai/

Stay Connected

If this episode helped you reflect more deeply on Christ’s Passion, share it with a friend this Lent.

Follow Gotta Be Saints:
 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gottabesaints/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Gottabesaints/

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Ida Görres is one of the most insightful Catholic writers of the twentieth century—yet many Catholics today have never heard her name. In this episode, Brendan Gotta sits down with Jennifer Bryson to explore the life and legacy of Ida Görres, a fearless German Catholic thinker whose writings on holiness, suffering, and the lives of the saints continue to challenge and inspire readers today.

Jennifer shares how she first discovered Görres and why her work remains so relevant in our modern world. Together they discuss Görres’ reflections on authentic sanctity, her candid approach to the struggles of Christian life, and why her writing offers a refreshing alternative to overly sentimental portrayals of holiness. This conversation invites listeners to rediscover a bold Catholic voice who reminds us that sainthood is lived through real human struggles, grace, and perseverance.

About Jennifer Bryson

Jennifer Bryson, Ph.D., is a Catholic writer, scholar, and translator who has dedicated significant work to introducing English-speaking audiences to the writings of Ida Görres. With a background in theology, languages, and international affairs, Bryson has spent years studying Görres’ thought and helping bring her profound reflections on holiness and the spiritual life to a wider audience.

Learn more about Jennifer Bryson: https://jenniferbryson.net/

📚 Featured Book

Bread Grows in Winter by Ida Görres
https://ignatius.com/bread-grows-in-winter-bgwp/ 

Want to learn more about Ida? Check out this website dedicated to her - https://www.idagoerres.org/. 

🙌 Sponsored by Truthly

This episode is brought to you by Truthly.

Truthly helps you grow in clarity, conviction, and confidence by delivering faithful, trustworthy answers grounded in Christian truth. Whether you’re seeking deeper formation or practical guidance for everyday life, Truthly equips you to think clearly and live boldly.

Learn more at https://truthly.ai/

Stay Connected

If this episode helped you discover a new Catholic thinker, share it with a friend who loves learning about the saints and the spiritual life.

Follow Gotta Be Saints:
 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gottabesaints/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Gottabesaints

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Gossip. Lying. Flattery. Crass words. Most of us recognize that sins of speech quietly undermine our pursuit of holiness. In this episode, I sit down with Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P., to discuss his book Training the Tongue and Growing Beyond Sins of Speech and the path toward verbal virtue.

Drawing from Thomistic wisdom and pastoral experience, Fr. Gregory explains why speech is ordered toward communion with God and others, why seemingly “small” faults like exaggeration and gossip are spiritually dangerous, and how cultivating habits of truth-telling, correction, humor, prayer, and restraint can transform our relationships. If you’ve ever struggled with frustration, careless words, or discouragement in trying to change, this conversation offers both clarity and hope.

About Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.

Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P., is a Dominican friar of the Province of St. Joseph and a well-known preacher and teacher. He serves as an instructor of dogmatic theology at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, and is a frequent contributor to the Thomistic Institute.

Learn more about Fr. Gregory:

Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Joseph: https://opeast.org/

Thomistic Institute: https://thomisticinstitute.org/

📚 Featured Book

Training the Tongue and Growing Beyond Sins of Speech

This brief but powerful book shows how cultivating healthy habits can crowd out sinful speech and help us reclaim communication as a tool for true communion with God and man alike.

🙌 Sponsored by Truthly

This episode is brought to you by Truthly. 

Truthly helps you grow in clarity, conviction, and confidence by delivering faithful, trustworthy answers grounded in Christian truth. Whether you’re seeking deeper formation or practical guidance for everyday life, Truthly equips you to think clearly and live boldly.

Learn more at https://truthly.ai/

Stay Connected

If this episode encouraged you, share it with a friend who wants to grow in holiness.

Follow Gotta Be Saints:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gottabesaints/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Gottabesaints

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

About This Episode

Lent has a way of catching us off guard. One moment we’re settling into the new year, and the next we’re being invited into forty days of prayer, sacrifice, and renewal. In this episode, Brendan Gotta sits down with author and homeschooling mom Colleen Pressprich to discuss her new book Lenten Prayers for Families and how families can enter more intentionally into the Lenten journey.

Colleen shares practical wisdom for cultivating the domestic church, praying with children of all ages, and creating rhythms of Scripture, reflection, and conversation in the home. Whether you are raising little ones, guiding teens, or simply seeking a deeper Lent yourself, this conversation offers encouragement and practical steps to live the season with greater purpose and peace.

About Colleen Pressprich

Colleen Pressprich is a Catholic author, former missionary, Montessori teacher, and homeschooling mother of five. She is passionate about strengthening the domestic church and helping families cultivate holiness in the ordinary rhythms of daily life. Colleen lives in Michigan with her husband and children, where she continues to write and serve families seeking to grow closer to Christ in their homes.

📚 Featured Book

Lenten Prayers for Families

This family-centered devotional offers Scripture, guided prayer, reflection, and conversation starters to help households enter more deeply into the Lenten season together.

🙌 Sponsored by Truthly

This episode is brought to you by Truthly

Truthly helps you grow in clarity, conviction, and confidence by delivering faithful, trustworthy answers grounded in Christian truth. Whether you’re seeking deeper formation or practical guidance for everyday life, Truthly equips you to think clearly and live boldly.

Learn more at https://truthly.ai/

Stay Connected

If this episode encouraged you, share it with a friend who wants to live Lent more intentionally. Follow Gotta Be Saints:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gottabesaints/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Gottabesaints

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode of the Gotta Be Saints Podcast, I sit down with Steph Stampfer, a Catholic writer and podcaster living in Vienna, to share her powerful and honest journey to the Catholic faith. Steph’s story moves through spiritual searching, travel, Eastern spirituality, New Age practices, and deep interior brokenness—before ultimately leading her home to Christ and the Catholic Church.

This conversation is a testimony to the patience of God, the power of intercessory prayer, the role of Our Lady in conversion, and the beauty of simply sitting with Jesus and allowing Him to do the work.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Growing up in Germany and early questions about love, belonging, and meaning
• Searching for truth through travel, Buddhism, and meditation
• Life in Berlin and immersion in New Age and esoteric spirituality
• The danger of blending spiritualities and creating a “custom” faith
• Psychedelic experiences and the reality of the spiritual world
• Hitting rock bottom and feeling deeply lost
• A providential move into the home of a faithful Catholic woman
• The quiet power of the Rosary and intercessory prayer
• Marian consecration and the breaking of spiritual strongholds
• Encountering Jesus as a Person—not an idea
• Healing from loneliness, confusion, and interior unrest
• Falling in love with Scripture, the Eucharist, and adoration
• Embracing the Catholic Church as home
• Learning to let God work rather than striving on our own
• Why silence and time before the Lord changes everything

About the Guest

Steph Stampfer lives in Vienna, Austria, where she works as a Catholic writer and hosts a podcast focused on sharing the faith boldly and without apology. Her work centers on authentic conversion, prayer, and helping others encounter Jesus Christ in a real and personal way.

Episode Sponsor — Truthly

This episode is sponsored by Truthly, the Catholic app that helps you reflect, learn, and share your faith with confidence.

Start your free trial with code gottabesaints at Truthly’s website: Truthly

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode of the Gotta Be Saints Podcast, I sit down with Dr. George Delgado, a family physician and one of the pioneers of abortion pill reversal (APR), to talk about the science, the stories, and the hope behind a medical protocol that gives women a second chance after beginning a chemical abortion.

Dr. Delgado is the founder of the Abortion Pill Reversal Network and the author of Abortion Pill Reversal: A Second Chance at Choice. As chemical abortions now account for the majority of abortions in the United States, APR has become an increasingly urgent and misunderstood topic. This conversation walks through what APR actually is, how it works medically, why it is opposed by powerful institutions, and what’s at stake for women and children.

Most importantly, this episode centers the human reality: women who regret their decision, reach out for help, and discover that it is not too late.

In This Episode, We Discuss

• What a chemical (medication) abortion is and how it works
• The role of progesterone in sustaining pregnancy
• How abortion pill reversal works medically and why it makes sense biologically
• Why regret often sets in immediately after taking the first abortion pill
• Common misconceptions about APR and what the peer-reviewed evidence actually shows
• Claims that APR is “unproven” or “dangerous” and how the data responds
• The growing risks of telehealth and mail-order abortions
• Why abortion pill reversal threatens the abortion industry’s narrative
• How APR can be a redemptive turning point in a woman’s life
• Why APR may be the “tip of the spear” in the pro-life movement today
• What needs to change in medicine, policy, and public awareness going forward

About the Guest

Dr. George Delgado is a family physician based in California and one of the earliest doctors to develop and study abortion pill reversal. He has published multiple peer-reviewed studies on APR and founded the Steno Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to education, awareness, and research around abortion pill reversal. The Institute is named after Blessed Nicholas Steno, a physician and Catholic convert.

Get the Book

📘 Abortion Pill Reversal: A Second Chance at Choice
Published by Ignatius Press

Available at:

• Ignatius Press
• Amazon
• StenoInstitute.org

Grab it here.

Episode Sponsor — Truthly

This episode is sponsored by Truthly, the Catholic app that helps you reflect, learn, and share your faith with confidence.

Start your free trial with code gottabesaints at Truthly’s website: Truthly

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode of the Gotta Be Saints Podcast, I’m joined by Dr. Angela Costley, a Hebrew Catholic theologian and Scripture professor based in the UK, to talk about what it means to be both Jewish and Catholic—not as a contradiction, but as a fulfillment.

We discuss why the phrase “Jewish Catholic” can sound confusing at first, how the Church is grafted onto the “olive tree” of Israel (Romans 9–11), what Vatican II helped recover about the Church’s relationship to the Jewish people, and why Hebrew Catholics need space to live their Jewish identity faithfully within the Church.

This conversation draws from Dr. Costley’s work as co-editor of From Sinai to Rome: Jewish Identity in the Catholic Church—a book that doesn’t shy away from the painful history of Jewish-Catholic relations, while also offering real hope for the future.

About Dr. Angela Costley

• Hebrew Catholic theologian based in the UK
• Scripture professor at St Mary’s College (seminary)
• Studied at Durham, Oxford, and earned her PhD at the Pontifical University in Maynooth
• Board member of the Association of Hebrew Catholics

In this episode, we talk about:

• What a “Jewish Catholic” is (and why it isn’t a contradiction)
• Why Catholicism can be understood as the heir of “Temple Judaism” fulfilled in Christ
• The Mass and the fulfillment of temple worship and offerings
• “Salvation comes from the Jews” (John 4:22) and what Catholics should do with that
• Romans 9–11 and the image of the olive tree (Israel as root; Gentiles grafted in)
• Why the Church isn’t a “new Israel,” but Israel in fulfillment
• Jewish identity as personal and collective (and why assimilation can be spiritually damaging)
• The Association of Hebrew Catholics and the need for community and witness
• Facing hard history: antisemitism, misunderstandings, and doctrinal development
• Why friendship and dialogue matter for healing and authentic witness today
• Hope in Romans 11 (“all Israel will be saved”) and what that means going forward
• Dr. Costley’s “Mount Rushmore of saints,” her hoped-for patronage, and how to pray for her

Get the Book

📘 From Sinai to Rome: Jewish Identity in the Catholic Church (Ignatius Press)
Ignatius Press

Episode Sponsor — Truthly

This episode is sponsored by Truthly, the Catholic action app that helps you reflect, learn, and share your faith with confidence. Start your free trial with code gottabesaints at Truthly’s website: Truthly

Stay Connected

Follow Gotta Be Saints on Instagram: @gottabesaints

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

The Reason to Stay Catholic (with Colleen Dulle)

In this episode of the Gotta Be Saints Podcast, I sit down with Colleen Dulle — wife, mother, Vatican reporter, and author of Struck Down, Not Destroyed: Keeping the Faith as a Vatican Reporter.

We talk honestly about why we remain Catholic in a wounded Church: how to stay when you’ve seen the worst, how to wrestle with God without walking away, and where real hope is found when scandals, hypocrisy, and disappointment hit close to home.

From covering the clerical abuse crisis as a young journalist, to processing the revelations about Jean Vanier and L’Arche, to a powerful moment of grace at the tomb of Christ in the Holy Sepulchre, Colleen shares how the Lord has met her in the mess — and why, despite everything, she’s convinced the Gospel really is our only hope.

About Colleen Dulle

• Vatican reporter and longtime journalist with America Magazine
• Author of Struck Down, Not Destroyed: Keeping the Faith as a Vatican Reporter
• Has covered some of the Church’s most painful scandals up close
• Wife and mother, soon moving with her family to Rome to cover the Vatican full-time

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why stay Catholic at all? 
• Colleen’s story & vocation as a Vatican reporter
• Beauty and brokenness in the Church
• The Jean Vanier / L’Arche revelations
• The clerical abuse crisis and a crisis of faith
• Learning to “yell at God” & wrestle in prayer
• A moment of grace at the Holy Sepulchre
• Madeleine Delbrêl and a “heart stripped of trust in all things human”
• The Church that moves slowly (and why that matters)
• Hope for ordinary Catholics
• Colleen’s “Mount Rushmore of saints”
• If she becomes a saint one day… and
• How you can pray for her
   

Get the Book

📘 Struck Down, Not Destroyed: Keeping the Faith as a Vatican Reporter by Colleen Dulle

• Find purchase options and more at Colleen’s website: colleendulle.com
• Prefer audio? Look for the audiobook version narrated by Colleen on major audiobook platforms.

Stay Connected

👉 Follow Gotta Be Saints on Instagram: @gottabesaints 

Episode Sponsor — Truthly

This episode is sponsored by Truthly, the first Catholic action app helping you reflect, learn, and share your faith confidently.

With Truthly, you can:

• Take short, practical actions to live your faith each day
• Deepen your understanding of Catholic teaching
• Share truth online without feeling overwhelmed or underprepared

🎁 Start your free trial with code gottabesaints at truthly.ai
.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode of the Gotta Be Saints Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Michael Pakaluk — husband, father of 15, philosopher, and author of The Shock of Holiness: Finding the Romance of Everyday Life.

We talk about the beauty of the Catholic faith, why holiness is both deeply attractive and deeply demanding, and how God meets us in the very ordinary, sometimes messy, details of daily life.

From stories about daily Mass with small children, to reflections on his late wife Ruth (now a Servant of God), to a mind-blowing insight into Jesus walking on water and the Eucharist, this conversation will help you see your own life with new eyes.

About Dr. Michael Pakaluk

• Professor of Political Economy at the Catholic University of America (Bush School of Business)
• Philosopher and scholar, especially in the thought of Aristotle
• Author of 14 books (with more on the way!) and father of 15 children
• Widower of Ruth Pakaluk, whose cause for canonization has begun, and husband of Catherine Pakaluk, author of Hannah’s Children

In this episode, we talk about:

• The beauty of the Catholic faith
• Why holiness is so attractive — and so uncomfortable
• Ruth’s story and the reality of heroic holiness
• The universal call to holiness in ordinary life
• The romance of everyday life
• A fresh look at the Eucharist and transubstantiation
• How to actually live this out

Get the Book

📘 The Shock of Holiness: Finding the Romance of Everyday Life

• Order from Ignatius Press
• Or ask your local Catholic bookstore to order it (and put a copy on the shelf!)

Stay Connected

👉 Follow Gotta Be Saints on Instagram: @gottabesaints 

If this episode encouraged you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend who needs the reminder that holiness is possible — right in the middle of ordinary life.

Episode Sponsor — Truthly

This episode is sponsored by Truthly, the first Catholic action app helping you reflect, learn, and share your faith confidently.
 

Start your free trial with code gottabesaints: truthly.ai

Support the show