Vespers of Thanksgiving

EWTN In St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis will preside at the First Vespers of Thanksgiving on the eve of the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God.
 

Masses for Mary

EWTN At midnight, to inaugurate the new year, the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word will celebrate their annual Solemn Mass of Reparation From EWTN in atonement for sin. Re-airs at 8am, 6:30pm and midnight. At 4am, Pope Francis will celebrate Mass for the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, in St. Peter’s Square. Re-airs at noon.
 

Great Performances: From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2015

PBS Julie Andrews will host as the Vienna Philharmonic, under Zubin Mehta, and the Vienna State Ballet, under Davide Bombana, perform favorite polkas and waltzes by Johann Strauss Jr., Johann Strauss Sr., Eduard Strauss and Hans Christian Lumbye in Vienna’s historic Musikverein. Andrews will also visit Viennese landmarks.
 

Hail, Holy Queen: Queen Mother

EWTN As Scott Hahn and Mike Aquilina continue their explication of sections of Hahn’s 2006 book Hail, Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God, they cite Old Testament verses to show that the powerful queen mothers of ancient Israel prefigured the power and prerogatives of Mary.
 

The Miracle Worker

TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES Arthur Penn directed and Anne Bancroft, Patty Duke and Victor Jory starred in this 1962 classic, the dramatic true story of teacher Anne Sullivan (1866-1936) and her pupil, from 1887 on, Helen Keller (1880-1968). Nearly blind herself, Anne was able to reach blind, deaf and desperate child Helen and give her the priceless gift of communication. Advisory: Too intense for younger children.
 

The Journey Home

EWTN Marcus Grodi’s guest, Rick Rosen, a convert from Judaism, describes how he became Catholic. Re-airs at 1am Tuesday and 1pm Friday.
 

The Klondike Gold Rush

PBS This new documentary portrays the “stampede” of would-be prospectors to the Klondike area of Canada’s Yukon Territory between 1896 and 1899. Advisory: Two instances of bad language.
 

EWTN Live

EWTN Ahead of the visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines Jan. 15-19, Jesuit Father Mitch Pacwa hosts Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara of San Jose de Nueva Ecija. Re-airs at 4am and noon on Thursday and 8am on Sunday.
 

The Path to Holiness

EWTN Grace MacKinnon delivers three lectures based on the 1948 classic spiritual guidebook Transformation in Christ by theologian and philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand (1889-1977).

Dan Engler writes from
Santa Barbara, California.