A centuries-old devotional book, said to be the second most circulated in the history of Christianity after the Bible, is, perhaps fittingly, the work that Father Mike Schmitz of “The Bible in a Year” fame had long hoped to focus on in a podcast.

“Hello! I’m a Catholic Priest!” greets the cheerful, large-font sign taped to the back of the laptop computer of Father Richard Miserendino, chaplain of the University of Mary Washington’s Catholic Campus Ministry and a priest in the Diocese of Arlington, Va.

Father Melvin Díaz, pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, and the parish school’s principal, Carmen Alicia Rodríguez Echevarría, have been named the recipients of Catholic Extension Society’s 2025-2026 Lumen Christi Award, selected from more than 40 nominees.

For Catholics, the terms “end times” and “last days” refer both to the conclusion of history at some future point, and also — even primarily — to the last 2,000 years.

A production that has captivated crowds in cathedrals across Europe — including in France, Germany and Spain — will make its United States debut at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis in late October.