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I have felt a deep pull toward pilgrimage for years. There is something powerful about walking ancient paths, praying where saints have prayed, and placing one’s intentions before the Lord in places shaped by centuries of devotion. Yet as a husband and father to four energetic children, long-distance pilgrimages are not possible in this season of life.
Still, God finds a way. My “micro-pilgrimages” have become unexpected moments of grace: visits to our cathedral, celebrating feast days at home, praying novenas and litanies, and uniting our intentions with the Holy Father. These small steps, taken in the ordinary rhythms of family life, remind me of the truth expressed in the Catechism: “The Church…will receive its perfection only in the glory of heaven, when she will appear in splendor…toward which she is hastening” (CCC 769).
We are all pilgrims, whether we walk the Camino or pray in our living rooms. Some pilgrimages, however, shape a person for life, especially those preparing to become priests. This is why the mission of the Camino Pilgrim Foundation matters so deeply. They provide seminarians with a structured, prayer-filled, and transformative experience along the Camino de Santiago, the kind of formation that can remain with them for decades.
Each year, as Thanksgiving dishes are barely cleared and Black Friday sales flood our inboxes, the season of Advent quietly arrives. It doesn’t shout. It doesn’t demand. Rather, it simply invites: “Prepare the way of the Lord.”
For years in our family, this meant going to every holiday function, dragging the kids around the city to make memories while also losing sleep hoping that we checked off everything on their Christmas activity wish list. It was imperative to arrive early enough to get seats at their Christmas pageants, to complete the Jesse Tree, and read from scripture nightly. It was tiring, overwhelming, and left the kids and us cranky and too tired to celebrate the actual Octave of Christmas when it finally arrived.
More recently, Advent has become less about checking off traditions like parties, LEGO calendars, and candy-filled shoes and more about listening. What is Christ asking of me in the waiting? How can I make space in my home and in my heart for Him? And is it possible for me to offer that simple invitation to others as well?
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‘Tis the season of lights, laughter, and little miracles in our front-yard football games—but also the season of gift-giving. As a Catholic elementary teacher, husband of four lively children, and founder of The Simple Catholic, I’ve learned that the best gifts are those that reflect more than the wrapping paper. They reflect truth, virtue, and wonder.
This year I’m delighted to share a curated Christmas Gift Guide featuring small Catholic and Christian-owned businesses I’ve had the joy of partnering with. These aren’t just products; they’re invitations to faith, family, beauty, and home. I’ve organized this guide by kids → parents → home so you can easily scroll, sip your cocoa (or eggnog), and find something meaningful for everyone on your list.
Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Dan Campos, founder of Campos Financial Group, via email in August 2025. Some of the questions/answers have been rearranged, edited, and paraphrased to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given.
How has your Catholic faith influenced the way you approach financial planning and advising clients?
My Catholic faith shapes everything I do, including the way I serve my clients. I see financial planning not just as numbers and investments, but as part of a person’s vocation—how they provide for their family, serve their community, and live out their values. I am also blessed with the flexibility of my schedule to attend daily Mass most days, which keeps me grounded and reminds me that all the work I do is ultimately in service of God. Faith reminds me that money is a tool, not an end in itself. My role is to help clients be wise stewards of what has been entrusted to them, while never losing sight of eternal priorities.
Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Sophia Chamblee via phone call on August 9th, 2025. Some of the questions/answers have been rearranged, edited, and paraphrased to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given.
What inspired you to start Playground Saints?
I think the inspiration started up around Covid. I noticed people starting up these small businesses. It started as an Etsy stop with bookmarks. The bookmarks were like a humble beginning. I really like stickers and I noticed that other shops prioritized stickers. I wanted to have stickers as my own.
After I graduated college, I got a printer and cricut. I use an app call Design Space.
What saints did you begin with for your stickers?
I use the same designs of Padre Pio, and Therese of Lisieux, and Mama Mary as when I began.
Thomas Aquinas and Martin de Porres and Rose of Lima were original saints that I have later upgraded the designs.
Your logo, “Mama Mary and Son,” has such a warm, whimsical feel. What was your inspiration?
Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Chris Lewis via phone call on August 7th, 2025. Some of the questions/answers have been rearranged, edited, and paraphrased to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given.
What inspired you to start creating Catholic art?
I had been a graphic designer for a number of years and I was a convert. I converted as a practicality to get married in the Church but eventually I started to have questions about the faith I accepted, and was being pulled to learn the faith for myself which led to a profound and authentic intellectual conversion. However in my 30’s I was diagnosed with lung cancer and this experience shook me spiritually. I learned I was grateful for my gifts and thought maybe I should use these gifts to help share the faith.
I started doing Catholic art for fun and as a cathartic experience. I used to be an illustrator. And I would hand-draw everything. I went into graphic design for stability.
When I started out sharing my sketches on social media my art took off. When you started Baritus Catholic in 2018, I was still working at my full-time graphic design job. Two years later, I decided to go full-time with Baritus Catholic.
How did you decide the name of your company?
I love reading ancient history. I was reading about the fall of the barbarians to the Romans in the 300s. There was a war cry that sounded like a trumpet, it was called “baritus”. That’s actually where we get the word baritone from. The war-cry and trumpeting reminded me of the angels ushering in the end time judgement in Revelation and the war-cry at Jericho in the Book of Joshua.
Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Nichole Lanthier via phone call on May 14th, 2025. Some of the questions have been rearranged and edited to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given.
Your story includes a 10-year break from visual art before rediscovering it in 2018. What was that moment of rediscovery like, and how has your artistic voice evolved since returning to your creative roots?
It wasn’t so much as a break as I really didn’t pursue art beyond a hobby. I was focused more on music ministry before having kids.
I pulled out the art supplies and started drawing a picture for my friend’s (Katie McGrady) daughter for her birthday.
Drawing was a way for me to pray. I started making prints for people and eventually opened an Etsy Shop. I have taught myself the more technical aspects of artwork and am still trying to learn.
I’ve noticed your “pixel art” design of the Blessed Virgin Mary fighting Satan (My son and I love our t-shirts!). Could you share the inspiration behind this striking imagery and what message you hope it conveys?
There’s an old illuminated manuscript of a priest who sold his soul to the Devil and the Blessed Virgin Mary was protecting the priest’s soul. The kids and I thought this was a great story and decided this needed to be one of our pixel shirts.
How does your Catholic faith specifically inform your artistic choices, themes, and the subjects you choose to create?
It is everything I create. It’s what I do specifically, faith-based work. It is impossible to separate my faith from what I’m doing. As someone who creates for a living I feel like I have an obligation to create something that can inspire others and bring them to God.
What type of music ministry did you do?
I was a singer-songwriter. From 2003-2018 I did ministry music around our diocese. We worked at a lot of the youth events in our diocese. Now I get to sing in our cathedral choir and I prefer this type of music, so it’s been very nice.
Your art helps support your children’s Catholic education. How has this practical purpose influenced your approach to your business, and how do you balance the commercial aspects with the ministry side?
It’s really hard. Since we got married we agreed that I would stay home with the kids. We also prayed about sending our children to Catholic schools. And once we sent our first child to Catholic school my art work started to pick up. We have had to put a lot of trust in God.
Interestingly enough, I don’t have a ton of time to draw due to running the other facets of the business.
It has been a struggle to balance the commercial and ministry sides. I have had a desire to give away my work for free at times, but I have had to tell myself that my work still deserves pay. At the same time there have been various ministries and circumstances to donate. I do try to price my art to be as low as possible to make it affordable.
Many artists struggle with vulnerability in sharing their work. As someone who describes feeling “very green with art,” how has putting your creations into the world as expressions of faith challenged or strengthened you?
It has definitely challenged me and has been an exercise in humility. I get nervous putting some of my stuff out there. Part of it is vanity, worrying about what others think of me. I start picking myself apart and thinking about what others more advanced in art would say. I have learned to push through those things. Some days it is tough. I follow so many talented Catholic artists and sometimes compare myself to others.
If you could create a dream project that perfectly encapsulates what your ministry means to you, what would it look like?
I’m always wishing I could do some large oil paintings. I do have a very long list on my phone of things that I want to paint. The crazy thing is it’s tough to find time to create. Honestly, I would really love to get professional art training.
Have you ever thought about iconography?
I have thought about it, but my husband is much more interested in that. He actually has an art degree, he took his career in a different direction.
How do you prepare yourself in terms of devotions or prayer before you create an artwork?
I try to listen to chant and get into as much of a contemplative state as possible. I love Saints Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross. I also have a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother of God. I really do enjoy drawing images of the Holy Family in their humanity and in their daily life.
I have plans in my list of doing more artwork focused on the Holy Family.
Where is the best place for my readers to find more of your work?
Right now everything is on my Etsy shop.
About Nichole:
Nichole Lanthier is a wife, mother of five, and artist living in Lake Charles, Louisiana. She strives to create pieces that will encourage others to turn their hearts and minds to God. Her work can be found in her etsy shop, at nicholelanthier.etsy.com.
