About

Welcome!

Short version: I'm Vikk Simmons, a Catholic convert, who enjoys writing about the faith and being Catholic.

When it comes to being a Catholic, I'm what I like to call “a Benedict baby,” because I made my final decision to convert when I heard then Cardinal Ratzinger give the funeral homily for Pope John Paul II. His words that day capped a 10-year spiritual journey. In April 2010, I entered the church, and I have never regretted my decision.

Several years ago, I started a small blog about my conversion to the Catholic faith. Unfortunately, thanks to two malware attacks within six weeks early last year, I lost all my work. I guess you could call this a do-over.

My emphasis is on devotion and worship. One of the worship experiences with Catholicism, after the mass, is adoration. Spending that hour each day in adoration and experiencing Christ in such a personal way is a beautiful thing.

When I think of how few people go to an adoration chapel or a local church to sit with Christ, my heart breaks. I'm reminded of The Agony in the Garden and Christ's words:

And he cometh to his disciples and findeth them asleep. And he saith to Peter: What? Could you not watch one hour with me?

Douhey Rehims: Mathew 26:10

My life and this work is truly a work in progress.

Do I do anything else?

Yep. I write books and create journals for use during adoration and holy hours. You can see many of the My Holy Hour journals here.

I also garden — and read. I read a lot. Okay, I garden a lot, though these days, given that I live in Texas, I mostly water a lot.

Did I mention I love icons? Not content to simply view them, I studied the ancient way of creating those beautiful “windows into heaven” from a gifted Greek Byzantine iconographer Vivian Karayiannis.

The Our Lady of Joy icon above is one I commissioned long before I even became a Catholic.

That's all for now. I hope you'll come back.