Pier Press is located in southern Virginia, and the spring leaves have not yet unfurled. When they do, their green chlorophyll will begin a remarkable process known as photosynthesis, the process by which plants use sunlight to create chemical energy.

People often wonder about what modern science means to religious people. In their recent book, Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? ... and Other Questions from the Astronomers' In-box at the Vatican Observatory, Brother Guy Consolmagno and Father Paul Mueller discuss six topics that seem to generate a lot of curiosity.

Lent, the Christian liturgical season devoted to spiritual purification by means of prayer, fasting, and penitence, begins in February. The date changes year-to-year, but it is always a Wednesday, called Ash Wednesday.