[dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']T[/dropcaps]he kingdom of God, in the words of our Lord and Savior, does not come for all to see; nor shall they say: Behold, here it is, or behold, there it is; but the kingdom of God is within us, for...
The symbolic meaning of the sacrament of baptism according to Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop of Jerusalem in the middle of the fourth century and one of the most important sources we have for how the church celebrated the sacraments during that era. In his...
In this 2nd century homily, we see that there was no separation between faith and works in the early church. Rather, faith is confessed not only once, in the moment of baptism or justification, but continually through deeds....
This excerpt from an anonymous homily written in the 2nd Century AD extols the precious gift of salvation that comes to us as a grace, a free, undeserved gift from Christ Jesus. [dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']B[/dropcaps] rethren, we ought to regard Jesus Christ both...
The selection from Origen’s Exhortation to Martyrdom is read on the feast of martyrs Saints Marcellinus and Peter on June 2. Marcellinus, a Roman priest, and Peter, an exorcist, were martyred together in Rome during the persecution of Diocletian around 303 AD. They evidently faced...
[dropcaps type='normal' font_size='65' color='' background_color='' border_color='']W[/dropcaps]hat is man, that you are mindful of him? What is this new mystery surrounding me? I am both small and great, both lowly and exalted, mortal and immortal, earthly and heavenly. I am to be buried with Christ and to...
St. Augustine here clearly disguishes between devotion to and veration of the martyrs and saints, and the worship (Latreia) due to God alone. This distinction was clear to the early Christians, but abuses and misunderstandings certainly existed, as noted by this bishop of the late...
Here Maximus the Confessor comments on the famous phrase from the gospels "no one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house" (Matthew 5:15 and Luke 8:16 and 11:33). ...
Cyril of Alexandria, commenting on the book of Haggai, speaks of the Church, the Body of Christ, as the new temple that we must busy ourselves with building and the peace that passes understanding as the reward given to those who rebuild it....
[dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']Y[/dropcaps]ou have already been told about the wicked things shepherds desire. Let us now consider what they neglect. You have failed to strengthen what was weak, to heal what was sick, and to bind up what was injured (that is,...