Here Peter Chrysologus brings together the three events traditionally remembered on the Solemnity of the Epiphany: the visit of the Magi or Wise men, Christ's baptism in the Jordan River, and Jesus' first miracle performed at the Wedding Feast of Cana....
Here Gregory Nazianzen points out that Christ was baptized not for his sake but for ours. Sanctifying the waters of baptism for all generations to come, he manifested the the Trinity through the Spirit who comes to rest on him in the form of...
January 1 is a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics not because it is New Years, but because it is the octave (8th day) of Christmas, the feast of Mary the Mother of God. This feast helps bring home the reality of the incarnation, that...
We all know the elements of the Christmas story: Caesar's census and Herod, shepherds and Magi, ox, swaddling clothes & manger, a stable and not room in the inn, Emmanuel and the Prince of Peace. But underneath each of these people, places, and things,...
Bede the Venerable, one of the greatest Christian writers of the early Middle Ages, here reflects on the Magnificat, the Canticle of the Blessed Virgin Mary proclaimed during her visitation of her cousin Elizabeth and sung every night in the Church's evening prayer, part of...
Writing in the early 8th century, Bede explains why the Magnificat, Mary's prayer on the occasion of her Visitation of Elizabeth, is used daily in the liturgy of the hours (a.k.a the divine office) for evening prayer....
12 minute podcast that describes the lifestyle of the Holy Family in Nazareth during the "hidden years" before Jesus launched his public ministry. The four gospels tells us very little about the life of Jesus between his birth and his baptism besides his presentation forty days...
14 minute podcast in which Dr. Italy describes the town of Bethlehem and the field of the Shepherds at the time of the birth of Christ. Helps bring the Christmas story alive as we read of the little town that was the city of David. At...
Where did December 25 come from as the celebration of Christmas, the birthday of Jesus? What are the origins of the feast of Christ's Navity?...
Saint Leo says the genealogy of Jesus given us in Luke and Matthew's gospels shows that Jesus was truly one of us, possessing a complete human nature. He did not merely appear in human form, as in the biblical types and scriptural symbols of the...