This excerpt from a Easter letter by St. Athanasius was written around 340 AD to prepare the people of Alexandria, Egypt for the celebration of the Paschal Feast of Easter. It clearly demonstrates the sacramental and liturgical nature of worship in the early church....
St. John Chrysostom's five paths of repentance show that conversion is a continuous journey of healing and transformation that involves contrition, prayer, forgiveness, almsgiving and humility....
The Solemnity or Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord is celebrated on March 25. Here, in his typically lyrical language and powerful imagery, Leo the Great ponders the unfathomable mystery of God becoming man in the womb of a Virgin who had the...
Leo the Great on the famous passage from Matthew 16 in which Jesus gives Cephas the new name of Peter, meaning rock, along with the keys to the kingdom of heaven. It is read each year on the Feast of the Chair of...
Gregory the Great here reccounts a famous story of a very special encounter between Scholastica and her brother, the great abbot Benedict. St. Scholastica was born at Norcia (Nursia) Italy about the year 480. She vowed herself to seek God in religious life and...
St. Methodius of Sicily reflects on the witness of St. Agatha, virgin, martyr and bride of Christ....
John Chrysostom here gives eloquent praise to the passionate love of Christ that drove St. Paul to face persecution and hardship with joy and leave behind the honors and benefits of the world. It is read each year on January 25, the Feast of the...
Hilary, commenting on Psalm 133, points out the central importance of Christian unity and fraternal love. He even says that the chief instruction of the apostles is that believers be of one heart and one mind....
December 26, The Second Day of Christmas, has been observed as the Feast Day of Saint Stephen, Protomartyr, since at least the fifth century. Fulgentius of Ruspe, a North African bishop, here notes how fitting it is that the birthday of love should be followed...
This excerpt from St. Augustine's Treatise on John's Gospel (Tract. 123, 5: CCL 36, 678-680) is read on the feast day of St. Nicholas, December 6. It focuses on the real meaning of the gift-giving for which St. Nicholas is famous--the self-giving love of a...