This Ascension homily by Pope St. Leo the Great on the glory of the resurrection of Christ is wonderful for personal prayer or catechetical use anytime during the Easter Season, especially during the 40 days between Easter Sunday and the Solemnity of the Ascension of...
This excerpt from a homily by St. Gaudentius, bishop of Brescia, Italy clearly demonstrates a belief in the real, substantial presence of Christ's body and blood in the sacrifice of the Eucharist....
The eucharist is indeed the Lord's passover, insists Gaudentius of Brescia, in which we truly receive Christ's body under the appearance of bread and his blood under the appearance of wine....
This resurrection sermon by St. Maximus of Turin hits on many of the same themes and images of the Exultet Hymn that is sung every year in the Easter vigil of the Roman liturgy proclaiming "Christ, our light, our endless day, is risen!" ...
Peter Chrysologus, a 5th century Church Father, on the priesthood of all Christian believers conferred in baptism and confirmation. He elaborates his teaching in the course of commenting on the apostle Paul's words in Romans 12:2 where we are called to offer our bodies as...
Here Irenaeus underlines the Catholicity of the Church with many cultures professing a single truth, a common tradition of catholic and apostolic faith going back to the apostles and their disciples. Though this was written about 185 AD, one can recognize here the outline of...
This reading on the real presence of Christ's body and blood in the Eucharist as it was taught in the Early Church is by Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem in the middle of the fourth century, and one of the most important sources we have for...
Hilary of Poitiers says the Word became flesh and we receive his flesh in the Lord’s Supper, the sacrament of his body & blood, the Eucharist....
Bishop of Jerusalem in the mid 4th century, St. Cyril here instructs recently initiated Christians about the holy oil of gladness, called chrism, that make them anointed ones, sharing in the anointing of Christ through the sacrament of confirmation....
Gregory of Nazianzen here provides us a wonderful guide to meditating on the Passion of Christ in a way that will make Holy Week and the Triduum a life-changing experience. We are enter into the paschal sacrifice by finding ourselves in the various actors...