Diadochus of Photice, a bishop of the early church, explains the role of recollection and discernment in Christian life. To discern thoughts originating in God from those planted by the enemy, we must cultivate peace of soul and mind and dispose ourselves for the...
Excerpt from Athanasius' famous Life of Antony, recounting the story of the call of St. Anthony of the Desert, father of monks and great supporter of Christian Orthodox belief in the divinity of Christ against the Alexandrian heretic Arius....
Columbanus (Columban) urges us to remember our dignity, created as we are in the image and likeness of God. Since God is love, we must manifest love in our actions and our words, being especially careful lest we deface that image through careless use of...
Augustine, in this letter to Proba, provides his interpretation of the command of Saint Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 to pray always, with unceasing desire, hope and love....
Augustine tells Proba that praying always through the desire of the heart does not mean we should not frequent pray formally, at appointed hours, using words. Without such formal prayer at set times, desire would grow cold....
Augustine on the duty of pastors to strengthen weak Christians. The weak are those who want to live a good life but are unable to endure the sufferings that inevitably threaten. Some are so ill that they are like the paralytic who needed to be...
St. Bruno on Psalm 84. "How lovely is your dwelling place" is taken to refer not so much to the Jerusalem temple as the heavenly dwelling of God in heaven according to the spiritual / anagogical sense of Scripture....
Commenting on 1 Peter 2, Bede tells the newly baptized that they are a chosen race, a royal priesthood & a consecrated nation through their baptism into Christ and anointing with the sacred oil of confirmation. [dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']Y[/dropcaps] ou are a chosen...
[dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']T[/dropcaps]O HAVE THE TRUE SENTIMENT WHICH WE OUGHT TO HAVE IN THE CHURCH MILITANT Let the following Rules be observed. First Rule. The first: All judgment laid aside, we ought to have our mind ready and prompt to obey, in all, the...
On June 27, the Catholic Church honors the Memory of St. Cyril of Alexandria, best known for his role at the Council of Ephesus in AD 431 defending the traditional title of the Virgin Mary as Theotokos, translated "God-bearer" or Mother of God....