February 2 is the feast of the Presentation of the Lord Jesus in the Temple. It is known as Candlemass since it is the day that candles are blessed for use throughout the Church year....
[dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']T[/dropcaps]HE EPISTLE OF POLYCARP TO THE PHILIPPIANS(1) Polycarp, and the presbyters(2) with him, to the Church of God sojourning at Philippi: Mercy to you, and peace from God Almighty, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour, be multiplied. CHAP. I.--PRAISE OF...
An excerpt from the account of the Martyrdom of St. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna on the West Coast of Asia Minor (now Turkey). He was apprehended by the Romans in his eighties, on February 23 around the year 155 AD....
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...
On February 11, 1858, a 14 year old girl named Bernadette Soubirous had an encounter with a "beautiful lady" when she was gathering firewood on the French side of the Pyrenees, near a town called Lourdes. Here she tells the story of that encounter with...
Eye-witness of the 16th century martyrdom of Japanese Martyrs, the Jesuit Paul Miki and companions. For their feast day on February 6....
In this 15 minute podcast, Dr. Italy discusses the meaning of the ancient feast of the Presentation of the Lord Jesus in the temple by Joseph and Mary. The righteous Israelite, Simeon, being advanced in years, rejoices to see the child he recognizes to be...
An anonymous account of the last days of St. Cyril, brother of Methodius. The two brothers brought the gospel to the Slavic People in the 9th Century. Their feast is February 14, Valentine's Day....
Podcast excerpted from radio interview in which Dr. Italy offers some reflections on the apparitions of Mary to lowly shepherd girls in Lourdes in 1858. Most Catholics have heard about Bernadette and how Our Lady appeared to her near the remote town of Lourdes in Southern...