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...
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...
This talk on SAINT JOSEPH, HUMILITY AND MEEKNESS is 3rd in a series of presentations given by Dr. Italy for the special Year of St. Joseph. Jesus combined tremendous strength with great humility and gentleness. In his human nature, he learned this from his father. In...
The Prayer of Abandonment, written by Blessed Charles de Foucauld, is one of the most beautiful prayers of faith, trust and surrender in the Christian spiritual heritage. Memorize it, pray it often, and share it with others! [dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']F[/dropcaps]ather, I abandon myself into...
Paul's concept of "pedagogy," further developed here by Irenaeus, holds that the whole period of the Old Testament with all its characters, events, and institutions, was a preparation for and foreshadowing of the fullness of revelation that was to come in Jesus Christ and his...
Here John Chrysostom contrasts the Red Sea with baptism, Moses with Christ, showing us that while Old Testament realities point forward to the events of the New Covenant, they cannot begin to equal them. ...
This excellent reflection on one of the three pillars of Lenten penance, almsgiving or generosity, is an excerpt from a sermon on the love of poverty by Saint Gregory of Nazianzen. It is also a very clear statement on stewardship -- that we are stewards,...
Leo the Great here emphasizes that the Incarnation, the mystery of God becoming man, changes everything. Human dignity is now vastly elevated, requiring us to live in a new way, with a new relationship to the visible things of this beautiful but passing world....