In this 30 minute video, Dr. Italy explains the paramount issue that Christians had to resolve in the second century, the issue of authority -- scripture, tradition and what is now called magisterium. He shows how the heresy of Marcion and the Gnostics helped such...
St. Robert Bellarmine here enumerates 15 marks or characteristics of the one, holy Catholic Church of Jesus Christ which expands upon the four notes of the Church as found in the Nicene Creed: unity, catholicity, holiness and its apostolic foundation. [dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']D[/dropcaps]...
One of the most famous quotes attributed to Irenaeus is "the glory of God is man fully alive." Here we have the original context of that quote in Irenaeus' discussion of the vision of God which gives life. ...
John the Baptist (aka the forerunner is the only Saint other than the Virgin Mary whose birthday is marked by a liturgical feast. Here Augustine brings out the similarities and contrasts between the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ and that of his cousin, who...
In this 4th video #4, Dr. Italy explains what the First Letter of Clement of Rome reveals about Christian life and thought in the last years of the first century, especially regarding church order, apostolic succession, and Christian unity....
The Fatherhood of God has come under fire with the rise of feminism. If we know that God is pure spirit who transcends male and female, masculine and feminine, why preserve what some believe to be the antiquated, patriarchal practice of referring to the divinity...
7 minute podcast by Dr. Italy discussing San Damiano and the Portiuncula, the two chapels rebuilt by St. Francis that still stand in Assisi, his home town. To be visited on his upcoming pilgrimage to Italy. Many of heard of St. Francis and some even have...
This selection on the cross comes from Hans Urs von Balthasar's book The Heart of the World. This beautiful mediation on the piercing of Christ's heart by the soldiers lance as recounted in John 19 is a poignant mediation for Lent or Holy Week...
Gregory the Great coaches pastors and teachers how to avoid pride. He insists that teaching with authority does not mean belittling and dominating one's students, but modeling in one's life and actions the principles being preached. The apostles Paul and Peter both modeled this....
John of the Cross here gives forceful expression to the faith of the Church that in Jesus Christ, God the Father has given us his complete and ultimate revelation of Himself and His plan for our lives. The glimplses of God and partial revelations of...