Leo the Great teaches that he sign of the cross with the oil called chrism, conferred on all Christians in baptism and confirmation, makes all sharers in the priesthood and kingship of Christ, the anointed one....
Liturgy and Sacraments Video #7. Dr. Italy explains the origin, meaning and rhythm of the weekly and yearly cycle of days and seasons in the Christian Liturgical Year. This is known as the temporal cycle. There is a certain rhythm to the week and the year...
Liturgy and Sacraments Video #6. Dr. Italy that explains how the roots of the Church's liturgical year and cycle of feasts are to be found in the celebrations of ancient Israel as shown in the Old Testament Scriptures. To understand the liturgical cycle of the Catholic...
The text of Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Day Proclamation which established an annual observance not of "Turkey Day," but of Thanksgiving to God for his blessings upon our land....
Liturgy and Sacraments Video #2. Dr. Italy explains that ritual and liturgy are required by the very nature of human beings for whom symbols and gestures are indispensable forms of communication. Many Christian believers since the 16th century Protestant Reformation have rejected rituals altogether as religion...
The first session of the 10-part study of Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life, is available here to view below for free. It is an introduction to the series, focusing on the world into which Jesus came. It is actually two very different...
Liturgy and Sacraments Video #1. Dr. Italy begins his course on Liturgy and Sacraments by pointing out the inseparable unity between Liturgy, Theology and Spirituality. This is the first session in Theology 552, Liturgy & Sacraments for the Catholic Distance University. In this first video of...
Robert Bellarmine, reflecting on Jesus' statement in Matthew 11:30 that "my yoke is easy, my burden light," explains it in terms of love of God and the joy and happiness that it produces, in this life, and eternally. For September 17, his feast day....
John Chrysostom shows how the transformation of twelve weak and fearful disciples into world-conquering apostles is the surest proof that they indeed saw the risen Christ. Customarily read on the feast of St. Bartholomew, apostle, on August 24, this excerpt shows us how the...
Christians are called to be intentional disciples who make a conscious decision to follow Jesus and him alone. But discipleship can't be a one-time decision. As in a marriage, the commitment must be renewed daily....