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....
St. Lawrence (also rendered St. Laurence) was one of the seven deacons of the Church of Rome and was martyred under the Emperor Valerian on the 10th of August 258, four days after Pope Sixtus II and his companions. Little is known of the life...
Here Augustine reflects on hishat famous incident, recorded in Luke 10, when the Lord comes to the home of Martha and Mary. Martha busies herself with the details of hospitality, anxious and troubled about many things. Martha represents the battle we all face against the...
In this video, Dr. Italy discusses Augustine's fight against both Manicheans and Pelagians defending free will on the one hand and the utter necessity of grace on the other in light of original sin....