In this excerpt from a popular video Bible study, Dr. Italy and Jeff Cavins discuss the paradox of why the sinless Jesus of Nazareth had to be baptized by John the Baptist. The baptism of John was a baptism of repentance from sin. Christian baptism is...
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...
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...
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...
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...
The bread and wine of the Eucharist actually become what they symbolize and transmit what they contain, the body and blood of Christ, for our transformation. The Mass is both sacrifice and meal at the same time....
This fourth installment in a five part series on Understanding the Mass explains Christ's real presence in the Word of God and in the sacrament of his body and blood. [dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']A[/dropcaps]s we have seen, the Lord Jesus is really and truly...
In Part 1 of Understanding the Mass, we examined how the Mass relates to the Sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. In this, part 2 of the series, we ask in what way the Eucharist can be said to be our sacrifice, the sacrifice...