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Writings Tag

We so often condemn the Pharisees that we totally miss a sneaky way that we are often like them. The hard saying of Jesus "if you hand causes you to sin, cut it off" is a kind of shock therapy to wake us up...

An excerpt written to Cornelius, bishop of Rome condemned to exile and death for his faith, from his brother bishop Cyprian of Carthage, who was to be martyred a few years later. Read on the feasts of Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian on September 16....

St. Bede the Venerable on the call of Matthew, Tax Collector turned disciple, apostle & evangelist. Matthew, originally called Levi, was, as a publican, excommunicated from the life of the synagogue and shunned in Jewish society....

Envy, one of the seven deadly sins, is different from mere jealousy - it is darker and much more dangerous.  Yet its cunning can be - and has been - defeated....

St. Andrew of Crete (8th Century) proclaims the victory, glory, and triumph of Christ crucified forr the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on September 14, the day that the stolen relics of the true cross were returned to Jerusalem in the early...

Saint Andrew of Crete on the nativity of Mary as a turning point between old and new covenant, the frontier where types and symbols give way to reality. This reading shows that September 8th was celebrated as the birthday of Mary, daughter of Joachim and...

The Beheading and Martyrdom of John the Baptist is remembered on August 29. Saint Bede here emphasizes that John died for Christ since he was killed for speaking the truth and Christ is the truth. He who baptized Christ was baptized in his own blood,...

What does the term Tradition really mean? Is it opposed to the Bible? The sola scriptura principle of the Protestant Reformation assumed it was -- here we examine this assumption in the light of a few key scriptures....

Bernard of Clairvaux extols wisdom as a hidden treasure and prudence as honey which delights the heart. Bernard himself came to be known as the “Mellifluous Doctor,” meaning the one from whose lips the wisdom of God flowed like honey....