Did your Lent not go as planned? Did you make a lot of resolutions and then mostly fail at them? Or maybe you failed to even make any Lenten resolutions, and sort of wandered your way into Easter. Well, if that sounds like you, St. John Chrysostom has a message for you.
Tag: ECFs
Does Church History Lead to Catholicism? (You’ll Want to Watch This, I Think)
I’m eager to finish the last two parts to the four-part Aquinas series on how to grow in knowledge, but I really have to interrupt it today, with some exciting news.
Who are the “Four Living Creatures” of Revelation?
Today’s First Reading is from Rev. 4:1-11, in which St. John presents a heavenly vision. There are many strange details, but one of the ones that has captured the imagination of Christians for the last two millennia is of the “four living creatures.” Here’s what John describes (Rev. 4:6-8): And round the throne, on each… Continue reading Who are the “Four Living Creatures” of Revelation?
Did St. Augustine Believe in Salvation by Faith Alone?
Did St. Augustine believe in sola fide, the doctrine of justification by faith alone?
Why You Can’t Have St. Augustine Without Relics
Catholics and Protestants alike revere St. Augustine of Hippo, whose feast day is today. But did you know that Augustine (like his mentor, St. Ambrose) claims to have been an eyewitness to several miracles wrought by the relics of the martyrs? Here’s why you can’t have Augustine without believing in relics.
Catholic and Protestant Bibles, 101
Why do Catholics and Protestants have different Bibles, and how are they different? There’s a lot of misinformation out there, so let me give a basic primer. This isn’t so much looking to convince anyone as just to establish some of the basic facts. So here are 19 points about how we ended up with two different Bibles. I don’t believe that there’s anything in here to which a well-informed Protestant could object…
How Do We Know Ignatius’ Letters are Genuine?
St. Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of the Apostle John, wrote a series of letters somewhere about c. 107-110, en route to his martyrdom in Rome. These letters are richly Catholic, so much so that the Reformer John Calvin was convinced that they couldn’t be authentic. So how do we know that they are?
The Eastern Church Fathers on Prayer
Continuing the series on “the Saints and prayer,” I spoke yesterday on prayer and the Eastern Church Fathers. I wanted them as a change of pace for two reasons: I find that Catholics in the West are much more familiar with Western Church Fathers like Augustine, Ambrose, Gregory, and Leo, than they are with Eastern… Continue reading The Eastern Church Fathers on Prayer
Pledge of Future Glory: The Eucharist as the Promise of Salvation
The Church refers to the Eucharist as a “pledge of future glory.” What does that mean, and how does faithfully receiving the Eucharist ensure our salvation and bodily resurrection?
The Catholic Mass in Scripture, the Early Church, and Today
In Luke 24:13-35, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus have a surprise encounter with the risen Lord, Jesus Christ. There are basically four “stages” of communion in this encounter, and it’s the same four stages, in the same order, that we find in the earliest Christian worship, and that we see in the Mass today. So let’s look at each of the four stages, and then consider why it matters that they should all follow the same structure and pattern….