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
Tag: Saints
Are Some People’s Prayers More Valuable Than Others?
When Catholics talk about praying to Mary, a classic Protestant objection is “but I can go directly to Jesus!” To that, I’d say, “True, you could go to Jesus alone… but if you pray to Mary, you and the Virgin Mary can go directly to Jesus!” The “why not just go directly to Jesus” objection points to one of the real differences between Catholics and Protestants on this question: we Catholics believe that some people’s prayers are more efficacious than others.
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?
Why Do We Suffer?
Why do we suffer? Pope St. John Paul II explores one of the hardest questions facing Christianity.
St. Joseph and the Numinous
Why does the angel Gabriel tell Joseph not to “be afraid” to take Mary as his wife?
The Saintly Case for Catholicism
Then-Cardinal Ratzinger said in 2002, “I have often affirmed my conviction that the true apology of Christian faith, the most convincing demonstration of its truth against every denial, are the saints, and the beauty that the faith has generated. Today, for faith to grow, we must lead ourselves and the persons we meet to encounter the saints and to enter into contact with the Beautiful.”
Here’s an example of how the life and death of St. Maximilian Kolbe helped me to believe the Catholic Church’s teachings about the Virgin Mary.
Advent Penances?
It’s Advent, should we be fasting? Is this a season of penance or rejoicing?
Six Biblical Passages to Revolutionize Your View of Prayer and Heaven
Protestants tend to be opposed to praying to the Saints and Angels for two reasons: (1) it’s offensive to the dignity of God, since we’re going to someone besides Him; or (2) it’s a waste of time, since we can go directly to God. This hints at the underlying issue – that Catholics and Protestants tend to think of prayer and Heaven very differently. So the core question ought to be: is the Catholic vision of prayer and Heaven true?
Celebrating the Real St. Francis of Assisi
Pope Pius XI, G.K. Chesterton, and Pope Francis have all warned about the danger of a sort of “False Francis of Assisi,” of loving a sort of distorted vision of the great Saint of Assisi.
The truth is, all of those things that the world (rightly) loves about St. Francis are, in fact, simply the natural result of St. Francis’ love of God. If you ignore that root of sanctity, you end up with these false Francises: Francis the Hippie, Francis the Italian Nationalist, Francis the poet, etc. The true Francis is Francis the Lover, which is to say, Francis the Saint.
Beware of Telescopic Charity
There’s a spiritual malady afflicting our homes, our workplaces, our political conversations, and how we speak to (and of) one another, both on- and offline. A major part of the cure is learning to recognize that those who are hardest to stand are often the ones closest to us, and that the call to charity is often in the little things of daily life.