The purpose of Advent is to set aside some time to prepare ourselves for a celebration of the birth of Christ. In the West, we decadent Latins, marked the season by celebrating a feast at the end, and the more disciplined Eastern Greek Christians underwent a great fast in preparation for the coming of Christ. In a sense this dichotomy of feasting and fasting well marks what … [Read more...]
The Liturgical Calendar?
For some readers the Liturgical Calendar like the prefix "St." is scary and reminscent of the Inquisition, Clerical sex-scandals, and everything they hate about religion in general. However, in years past, more and more people with that initial gut reaction have been rethinking their own positions, and have warmed to words like "Lent" and "Advent". I remember first … [Read more...]
St. Irenaeus of Lyons
Today is the feast of St. Irenaeus of Lyons, one of the most important early Christian writers. He was an apologist for the faith and wrote a famous work called "Against Heresies". This lengthy work is very early and so many apologists of modern confession positions (Catholics & Protestants) use it to prove their own system. Just look at one section. In Book III, … [Read more...]
A Few Early Fathers on Peter, The Rock, and Matthew 16:18
There has been a flurry of Evangelical conversions to Roman Catholicism recently (I did it once when I was young and foolish) in the Blogosphere. That seems as good an occasion as any to return to the early fathers of the Christian Church between which and the current RCC there is a great gulf fixed. Far from having any real consensus, at times, the consensus of the fathers … [Read more...]
John Donne excerpt from Old St. Paul's in London
A person could get lost in the history of St. Paul's Cathedral (London). Just the famous Deans of St Paul's is a venerable list of churchmen. Most readers will know Canon Henry Scott Holland from his "Death is nothing at all" quotation used at countless funerals. As for the building itself and the fire of London, I've seen multi-hour programs just on Christopher Wren and St. … [Read more...]