Augustine shows that even if some pastors are wicked, seeking their own interests rather than Christ's, the Catholic Church herself is Mother and Shepherd who seeks out the straying sheep, cares for the sick and strengthens the weak. She is also like a vine which...
Augustine, in his sermon 46 to Pastors, reflects upon the mandate from the Lord, found in Ezekiel, for shepherds to seek out the lost sheep, even if those sheep seem to want to be lost....
Gregory the Great here notes the obligation of a pastor to preach with courage, boldness, and fortitude warning his people when they are on the wrong path and need to repent. To fail to speak out and reproach people for their faults is cowardice...
Gregory the Great comments on the famous passage in Ezekiel 33 in which God calls the prophet to be a watchman for the house of Israel. Saint Gregory reflects on how this applies to himself as bishop of Rome and protests his inadequacy for the...
Here Leo the Great comments on the fourth, fifth and sixth of the Beatitudes, explaining why those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed as well as the merciful and the pure of heart....
An account of the death of St. Monica, mother of Augustine, written about 10 years afterwards, in her son's famous book The Confessions. Read on August 27, feast day of Monica, model of Christian Motherhood. [dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']B[/dropcaps]ecause the day when she was...
Development of Doctrine - Vincent of Lerins, a church father of the 5th century, distinguishes the legitimate growth in understanding of divine revelation from the false alteration of religion and Catholic orthodox dogma in the Church of Jesus Christ....
Commenting on the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mt. Tabor, Leo contrasts the law, symbolized by Moses, with the grace of the gospel brought by Jesus Christ. He notes how this glimpse of the glory of his divinity and risen humanity was given to...
St. Anastasius of Sinai on the experience of Peter, James and John atop Mt. Tabor. Read on August 6, the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus. We too are called to behold his radiance and say "it is good for us...
Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, presided over the 3rd great Ecumenical Council of the Church which met in 431 AD in Ephesus and which proclaimed Mary as the Theotokos ("God-bearer" or "Mother of God"). Following this proclamation, many churches were dedicated to the Blessed...