On June 27, the Catholic Church honors the Memory of St. Cyril of Alexandria, best known for his role at the Council of Ephesus in AD 431 defending the traditional title of the Virgin Mary as Theotokos, translated "God-bearer" or Mother of God....
John Paul II's proclamation of Saint Thomas More as Patron of Statesmen and Politicians, an example of moral integrity, a witness to the primacy of the truth over power and a defender of the inalienable dignity of the human conscience....
This excerpt from St. Augustine shows that, as early as the fourth century, Christians celebrated June 29th in honor of Peter and Paul, the two apostles and martyrs who laid down their lives for Christ in the Eternal City of Rome....
Cyril of Alexandria on the resurrection of Jesus Christ as giving us a sure hope, guaranteed by the Spirit, that we too will rise again....
Jesus sacrifice of himself for our sake on the cross has brought redemption to the whole world, says St. John Fisher, the fifteenth century English bishop whose own self-sacrifice would recall that of his master....
Irenaeus explains how the Son, the Word, became man so that he might share with his immortality with us who are corruptible and mortal. Christ is, then, the first fruits of the Resurrection....
Irenaeus here shows that the Church of the 2nd century regarded the Eucharist as a sacrifice which fulfilled the prophecy of Malachi 1:11 of a new, pure oblation and offering that would be offered by the gentiles all over the world. ...
Here St. Cyril of Alexandria comments on the promise of God the Father to pour out his Holy Spirit on all mankind in order to renew and restore our wounded human nature. In his baptism, the Lord Jesus Christ, "the first-fruits of our restored nature," receives...
This excerpt from St. Irenaeus shows that the Blessed Virgin Mary is truly a new Eve, just as her son Jesus Christ is a new Adam. He contrasts Eve's disobedience with Mary's obedience....
Cyril of Alexandria here emphasizes that the risen body of Jesus Christ, received in the Eucharist, gives life to those who receive it, expelling death and corruption....