Ambrose, speaking to newly baptized Christians in the fourth century, shows how the reality of the eucharist is the true bread from heaven of which manna was only the symbol and shadow. It is the heavenly banquet set before us on the abundant table...
This excerpt from the Didache, provides a fascinating glimpse into how the Eucharist was celebrated by Christians of the late first or early second century....
Jerome shows that the living waters & springs for which the deer longs in Psalm 42, is in fact the Trinity. In so doing, he also provides an explanation of what Jesus meant by calling the apostles "fishers of men." ...
Predestination, free will, faith and grace are some of the most controversial doctrines in the history of Christianity. Are some destined to accept Christ and others predestined to reject him and go to hell? Does our ultimate salvation depend upon God's grace or upon our...
The role of the charisms and gifts of the Holy Spirit spoken of by Paul in Corinthians in the sacrament of Confirmation and the Christian Life in general, along with the prophetic & charismatic anointing to participate in the New Evangelization....
This Holy week reading on imitating Christ's death by being buried with him through baptism amplifies St. Paul's words in Romans 6:11 that in the sacrament of baptism we are baptized into Christ's death, being buried as it were with him under the saving waters...
This excerpt from a Easter letter by St. Athanasius was written around 340 AD to prepare the people of Alexandria, Egypt for the celebration of the Paschal Feast of Easter. It clearly demonstrates the sacramental and liturgical nature of worship in the early church....
Commenting on 1 Peter 2, Bede tells the newly baptized that they are a chosen race, a royal priesthood & a consecrated nation through their baptism into Christ and anointing with the sacred oil of confirmation. [dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']Y[/dropcaps] ou are a chosen...
Gregory of Nyssa here identifies the glory that Jesus speaks about in the Last Supper discourse of the Gospel of John with the Holy Spirit, the source of Christian unity. He also sees a reference to the Holy Spirit in the Song of Songs...
St. Theodore the Studite here acclaims the cross as a life-giving tree that is the antidote to that tree in paradise that was Adam's undoing. Following the early Christian method of interpreting the Old Testament spiritually, he traces the many ways the wood of...