Why are we Troubled? Dorotheus

St. Dorotheus, a wise abbot from the early Church, here explains why we get so ruffled by the criticism of others. He illustrates the value of fraternal correction and self-accusation in the spiritual life. ...

This excerpt from the 2nd century Letter to Diognetus explains to pagan readers how the Church is in the world and not of it, and why this is a cause of persecution.  Christians, he explains, are to the world as the soul is to the...

This excerpt on the sacrament of baptism from St. Basil the Great’s book On the Holy Spirit (ca. AD 360) describes how baptism fulfills what Jesus says to Nicodemus in John 3 about being born again in water and the Spirit. He also here outlines...

A Witness of Christ in the Church: Hans Urs von Balthasar by Henri de Lubac, S.J. As Ludwig Kaufmann has justly remarked in a recent issue of Orientierung, it is disconcerting that from the first summons of the Council by John XXIII, it did not seem to have...

[dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']I[/dropcaps]ntroduction (1-10)1. First of all, the Scripture about the Hebrew Exodus has been read and the words of the mystery have been explained as to how the sheep was sacrificed and the people were saved. Therefore, understand this, O beloved:...

[dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']T[/dropcaps]he Word took to himself the sons of Abraham, says the Apostle, and so had to be like his brothers in all things. He had then to take a body like ours. This explains the fact of Mary’s presence: she...