I. Introduction Recent years have seen a significant shift in how the people of God — both priests and lay faithful — have come to view the sacrament of holy orders, as well as the baptismal character of the common priesthood of all Chr … [Read more...]
“Many Shall Come from the East and the West”
A Comparison of the Preaching of Augustine and John Chrysostom
February 12, 2019 by Sr. Mary Dominic Pitts, OP
Introduction “Many shall come from the East and the West and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 8:11). The two great preachers of the fourth and fifth centuries — John Chrysostom, Bisho … [Read more...]
The Awe-Inspiring Mysteries: The Importance of Mystagogy
August 9, 2015 by Brandon P. Otto
(This title is inspired by Edward Yarnold’s The Awe-Inspiring Rites of Initiation: Baptismal Homilies of the Fourth Century (Slough, Great Britain: St. Paul Publications, 1971), the title of which is based on the common language of “awe” use … [Read more...]
“The Indelible Mark”
Sacramental Character in Patristic and Scholastic Theology
May 12, 2015 by Nicholas Senz
The history of the development of doctrine is, in many ways, a history of language. It is a story of the perpetual struggle to adequately communicate the divine realities in human words, or at the very least, to attempt to do so without … [Read more...]
The Holy Family, Celibacy, and Marriage: A Reflection on the “Passage” from the Jewish Rite of Marriage to the Sacrament of Marriage
August 11, 2014 by Francis Etheredge
If the sacrament of marriage came to be specified at a particular moment, then as the renewal of marriage was itself an indication of a new beginning ... it makes sense that the marriage of Mary and Joseph was precisely the implicitly … [Read more...]
The Formation of Priests: Knowledge and Sanctity
September 26, 2013 by Bishop George V. Murry, SJ, PhD
Though there has yet to be published a history of the formation of priests, the historic concern for good priests assumes that the Church has needed, and continues to need, effective seminaries and programs of formation Christ, the Good … [Read more...]
Prayer as the Wellspring for Positive Transformation
June 12, 2013 by Carolyn Humphreys, OCDS
As long as we are faithful to prayer, we maintain a clarity of vision that promotes higher ideals and elevated standards of conduct. ... The more we pray, the more its fruits nourish our daily lives. John Chrysostom once wrote: “Prayer i … [Read more...]
Sent Forth to Father a People: Christ’s Priesthood in our Time
February 22, 2013 by Fr. Robert E. Markovitch, MD
In our faithfulness to God, it falls to the Church, as the announcer of the Good News concerning mankind, and more especially to her priests, to begin re-establishing a civilization of truth and love, and the life that springs forth from … [Read more...]
Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller and the Virgin Birth
December 13, 2012 by Michael J. Miller, MA
In treating the Virgin birth, Gerhard Ludwig Müller carefully identifies what the Catholic Church actually does teach, and cautions the reader that the exact physiological details, thereof, are not an article of faith. Nativity by M … [Read more...]
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