“If anyone does not, according to the Holy Fathers, confess truly and properly that the holy and ever-virgin and immaculate Mary is the Mother of God… having conceived Him without seed… and having incorruptibly borne Him, her virginity remaining indestructible also after His birth, let him be condemned.” – The Lateran Council (649 AD) Gospel […]
Saint of the day – Pope Saint John I – Martyr “O Virgin Lady, immaculate Mother of God, my most glorious mistress, higher than heaven, much purer than the rays of the sun… listen to my unworthy prayer, keep me and deliver me from all the traps of the evil one…” St Ephrem John 16:29-33
Saint of the day – 18 May Pope Saint John I He served as bishop of Rome from 523 to 526 AD, his brief pontificate was defined by an impossible geopolitical tightrope walk that ultimately cost him his life. 1. The Historical Setting: Two Emperors and a Heresy To understand John I, we have to
Acts 1:6-11 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has
Pope St. Leo the Great (c. 400–461 AD) Pope St. Leo I, was one of the most influential and transformative pontiffs in the history of the Catholic Church. Serving as Bishop of Rome during a time of immense political and religious upheaval, his leadership solidified papal authority, defined core Christian doctrines, and famously protected the
“The Spirit who moved over the waters at the first creation, moved over Mary to begin the second.” – Didymus the Seer Gospel Reading for the day: John 16:23-28 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it
“Let the life of Mary be as a mirror, in which is reflected the form of virtue and the beauty of chastity.” – St Ambrose of Milan John 16:20-23 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into
Acts 1:1-11 In the first book, O Theoph′ilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. To them he presented himself alive after his passion by many
Luke 11:27-28 As he said this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” What do the Fathers say? The Venerable BEDE.
Memorial of Saints Nereus; Achilleus. and Pancras, Martyrs John 16:5-11 I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you,
