My very dear brethren, know this: our Lord Jesus, coming down here, himself suffered pains beyond counting: by his Passion he founded the Church and by the passion of his faithful he makes it grow. The powers of this world may well oppress it and attack it, but they will never have victory over it.[…]
Month: September 2019
The Indomitable Faith of Taegon, and Korea
Catholicism was brought to Korea by scholars in the 18th century, via books written in Chinese. When missionaries arrived in the early 19th century, they were surprised to find the Faith had already taken hold amongst a small, but dedicated, group, holding out against a sea of paganism; sounds a lot like Canada, with the[…]
And so it is that anyone who lives wickedly in the sight of those over whom he has authority is killing them, even the strong ones, as far as he is able. Whoever imitates him dies and whoever does not imitate him lives, but as far as he himself is concerned he is killing them[…]
The reason angels can fly is because they take themselves lightly (G.K. Chesterton)
On the last day, when the general examination takes place, there will be no question at all on the text of Aristotle, the aphorisms of Hippocrates, or the paragraphs of Justinian. Charity will be the whole syllabus. (Saint Robert Bellarmine, +1621)
The Good Shepherd and the Sinful Sheep
The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the foremost (Communion Antiphon). The parable of the Good Shepherd, perhaps one of the best known of Our Lord’s parables, communicates to us, and to all who have ever heard it[…]
You cannot have God for your Father if you do not have the Church for your mother…. God is one and Christ is one, and his Church is one; one is the faith, and one is the people cemented together by harmony into the strong unity of a body (Saint Cyprian of Carthage, +258)
Cornelius, Cyprian, Schisms and Apostasies
Saint Cornelius was Pope for a scant two years in the third century, elected in 251, fighting against his fellow bishop Novatian, who declared himself the true Pope, thus also unwittingly making himself history’s first anti-Pope. Novatian was an early ‘hard-liner’, teaching that certain sins were so evil, to beyond the pale -especially apostasy, failing[…]
O Crux Ave, Spes Unica
The Exaltation of the Cross – so it has been termed in the liturgical revisions after Vatican II – dates back to the time of Constantine, when his mother, Helena, on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 326, by apparently miraculous means discovered the wood upon which Christ had been crucified three centuries before. This was[…]
So great and outstanding a possession is the cross that he who wins it has won a treasure. Rightly could I call this treasure the fairest of all fair things and the costliest, in fact as well as in name, for on it and through it and for its sake the riches of salvation that[…]