The whole earth is a living icon of the face of God. … I do not worship matter. I worship the Creator of matter who became matter for my sake, who willed to take His abode in matter, who worked out my salvation through matter. Never will I cease honoring the matter which wrought my[…]
Month: December 2025
Pope Benedict and Saint John Damascene
BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Saint Peter’s Square Wednesday, 6 May 2009 John Damascene Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today I should like to speak about John Damascene, a personage of prime importance in the history of Byzantine Theology, a great Doctor in the history of the Universal Church. Above all he was an eyewitness of the[…]
The Legendary Saint Barbara
As Hilaire Belloc notes, a legend does not imply something isn’t true; rather, it signifies some primordial truth so important that is has been preserved, even embellished. In this light, we should see the life of Saint Barbara, whose feast is on December 4th, but who was removed from the calendar in the revisions of[…]
The harvest is rich but the labourers are few,* so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest. (Mt 9:38)
Xavier’s Fire for God and for Souls
Saint Francis Xavier – the relic of whose forearm, instrumental in the baptizing of tens of thousands made a tour around Canada a number of years ago – was one of those remarkable men of history, whose intensity, focus and singleness of purpose echo through the ages. His desire to give everything to save souls,[…]
Divine Courtship
I started reading Jesus the Bridegroom by Brant Pitre. In the first chapter of the book, he discusses how the ancient Jews viewed God and the Messiah as a divine bridegroom who wants to marry His people, and how Jesus fulfills this prophecy. Modern Christians are not entirely ignorant of this point of view, since we know[…]
Nicene and the Filioque
This year marks the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, which first promulgated the creed that goes by its name. As the recent Apostolic Letter of Pope Leo, In Unitate Fidei, the council was called to respond to the heresy of Arius, who denied the full divinity of Jesus Christ, the Word made Flesh.[…]
Edmund Campion’s English Optimism
Today, on this first day of December, we call to mind Saint Edmund Campion – see Avellina Ballestri’s fine recounting of his glorious life from the archives – one of the most charming in the pageantry of the English martyrs. His sense of optimism and good cheer, in the face of the most arduous conditions, even[…]