By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall …
No one has yet messed up Advent (aka “The Christmas Season,” which it is not), and so we are spared Advent sales and Advent gifts and Advent movies and news stories babbling about The True Meaning of Advent. Advent is a season that points to the Nativity, not to itself.
By Ian Wilson … The celebrated mystic, St. John of the Cross, was born Juan de Yepes y Alvarez on June 24, 1542, in Fontiveros, Spain. Even as a child, John knew he wanted to live the ascetic life. After the untimely death of his father and older brother when John was only three years old, John was sent to a boarding school for poor orphaned children. There, he received a religious education, and served as an acolyte at an Augustinian monastery.
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By Lyn Wilson … Saint Justinian (or Stinan) of Ramsey was a 6th Century Monk from Breton who moved to Ramsey Island in Pembrokeshire in modern day Wales.
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By Sarah Losardo … It was in Paris that she discovered the identity of the priest in her vision – St. Vincent De Paul, the founder of the Sisters of Charity. In January 1830, Zoe finally joined the Sisters of Charity in Paris, taking the name Catherine. The same year, first in July and again in November, Sister Catherine was visited by the Blessed Virgin Mary, who entrusted to her a medallion to be given to the world.
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By Stephen Steiniger … Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. As such, he is due special attention and praise. He is alone among human beings. As true God and man, Jesus exists as one of us, but something more. He is the source and summit of our life. He is our beginning and end.
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By Ian Wilson … If you read the title of this article, you already know the conclusion I’m coming to. Halloween has been celebrated in Western Christianity, particularly in Britain, for hundreds of years.
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By Sarah Levesque Losardo … In the Bible, the rich man seemingly ignored the poor, destitute, starving man at his door. Perhaps he thought himself generous for letting Lazarus even stay there. Or perhaps that is where Lazarus collapsed of hunger. In any case, I find four points of this story particularly interesting.
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By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … Having only graduated from high school (I think the quarter-credit for driver’s education put me over the top) I am certainly no climatologist, meteorologist, or vulgar Swedish child, but I am not persuaded of the concept of man-made climate change.
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By Jeremy Abrahamson … Why am I writing a two thousand page historical romance in a the tiktok generation? Because that is the exact generation that needs it.
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By Sarah Levesque … Giulia Salzano was born on October 13, 1846, in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Caserta, Italy. Her father, Diego Salzano, died when Giulia was only four years old, and she was taken in by the Sisters of Charity, with whom she stayed until she was fifteen years old.
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By T.K. Wilson … James, the son of Alpheus, was one of the original Twelve Apostles called by Christ at the start of his ministry. According to tradition, he is one of Jesus’s cousins or half-brothers and brother of St. Jude. He is called “the Lesser ” or “The Just ” to avoid confusion with James son of Zebedee – though even this is disputed!
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By Ruth Anne Amsden … Nala Ray, a former Only Fans star, has made a very public confession of her conversion to Christianity and of her forsaking of her past life. Christians of all denominations are calling her conversion into question and arguing over whether or not it is possible for anyone to be forgiven and restored to relationship with God after living such a lifestyle.
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By Lyn Wilson … Pope Cletus, sometimes known as Anacletus, was the third Bishop of Rome after St. Peter and Linus. We know very little about this man’s life and yet his name is remembered through history.
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By Samantha Terrell … The last communion I ever took with my dad was grape juice from a prefilled plastic cup – the type that’s filled with creamer at the diner. We had a lot of losses in that era (at the moment, I can’t stomach counting them all), but Dad is the only one I got to commune with – behind a curtain pulled for privacy in the ICU.
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By Ian Wilson … Born in 954 in Somerset, England, Aelfheah had everything – a noble family, wealth, food, drink, servants – yet none of those things had affected him so much as knowing and drawing nearer to God. Much to his family’s dismay, Aelfheah entered the monastery, where he was respected for his austerity and extreme piety.
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By Cordelia Fitzgerald … Lilies of the Field is a modest film with a comparatively small cast, simple plot, and a light load of English dialogue. Homer Smith, a traveling handyman, finds himself employed by some German nuns with a dubious revenue stream and consequently becomes invested in their (or rather, the Mother Superior’s) dream, which turns out to be the basis of the story. Again, it is a simple film – but it is a battle of wills.
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By Sarah Levesque … Adoniram Judson, missionary to Burma (Myanmar), was born on August 9, 1788 in Malden, Massachusetts. After a period of skepticism, Judson studied theology at Andover Theological Seminary in his home state…
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By Ian Wilson … In her youth, Juliana had quickly learned Latin and memorized the works of St. Augustine and St. Bernard of Clairvaux, devoting herself to theological study; an unusual pursuit for a woman in her time. At the young age of 13, Juliana was welcomed into the order.
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By Ian Wilson … St. David’s life can be summed up by his last words: “Be joyful, keep the faith, do the little things you have seen me do”.
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By Ian Wilson … There have been many hymn writers in the history of the Christian Church, but few have been as influential on church music as Reginald Heber. Heber was born on April 21st, 1783, to a wealthy and educated family, who were able to afford to give Reginald a good education. He was something of a child prodigy, translating Latin classics to English at only seven years old.
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LogoSophia Magazine 