St. Adrian lived during the time of Emperor Maximian in the fourth century. Before his conversion to Christianity, Adrian had been a member of the Praetorian Guard, and was witness to the sufferings of the early Christians. So impressed was he by their courage and refusal to bend in the face of great suffering, Adrian asked these soon to be martyrs what rewards their God offered them for their sacrifice.
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St. John Paul II’s understanding of love, family, relationships, sexuality, and young adults on such a deep biblical, spiritual, biological, and human level is nothing short of extraordinary… St. John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter explains, in his own words, the type of love and appreciation that is True love.
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St. Polycarp was one of the earliest church leaders after the death of the original twelve apostles, having been taught by St. John himself. He was the bishop of Smyrna in Asia Minor; one of the churches started by the Apostle Paul.
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With the upcoming Lord of the Rings TV series on the horizon and with it, hopefully, a resurgence of interest in fantasy, it might be time to revisit lesser known fantasies that were well-received yet have mostly faded into the background and melted into the shadows of these two greats.
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It’s common knowledge that Catholics believe that the Pope is the head of the Church. Today, let’s look at history – how did we get from Peter to Pope Francis?
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Colman of Lindisfarne was born in Ireland around 605AD. He first joined the monastery of Iona, then was moved to the monastery of Lindisfarne soon after its founding in 635. Eventually he became the abbot there, a position that also made him the bishop of Northumbria.
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This week we read that TAB Cola will no longer be manufactured. This comes as a surprise to most of us, who didn’t know it still existed. TAB Cola, a product of the Coca-Cola company, dates back to ye olden days of the IBM Selectric Typewriter and Sears…
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St. Blaise lived during the reigns of emperors Diocletian and Linius. Some early sources say that he was a physician, though we cannot be certain. He was unanimously elected bishop of Sabaste, due to his reputation as a devout man of faith.
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The art of oratory is little studied now, and so speeches are seldom about stating the facts and coming to a conclusion, but rather a matter of posturing and yelling and chanting. The ultimate failure to persuade is in the use of a bullhorn.
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Many of our first responders are volunteers, and so in addition to their support-the-family jobs they also serve the community on their own time and often at their own expense. We need them.
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St. Thomas became a prolific theological writer, famously dictating his thoughts for different works to multiple secretaries simultaneously… His seminal work is the Summa Theologica (or Summa Theologiae), a massive multi-volume explanation and defense of all of the beliefs and teachings of the Catholic Church.
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If you’ve seen me since the middle of September, it is a near certainty that I have asked you, “Have you seen the moth joke?” and then—regardless of your answer—proceeded to whip out my phone and play you a clip of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien from 2009.
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A meal is a social activity, the society of which is preserved today only rarely for meetings at restaurants. This socialization should not be limited to only the eating of food, however, but should also be connected to its preparation.
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Saint Agnes was a Roman martyr from the times of the early persecutions of the Church whose exact time period is unknown, though she may have died in 304. While her exact story is also unclear, tradition holds that Agnes professed herself to be married to Jesus and would accept no other husband.
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Yes, the day we have assigned to be New Year’s Day may be arbitrary, but what it represents is not. There is a reason why new beginnings, fresh starts, and—yes—resolutions dominate our minds as each year draws to a close…
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Contrary to popular belief amongst credo-baptists, paedobaptism (infant baptism) is found in Holy Writ…
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Childhood Christmases are often the metaphorical benchmark for our present Christmases, and that won’t do. The magic of opening a package under the tree on Christmas morning is for little children; it won’t work for us and it’s not meant to.
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St. Olympias was born to a wealthy Roman family with many ties to nobility in the 360s AD. At a young age, she married Nebridius, Prefect of Constantinople. One of the invitees was St. Gregory of Nazianzus, though he was unable to attend.
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This summer someone near and dear to me gave me one of those clever computerized watches to replace my classic (old) $8 Timex. Karen-the-Watch features a big screen onto which I can easily sweep dozens of different faces. I picked the one most like my minimalist (old) Timex…
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Perhaps the most famous theologian of the 20th century, Karl Barth was born in Basel, Switzerland in 1886, the son of a professor of Early Church History at Bern. Barth studied at several universities during his theological training, and came under the influence of 19th century liberal theology. After graduating, he became a minister in Geneva from 1909 to 1911, before moving to Safenwil, Switzerland.
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