While performing a play that satirized the Christian rite of Baptism, Genesius felt the weight of his sins. Claiming to have seen an angel, Genesius demanded to be baptized. The actor playing the priest dumped a basin of water on him, believing this to be part of the show. Genesius, however, was quite serious. He began to preach Christ to the Emperor and all others in attendance, urging them to convert and be baptized.
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Daig of Iniskeen was born to a noble family sometime in the middle of the Fifth Century, in County Meath, Ireland, possibly near the suburbs of Dublin. His father was named Cayrell, and was a descendant of legendary Irish king Naill of the Nine Hostages.
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By Ian Wilson … One of the virtues extolled frequently in Scripture is the fear of the Lord. As Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” Therefore, we cannot even begin to have wisdom without the fear of God.
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St. Syncletica was born in Alexandria, Egypt, to wealthy parents around the year 270AD. From an early age she dedicated herself to God, devoting herself to fasting and praying, to the disappointment of her suitors. Upon the death of her parents, who were predeceased by her brothers, she inherited the family wealth. This she distributed to the poor.
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The subtle presence of Aristarchus of Thessalonica can be traced in New Testament scripture. Although he is not mentioned to great extent, it is known that he was considered an apostle – one of the Seventy – and a companion of Paul.
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By Christian Jordan Michael Wright … What is the meaning crisis? There are dozens of answers… people might point to old philosophical concerns, or to their consequences: widespread mental illness and moral confusion…
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At a young age, Johann Sebastian was tragically orphaned, and was thereafter cared for by his older brother, Johann Christoph. The elder Bach was an accomplished keyboard player, and taught his little brother to play the organ; an instrument the younger Bach would play throughout his life.
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By Cordelia Fitzgerald … One wonders, in this age of highly sexualized everything, what exactly that idea of innocent nakedness looked like before the Fall, but it is unlikely that we shall ever know for certain. However, it does seem possible to lay forth three main reasons, stemming from the Fall, for the transition from that state of naked bliss to our current state: clothed.
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As a young boy, his piety and great oratorical skills were already evident. There is an Italian Christmas custom that young boys can get up and preach a sermon in a church in memory of Jesus in the Temple, and at the age of six, the future Brother Lawrence delivered a sermon so great that even adults were moved to do better in their Christian walk.
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By Brendan the Writer … The Church is headed towards three crises, I think. And when I say Church I mean ‘every Christian denomination’. Likely every group outside Christianity too is going to undergo these three cataclysmic problems in the next decade.
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Samson Occom, born in the early 18th century to the Mohegan tribe of Connecticut, is known for his influence on Native American populations during the period of the Great Awakening. As a Native American himself, Occom was introduced to the gospel by Eleazer Wheelock’s ministry centralized around a reach towards Native Americans.
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By Cordelia Fitzgerald …we, as a human race, are curious. We are also, for the most part, control freaks. We are usually looking for assurance about the things we expect from life, and thus we have receipts, signatures, IOU’s, and contracts.
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In 1668, Boice became the minister of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, PA, where he would stay for the rest of his 61 years. During that time, he tripled his congregation, wrote a multitude of books and commentaries, started multiple schools and charitable organizations, taught and evangelized through the radio program The Bible Study Hour…
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By Ian Wilson (Rated G) Little is known of the life of Irenaeus, one of the great theologians of the Early Church. It is believed that he was born in Smyrna in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) around the early part the second century, AD. There, he heard Polycarp, another early church father, preach. Irenaeus served […]
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By Cordelia Fitzgerald … If there’s one thing that the human race, as a rule, doesn’t excel at, it’s communication. Our struggle with this basic need is so great that, even when God, in His perfection, gets involved, we still find some way of muffing it.
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By Cordelia Fitzgerald … Music, as many people much more educated than I can expound upon, has profound effects on the emotions, making it the perfect accessory, or even main conduit of information, in film. This role of music as communicator is not limited to musicals, but is rather spread throughout every genre, to their great benefit.
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St. Ephraem (also known as Ephrem or Ephraim or Ephraem the Syrian) was born around 306 A.D. in Nisibis, Mesopotamia (modern Turkey). He converted to Christianity as a young man thanks to the teaching of St. James, Bishop of Nisibis.
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By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … Once upon a time people regarded public and school libraries as repositories of thousands of years of civilization, open to all, with John Milton shelved uneasily close to Geoffrey Chaucer and with Phyllis Wheatley a few aisles away from Margaret Mitchell. An old saying is that if a library doesn’t contain books with which you vehemently disagree, it’s not a good library.
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By Cordelia Fitzgerald … our good Lord understands of this need of ours for that commiseration, in a way, perhaps, that our fellow men fail to. This God that made us and understands us both from a mechanic or inventor’s point of view and from our very experience, since He too was one of us.
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By T.K. Wilson (Rated G) Irene, Great-Martyr of Thessalonica, was born Princess Penelope to pagan parents. Afraid his daughter would be influenced by Christianity (as no doubt the stories of other high-born ladies who dedicated themselves to Jesus had reached him), he locked her up in a tower with thirteen other girls. Because God finds […]
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LogoSophia Magazine 