The exact details of the life of Mary of Egypt are scarce; her story is told to us third hand by an order of monks living in the Palestinian desert. They tell us that she was a devout holy woman who had once lived a life of sin…
Read More
“Stuff is getting moved around, going missing. Then there’s the pranks. Like there’s crayon drawings on the wall. Mom and Dad blamed my sister, but she claims her doll comes to life when we’re not looking and does stuff.”
Read More
Twice Cyril found himself driven out of his diocese; fully half of his time as bishop was spent in exile. When he was finally vindicated, and able to return to his seat, he found the whole church in Jerusalem in chaos.
Read More
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.
Read More
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.
Read More
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.
Read More
‘Twas the week after Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring. That would be me, the sleeping creature. Everyone else was stirring. Anyway, the sound of my cell phone going to town interrupted my slumber.
Read More
#FaithfulFriday
While little is known of Joseph’s life, we do know that he was a man of high moral character. He would have to be in order to be the foster father of our Lord, Jesus. The Gospels tell us…
Down the old logging road we hiked, hoping it might take us back to where we’d parked the truck. After a while of walking, I don’t know how long, a woman approached us walking down the muddy road. I would’ve thought this suspicious under different circumstances, but she enchanted me as soon as I looked into her clear blue eyes.
Read More
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.
Read More
Something caught my eye; an old horseshoe nailed to the doorframe. I noticed that every door and window had a horseshoe similarly nailed above it. Most of the older houses in this area had a horseshoe over the doorway, so it wasn’t all that noteworthy at the time. However, typically the horseshoes are nailed to the outside of doorways, not the inside, and there was usually only one.
Read More
Without a doubt, one of the finest hymn writers in Protestant Christianity, Isaac Watts was born in 1674, while his father was imprisoned for his nonconformist beliefs. Though often in ill health and clinically depressed, Isaac Watts inherited his father’s steadfast character; a trait which kept him strong through fierce criticism, church splits and other hardships.
Read More
“Well, the Goat-Man is a half-man, half-goat monster who lives in the woods here in Swaggart County. They say if you see the Goat-Man, death is certain to follow by the next new moon. Folks have been seeing the Goat-Man.”
Read More
As soon as the moon’s rays touched our skin, we changed. Wolfish hair replaced bare human skin. We went down on all fours as claws supplanted nails. We howled into the star-studded sky, repeating the ritual that our ancestors had practiced since the days when Vikings ruled the seas. We were wolves.
Read More
yet he always sought to keep the middle ground between the factions. He was fond of saying “In necessary things, unity; in doubtful things, liberty; in all things, charity.”
Read More
#FaithfulFriday
Charles Chauncey was one of the austere clergymen of what would one day become the United States of America. Born in 1592 in Hertfordshire, England, Chauncey was known as something of a trouble-maker in the church of England.
#FaithfulFriday
Lancelot Andrewes was an Anglican bishop of Winchester, and a very important theologian of the English reformation. He was the most important scholar on the committee…
I have to admit I was nervous; all the monsters and demons I’d faced up to now, and I was scared of a regular woman. “You wanna grab a burger at Granny’s tonight?”
Read More
Just then, a blood-curdling scream tore through the library. Willow ran out of the ladies’ bathroom like the devil was after her.
“Whoa there, cowgirl, what’s the ruckus?” I asked.
“I looked in the mirror, and instead of my face, I saw this horrible, black monster face with red eyes!”
The hell hole was vanishing. Suddenly, a black, hairy arm thrust out of the darkness and grabbed me by the vest, yanking me into the hole.
“WALTER!” Conrad cried as I fell into the darkness.
LogoSophia Magazine 