Brother Reginald, the personal assistant to St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1275), once spied the great theologian in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. According to Brother Reginald’s account, Thomas was agonizing over whether he had written accurately of the central mystery of our faith, the Eucharist, and was presenting his concerns to the Lord. At that [...]
A few years ago I had the privilege of standing in the sacristy of a Ukrainian church watching a priest friend of mine prepare for Mass. The wonderful liturgies of the Church’s eastern rites (the Byzantine, Maronite, Ukrainian and others) express a richness and complexity of worship that contrasts with the simplicity of the [...]
Do angels intervene in sacraments? We know from our earliest instructions in the faith that angels exist and are concerned about our welfare. Anyone who has learned the traditional Guardian Angel Prayer (“Angel of God”) knows that they are sent “to light, to guard, to rule and guide” us throughout life. (See the text [...]
If you were to ask a “bible only” preacher if he owns a hand-written copy of the bible in Greek dating back to the fourth century AD, he may be quite confused. A bible…uh…in Greek? Even sincere “bible only” believers may never have thought about where the bible actually came from. Your question may [...]
What is a “codex”, you ask? Good question. In simplest terms, it’s a book. Hold on! That is true, but it doesn’t quite explain the full reality of an ancient codex, precisely when we're talking about the famous Codex Sinaiticus, which has special significance for those of us who read the Bible. (When you [...]