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Is Halloween a Pagan Holiday?

...tle 36 of Cyprian, he states that the Church should take note of the days on which the martyrs are killed: Finally, also, take note of their days on which they depart, that we may celebrate their commemoration among the memorials of the martyrs … there are celebrated here by us oblations and sacrifices for their commemorations There are also other early references to this practice in sermons by Ephrem the Syrian (373 AD) and John Chrysostom (407 AD), so we can see from the existing historical documents that celebrating the lives of martyrs and “saints” has been long observed within the Church, with the first record being in what is now modern-day Tur...

The Relationship Between Jesus and Sophia

...made.– Cyprian, The Treatises of Cyprian But we don’t even have to look that far in history to see this link, as Paul says it explicitly in 1 Corinthians 1:24: “…Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”. This “Sophia”/Wisdom, as seen in the Old Testament Scriptures, was well established in Jewish thought by the time of Christ, so obviously the earliest followers of Jesus made the connection, which also followed through into the Early Church exegesis and teaching about Christ as the Wisdom of God, as we have just seen. John’s Gospel is the one that most closely makes the link between the contemporary thought of Wisdom and the Word of Go...

Did a Roman Catholic priest perform 'invalid' baptisms for years?

...d, during Cyprian (250) and Augustine’s time (400) concerning the very same predicament. If we read more of Augustine’s work, On Baptism Against the Donatists, it’s as though he is speaking into this very issue today: Supposing, then, that it were shown that some persons were baptised when these [erroneous] prayers had been uttered over the water, will they be bidden to be baptised afresh? Why not? Because generally the fault in the prayer is more than counterbalanced by the intent of him who offers it; and those fixed words of the gospel (Matt 28:19), without which baptism cannot be consecrated, are of such efficacy, that, by their virtue, anything fault...

The Eighth Day

...t”; and Cyprian who wrote that this was also the fulfilment of the Jewish practice of circumcision on the eighth day after birth (Genesis 17:12) which was a shadow of Christ rising from the dead to give us “the circumcision of the Spirit”. This symbolism and spiritual fulfillment carries on throughout various early authors too, and is also sometimes referred to as the “Lord’s Day”, which is a phrase you might recognise from Revelation 1:10 too. But every Lord's day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. Didache 14:1   As early as Acts, we...

American Gun Violence and the Early Church on War and Violence

...  — Cyprian ~250 AD “The servants of God do not rely for their protection on material defenses but on the pine Providence.”  — Ambrose 338-397 AD I don't have an answer to this cultural problem, and I'm not sure we can ever fully solve the issues of gun violence in the States now; but one thing that I do know is this: the Church in America needs to repent of its idolatry of guns, turn back to God and focus on the love of Christ again, and not on the weapons of destruction. Even if the rest of society clings to their guns, the Church should be the ones clinging to the Prince of Peace instead, and rejecting anything that could cause another...

40 Days with the Fathers: Source Texts Companion Book

..., Twenty: Cyprian, On the Unity of the Church http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/050701.htm Day Twenty-one to Twenty-nine: Athanasius, Life of Anthony http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2811.htm Day Thirty: Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures XIX http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310119.htm Day Thirty-one: Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures XX http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310120.htm Day Thirty-two: Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures XXI http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310121.htm Day Thirty-three: Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures XXII http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310122.htm Day Thirty-four: Cyri...