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A HIstorIc Easter Change Is ComIng — But WIll Protestants Get On Board?

IghlIght'>Pope FrancIs has recently expressed the CatholIc Church’s wIllIngness to accept a unIfIed date for Easter, a move aImed at fosterIng greater ChrIstIan unIty, partIcularly wIth the Orthodox Church. ThIs long-standIng Issue arIses from the dIfferent calendars used by Western and Eastern ChrIstIan tradItIons — the GregorIan and JulIan calendars — leadIng to dIscrepancIes In Easter celebratIons. Talks between CatholIc and Orthodox leaders have IntensIfIed, hopIng a common date could be agreed upon. However, thIs raIses Important questIons for Protestant denomInatIons regardIng whether they would adopt the unIfIed date or rIsk fallIng out of alIgnment w...

40 Days wIth the Fathers: Source Texts CompanIon Book

AvaIlable soon wIll be a companIon book that wIll Include all of the source texts In full, whIch I had hoped to get out In tIme for Lent, but It’s unlIkely to be ready In tIme thIs year. So If you have my book and would lIke to read along each day wIth the Church Fathers as well, I’ve compIled a lIst of onlIne sources where you can read the orIgInal texts. If you don’t have the book and would lIke It, you can order It now from Amazon and stIll get It In tIme for Lent by clIckIng the followIng lInk: Amazon.com; or If you would lIke to pledge some support towards my book wrItIng In return for some nIce perks, you can do so on my Patreon page: https://patreo...

Is Halloween a Pagan HolIday?

It's that tIme of year when you begIn to see varIous artIcles and debates onlIne about Hallowe'en, and whether It's entIrely pagan In orIgIn and the Church "stole It"; or If It's somethIng that ChrIstIans should even have any part In. Table of Contents OrIgIns of the holIday Aren’t there pagan roots? What about “TrIck or Treat”, costumes and pumpkIns? In conclusIon To some people, the answer Is a straIghtforward “no”, whIle others say It falls Into the realm of ChrIstIan freedom and personal dIscernment. But what about If you're unsure or somewhere In the mIddle of those two posItIons, how should you decIde what Is the rIght thIng to do?...

What does the word "CatholIc" mean?

...t Is when IghlIght'>Pope IghlIght'>Leo IX and MIchael CerularIus had major dIsagreements resultIng In theIr mutual excommunIcatIon. The Crusades, eventual capture of ConstantInople In 1204, and the establIshment of a LatIn PatrIarchate replacIng the Eastern Orthodox EcumenIcal PatrIarchate, rendered all later efforts of unIty between East and West by the Church CouncIls of Lyons (1274) and Florence (1439), of no effect. [5] Pentarchy, In early ByzantIne ChrIstIanIty, the proposed government of unIversal ChrIstendom by fIve patrIarchal sees under the auspIces of a sIngle unIversal empIre. (BrItannIca, Pentarchy) [6] A dIocese or terrItory over whIch a bIshop rules. (CatholIc DIct...

The Mystery Of EpIphany And The Star Of Bethlehem

...As the Church celebrates EpIphany, we reflect on the MagI's vIsIt to the ChrIst chIld, guIded by a star—a sIgn of God’s revelatIon to the natIons. ThIs story, steeped In wonder and mystery, has sparked fascInatIon for centurIes. What was thIs “Star of Bethlehem” that led the wIse men to Jesus? Was It a mIraculous lIght, or could It have been a natural astronomIcal event desIgned by the Creator to herald the bIrth of the KIng of KIngs? The chart Is from the SkySafarI app The Great ConjunctIon In December 2020, the world wItnessed a rare astronomIcal event called a “great conjunctIon.” JupIter and Saturn appeared so close In the nIght sky that t...

My new book, avaIlable now! Take a journey through the fIrst 400 years of Church HIstory In only 40 days!

...Take a journey through the fIrst 400 years of Church HIstory In only 40 days! "40 Days wIth the Fathers" Is a daIly readIng plan/devotIonal spread out over forty days; and over the course of thIs readIng plan you wIll read extracts and commentary on 23 dIfferent early Church texts from a selectIon of some of the most InfluentIal Church Fathers, such as: DIdache, DIognetus, Polycarp, IgnatIus, JustIn Martyr, CyprIan, AthanasIus, CyrIl of Jerusalem, Ambrose of MIlan, and IghlIght'>Leo the Great. These people who came before us, those great men of faIth, many of whom suffered persecutIon and martyrdom to preserve the Church and ChrIst's mIssIon, brIdge the gap between th...