[The following rule is attributed to St Columba, 521–597, and reflects the spirit of early Irish monasticism.] Be alone in a separate place near a chief city, if thy conscience is not prepared to be in common with the crowd. Be always single-minded in your imitation of Christ and the Evangelists. Whatsoever little or much … Continue reading “RULE
OF FAITH”
ROMANS, PAUL’S LETTER TO THE
It is the profoundest piece of writing in existence. Samuel Taylor Coleridge
SACRAMENTS
If anyone says that the sacraments of the New Law are not necessary for salvation but are superfluous, and that without them or without the desire of them men obtain from God through faith alone the grace of justification, though all are not necessary for each one, let him be anathema. Council of Trent
PURGATORY
We believe … That the souls, by the purifying compensation are purged after death. Council of Lyons II (1274): “If they have died repentant for their sins and having love of God, but have not made satisfaction for things they have done or omitted by fruits worthy of penance, then their souls, after death, are … Continue reading “PURGATORY”
PUNISHMENT
God in His supreme goodness and clemency, by no means allows anyone to be punished with eternal punishments who does not have the guilt of voluntary fault. Pius IX
POPES
Furthermore, in this one Church of Christ no man can be or remain who does not accept, recognize and obey the authority and supremacy of Peter and his legitimate successors. Did not the ancestors of those who are now entangled in the errors of Photius and the reformers, obey the Bishop of Rome, the chief … Continue reading “POPES”
MARY’S INTERCESSION
With the Mediator, you are the Mediatrix of the entire world. Ephraem The Lord said to his mother, “Let your heart rejoice and be glad, for every favor and every gift has been given to you from my Father in heaven and from me and from the Holy Spirit. Every soul that calls upon your … Continue reading “MARY’S
INTERCESSION”
MARY’S INTERCESSION, DEFINITION OF
Though she enjoys the glory of heaven, the Virgin Mary is still lovingly concerned with the struggles of Christ’s Body on earth. So she constantly prays for our needs with a mother’s love. Benedict brothers
MARY’S ASSUMPTION
Therefore the Virgin is immortal to this day, seeing that he who had dwelt in her transported her to the regions of her assumption. Timothy of Jerusalem And from that time forth all knew that the spotless and precious body had been transferred to paradise. John the Theologian
MARY’S ASSUMPTION, DEFINITION OF
Mary, the immaculate perpetually Virgin Mother of God, after the completion of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into the glory of heaven. Pope Pius XII, 1950