“The Church is one which with increasing fecundity extends far and wide into the multitude, just as the rays of the sun are many but the light is one, and the branches of the tree are many but the strength is one founded in its tenacious root, and, when many...
St. Ephrem of Syria was a deacon, hymn-writer, and teacher of the early Church. Ephrem was born C. 306 at Nisibis, Mesopotamia, (modern-day Nusaybin, Turkey on the Syrian border). Nothing is known of his family, except that he wrote that his family was Christian. As a youth, he was mentored...
“When shall I be freed from the miserable slavery of vice? When Lord, shall I think of you alone? When shall I fully rejoice in you? When shall I be without hindrance, in true liberty, free from every grievance of mind and body? When will there be solid peace, undisturbed...
OBLATE BOY St. Bede was a monk, priest, historian, scholar, and a prolific and important translator and writer. Born c. 673, nothing is known of Bede’s parents. His birthplace was near the town of Wearmouth in present day northern England. He was brought by relatives at age seven to the...
“The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.” St. James the Apostle (James the Less) (1st century) “Urge those who have familiar speech with God to use much prayer, with much perseverance, for the stilling of the tempest that is now wrecking the whole world.” St. John Chrysostom...
“The Sacrament which you receive is effected by the words of Christ. Now if the words of Elijah had the power to call down fire from heaven, will not the words of Christ have the power to change the character [species] of the elements? You have read, in the account...
St. Gemma Galgani was an Italian laywoman and an extraordinary mystic. Gemma was born in 1878 to a pharmacist and his wife in the village of Camigliano, Italy, near the city of Lucca. She was one of eight children. Gemma’s mother died when she was a child, but not before...
“True repentance is to cease to sin.” St. Ambrose of Milan (4th century, Doctor of the Church) “Much time I had spent in vanity, and had wasted nearly all my youth acquiring the sort of wisdom made foolish by God. Then once, like a man roused from deep sleep, I...
St. Perpetua was an early martyr under Roman persecution, who is still remembered to our day. She was born Vivia Perpetua at Carthage about 181 A.D. The ancient city of Carthage was a large one and a prominent part of the Roman Empire, and it was located in North Africa...
