Hint: it wasn’t an attempt to co-opt solar festivals: Christmas, the argument goes, is really a spin-off from these pagan solar festivals. According to this theory, early Christians deliberately chose these dates to encourage the spread of Christmas and Christianity throughout the Roman world: If Christmas looked like a pagan holiday, more pagans would be… Continue reading How December 25 Became Christmas
Category: Around St Blog’s
St. Jude and the Shroud of Turin
This is SO COOL: A third century Syrian text mentions a cloth that is associated with the miraculous cure of King Abgar V, ruler of Edessa (13-59 A.D.), now called Urfa, in southeastern Turkey. This story was translated almost verbatim by Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, in his Ecclesiastical History in 325 A.D. …Thaddeus brought a… Continue reading St. Jude and the Shroud of Turin
“Jesu, Jesu, Jesu, Have Mercy on Me”
From The American Catholic: Today is the feast day of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, canonized by Pope Paul VI on October 25, 1970. These very brave men and women were martyred for the True Faith in England and Wales between 1535 and 1679, and they are representative of hundreds of Catholics in… Continue reading “Jesu, Jesu, Jesu, Have Mercy on Me”
A list of lists
1. Jen: 20 Things I learned in my week without my computer 2. Fr. Thomas Hopko: 55 Maxims for Christian Living
Really, Bishop Hubbard? Seriously?
Bishop Hubbard supports Cap and Trade. I guess he thinks upstate NY families don’t need to be able to pay their heating bills.
Don’t know if I should laugh or cry
Making Babies: A Very Different Look at Natural Family Planning But another reason for NFP’s allegedly high success rate is that couples who use it are prepared to welcome children and so don’t blame NFP for unexpected pregnancies. Four of my own five children came the NFP way — that is, totally unexpectedly — and… Continue reading Don’t know if I should laugh or cry
The Anchoress – A Must Read Now!
Caritas in Veritate, by B-16 & Pixar The Pixar short is adorable and the tie-in to the new encyclical is inspiring brings tears to my eyes (yeah, a little inspiration goes a long way with me, alright?) There’s also a great round-up of commentary on Caritas in Veritate.
So, you don’t want to be a DB?
Let Mr. Kellemeyer show you how it’s done: For instance, I began to realize that the assertion, “I can have sex without wanting a child” was logically absurd. It’s like saying, “I can eat ice cream all day without wanting to get fat.” Sure, you can. But what does your “want” have to do with… Continue reading So, you don’t want to be a DB?