4 out of 5 US Catholics functionally Protestant (Rod Dreher)

The stats are in: 4 out of 5 US Catholics functionally Protestant. Can this be the case?

Excerpt:

The old joke has it that Jews live like Episcopalians but vote like Puerto Ricans. Now it seems that despite their bishops' pro-life exhortations, Catholics are breaking big for Obama, and starting to vote predictably like Jews.

Story from Rod Dreher.

Churches installing cell phone jammers

Thanks be to God. There is nothing worse than this.

MSNBC - Churches installing cell phone jammers.

Top Ten Things to do for a Catholic Halloween

10. Don't call it "Satan's Holiday"!
There are many Christians who have written off Halloween as some sort of diabolical black mass. It's the vigil of a Christian holy day: All Hallows' Eve or All Saints Eve. Has it been corrupted by our culture and consumer market? You bet. However, Christmas has also been derailed by the culture. Does that mean that we're going hand over Christmas? No way! Same goes for Halloween. The Church does not surrender what rightfully belongs to her - she wins it back!

9. Don't feel that you have to opt for an "Halloween alternative".
Many churches (particularly Protestant ones) are now how hosting "Fall Festivals" (or worse, "Reformation Day"). I've been to several and they are particularly good if you have toddlers who otherwise wouldn't enjoying walking around the neighborhood "trick or treating". Unless you have seriously hesitations about your neighborhood, why not join your neighbors? It could be a great opportunity to get to know them and spark up some relationships. I've gotten to know some neighborhood dads as we stand out on the curb and watch our kids go up and the ring the door bells of every house on the street.

8. Be safe.
Check all the candy. Have the kids wear glow sticks. Dress warm. Stick together.

7. Be hospitable - Why not host the neighborhood party?
Christians are supposed to be hospitable, right? Why not host a Trick or Treating after party at your house with hot chocolate and coffee for the adults. Open up your house or back yard for games. Remember bobbing for apples?

6. Don't be turned off by the ghoulish-ness of Halloween.
Every great Catholic cathedral has gargoyles carved into its stone work. Illuminated manuscripts are also full of ghouls in the margins. Catholics are into this kind of stuff. Why? Because Christ has conquered death and the devil. After Christ, death has lost its sting. Also, All Saints day is followed by All Souls day so it's okay to be a little macabre. (By the way the word "macabre" comes from Maccabees - those two books in the Catholic Bible that Protestants through out.) And if you live in an Hispanic area like I do, you've got the whole Dia de Muertos to play up.

5. Have fun, don't force converts.
Look, nobody likes to get a religious tract in their candy sack. Don't pass out religious literature. Give out big handfuls of candy and the extra large candy bars, if you can. In the long run, you will make more converts with your charity. After all, you'll be known as "the house that always gives out good candy".

4. Have a bonfire!
We Catholics used to specialize in bonfires. If you have the land and it's legal, stoke up a blaze. If you're kids are older why not set out a bunch of glowing jack-o-lanterns and roast marshmallows over a blazing-hot fire? If someone can play the fiddle, all the better.

3. Carve some fine looking Jack-O-Lanterns.
This is a no-brainer. Download some fancy cutting patterns from the web. Spend time as a family carving out some pumpkins. Put some candles in them and let them burn outside your house for a week or so before Halloween. My kids always like to see who has jack-o-lanterns in front of their house. Do you want to make friends in the neighborhood? Have a carving party and give a prize to the best jack-o-lantern.

2. Visit the graves of your loved ones
This applies more to All Souls Day (Nov 2) than it does to All Saints Day (Nov 1). Still the point is to remember our loved ones and to pray for those who have died marked with the sign of faith. Death is not the last word. Christ has overcome death by His own sorrowful passion and death through the resurrection. That is is the source of our hope and strength of all the saints.

1. Be holy.
If you persevere in the love and grace of God, you too shall be a saint. The whole point of "All Hallows" is to remind us to be "hallowed" or "sanctified". Most of us won't have our own particular feast day and so All Saints Day will be our feast day. It is the feast day for most of the Church's saints, those who lived peaceably, followed Christ, loved their families, accomplished their duties in life and passed on to the next life. May their prayers be with us.

Have other Halloween ideas? Share them in the comment box.

Protestant Questions about Catholicism

A Protestant (ThinkingGal) recently asked these questions in the comments box. I feel that they deserve an answer:

Why are the nations with people committed to the Catholic church the most poor?

TRM: Because in the past 500 years, historically Catholic nations have persecuted the Church and weakened their cultures and economic strength (e.g. Spanish Civil War, Mexican Revolution, French Revolution, etc.).

Why do most of my Catholic friends have such a poor knowledge of the Bible?

TRM: The best Bible scholars of the world are Catholics. Some monks have the entire book of Psalms memorized. How's that for Scripture memorization?!

Are they prevented from reading it?

TRM: No, we are encouraged to read the Bible. Saint Jerome once said: "Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." We are discouraged from reading false translations. The story about Catholics being forbidden to read the Bible comes from the middle ages where Catholics were forbidden to read the false translation of the Bible created by the heretical and gnostic Albigensians. Every Catholic Mass has as many as three Scripture readings and four on Sundays.

Is not Jesus our mediator now, sitting at the right hand of God, interceding for us?

TRM: Every time we pray the Rosary we say that Jesus Christ "ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty". We also recite this every Sunday in Holy Mass. Moreover, Jesus Christ is the sole mediator between God and men. The Catholic Church teaches that Christ is the one mediator between God and men. However, human being may pray for one another, so long as they pray through Jesus Christ (since he's the mediator). Mary and the saints are human and they can pray for us just as we pray for one another one earth. Saints don't bypass Christ in their prayers. They pray through Christ, just as we pray through Christ. Christ remains the me

Jesus died once and for all. We cannot hold people hostage with indulgences.

TRM: Jesus did die once for all. The Catholic Church also teaches this. Indulgences do not pertain to remitting the eternal punishment of sin. Christ's death on the cross remitted the eternal guilt and punishment of sin.

Indulgences do not pertain to this act of justification. Rather, indulgences are acts of piety that move us along the path of sanctification. For example, the Pope has said that if you read the Bible for 30 minutes, you can receive an indulgence. The idea is that this act of piety will bring you closer to Christ so that you heart will be conformed to Christ. As a result, you will need less purification in the after life (i.e. Purgatory).

I appreciate your affection for the Catholic church in principal. However, all the trappings make me very uncomfortable.

TRM: I once felt the same way. I used to be a vigorous Protestant who was revolted by the trappings of the Catholic Church. However, I was once challenged to actually investigate the teaching of the Catholic Church by reading Catholic theologians. I had acquired my impression of Catholicism from anti-Catholic Protestants and so I didn't actually know what Catholic Church taught for herself. Once I saw how Scriptural Catholicism was, I had to convert. It is the true Bible Church.

Gay Marriage and the Word "Matrimony"

Besides writing here at Canterbury Tales, I also represent "the Catholic perspective" over at Culture 11.

I recently wrote about how we we must constantly refer to "Holy Matrimony" when dialoguing about "gay marriage". "Matrimony" is a loaded term and it excludes "gay marriage". The term "matrimony" derives from the Latin word matrimonium.

Matrimonium comes from two words: mater ("mother") and monium (a suffix signifying "action, state, condition").

In other words, "matrimony" infers procreation! The term infers that someone is going to become a "mother". The term naturally denotes a heterosexual relationship. Consequently, we should learn to lean on this word as we debate "gay marriage", because "gay matrimony" is an impossibility.

Would you please consider helping me. Recently, my article is under attack. Would you please considering visiting the site and defending traditional marriage. Currently, the comments are more negative than they are positive. You can read the comments by clicking here.

Unbaptized Babies that Die: Five Theories (Limbo Part III)

Infants in Natural Beatitude?

{Continued from Limbo Part I and Limbo Part II. However, you may want to read this post first before reading Parts I and II.}

What happens to unbaptized babies when they die? Here are five theories that are typically proposed to answer this question:

Theory #1: Limbo or the State of Natural Beatitude

This is the position endorsed by the Popes and Doctors of the Catholic Church. Children are conceived in original sin. Original sin is the absence of sanctifying grace in the soul. It is a deprivation of grace. Accordingly, the soul cannot see God. Theologians posited that since unbaptized infants are without personal sin, they can not justly be punished in the fires of Hell. However, since they are without grace, they must exist in a pleasant state of nature. This pleasant state of nature away from the supernatural presence of God was identified with the outer rim of Hell. The Latin word for this out edge or rim being "Limbus".

Limbo of the Fathers was the place where the Patriarchs of the Old Testament awaited the descent of Christ. It is described as being cool and having water (cf. Luke 16:21-33). Christ emptied Limbo on Holy Saturday when Christ descended and escorted the Old Testament faithful to the beatific vision ("When he ascended on high he led a host of captives" Eph 4:8).

The Limbo of the children is also a realm of natural beatitude in which the souls of infant dwell in perfect natural happiness, yet without the beatific vision of God. These souls receive no torture or pain, but because they lack sanctifying grace they cannot be deified so as to see the vision of God like the saints in Heaven. 

Limbo is the majority position in the history of the Catholic Church and bears the approbation of theologians, saints, doctors, and popes.

For example, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Universal Doctor of the Church, defends Limbo of the infants here and here.

Theory #2: Vicarious Baptism by Desire (Cardinal Cajetan)

The Church officially teaches that there is salvation through "baptism by desire". Accordingly, people preparing for baptism may be saved even though they did not receive the sacrament of baptism before death. If such a person should die before being baptized, they are not excluded from Heaven on a technicality. Instead, they are considered "baptized by desire".

{I should add that baptism by desire is not as efficacious as baptism by water. Baptism by desire removes the guilt of sins, but not the temporal punishment due to sins. Sacramental water baptism removes all guilt and all temporal punishment due to sin. St Thomas Aquinas explains those who receive only baptism by desire may still go to Purtatory in STh III, q. 68, a. 2, ad 2}

Obviously, Catholic parents desire for their infant to be baptized. If the infant should die before baptism, one could perceive that the infant received "baptism by desire". In the case of infant baptism, the infant is baptized through profession of faith by the parents and godparents. Why wouldn't the child receive "baptism by desire" through the same intention of the parents? The position was once explored by Thomas Cardinal Cajetan (1469-1534). However, Pope Saint Pius V condemned the position and had this passaged removed from Cajetan's works!

Note especially that this theory of vicarious baptism of desire only applies to the infants of Christians, and not to all infants without exception. In order order to apply it to all infants, one would have to adopt the third theory...

Theory #3: Blessed Mary as Mother and Sponsor of Infants

Similar to the view above except that Mary serves as the adoptive mother, guardian, sponsor, and godparent of every conceived infant in virtue of her status as "Mother of Christ" and "New Eve". As a human person and a human mother, she adopts all conceived children, wanted or unwanted. She desires the baptism of each and so each infant receives a baptism by desire. As Spouse of the Holy Spirit, her role as a human parent extends to the initiating sacrament of the Holy Spirit, that is to say, Holy Baptism.

Unfortunately, this theory is extremely speculative and assumes that vicarious baptism by desire is, in fact, possible. The Catholic Church has historically been suspicious of vicarious baptism by desire.

Theory #4: Baptism by Blood (hypothetically, in the case of abortion and infanticide)

The Catholic Church also teaches that unbaptized martyrs will be saved through "baptism by blood". In this case, a person is martyred for their Christian profession before the victim has received baptism.

Some, wrongly wish to apply baptism of blood to aborted infants. The idea is this: Satan hates infants because he was conquered by God becoming and infant in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Thus, Satan seeks to destroy all infants.

Just as the Holy Innocents were murdered by Herod in Bethlehem at the time of Christ's birth, so all aborted babies die for the cause of Christ. On account of this, they are accounted as martyrs just as the Catholic Church reckons the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem as martyrs.

This theory cannot be the case since aborted babies did not die for the sake of Christ. If being murdered amounts to martyrdom, then technically any murdered person is also a martyr. Yet this is false.

This theory is not Catholic and must be rejected, because "martyrdom" is defined as a murder for the sake of Christ or for the Catholic Faith. Yet this theory implies that every crime of violence is a crime in hatred of Christ and/or the Catholic Faith, which is not the case. It also implies that abortion mills are places of great grace since the town's local abortion mill is a open gateway to Heaven. Worst of all, it implies that abortionists send more souls to Heaven than does the local Catholic priest who stands at the baptismal font.

Theory #5: "God-works-in-mysterious-ways-and-He-is-merciful" Theory

This theory states that God redeems all unbaptized infants without exception simply because He is merciful. God is the God of the orphan and widow. Since dead infants are in a sense orphans, they receive a special act of grace and are regenerated by Holy Spirit. God's desire to save all men entails that He extends the grace of new birth to those who are unable to make a decision on their own part.

This theory is rather weak and appeals to sentimentalism. It also ignores the teaching of Christ in John 3:3-5 where our Lord teaches that the sacrament of baptism is absolutely necessary.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the theory of Limbo is the strongest when we weigh the the scriptural, historical, and sacramental evidence. That unbaptized infants go to a state of pure natural beatitude (limbus) is the position held by:

St Anselm
St Peter Damien
St Bernard of Clairvaux
Peter Lombard
St Albert the Great
St Thomas Aquinas
St Bonaventure
Bl John Duns Scotus
St Anthony Padua

Francisco Suarez

Pope St Pius V

St Lawrence of Brindisi
St Francis de Sales
St John of the Cross
St Peter Canisius
St Robert Bellarmine
St Alphonsus Liguori
Pope St Pius X

These are the greatest intellects of the Catholic Church, so we might consider showing a humble deference to them.

Maccabean priesthood and the Melchizedek priesthood

The Jewish apocryphal book of Jubilees and the Assumption of Moses, as well as Josephus (Ant. 16. 6. 2), identify the non-Zadakite priesthood of the Maccabees as belonging to the “priesthood of Melchizedek". R.H. Charles (editor of the Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament) states the Maccabean high-priests co-opted the title “Priest of the Most High God” in imitation of Melchizedek:

“Now the Maccabean high-priests were the first Jewish priests to assume the title ‘priests of the Most High God’—the title anciently borne by Melchizedek, and applied to the Maccabean high-priests in Jubilees, the Assumption of Moses, Josephus, and the Talmud. A kindred title of the same significance is applied according to a growing body of expositors to Simon the Maccabee in Ps. 110. In due accord with these facts our text (T. Lev. 8:14) declares that a new name should mark the new priesthood." (1)

This is huge because it indicates that at beginning the Maccabean revolt a Jewish tradition arose with the assertion that a Zadokite priesthood could be displaced by a Melchizedek priesthood! The Melchizedek priesthood of the first-born is the original form of Abrahamaic priesthood. Second Temple Israelites had developed an implicit understanding that the priesthood of offering one’s own body and blood on Mount Moriah (Abraham offering his body and blood (Isaac) > Jesus offering his body and blood) as the efficacious priesthood.

(1) Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament. Edited by R. H. Charles (2004), 2: 289.

Would Christ redistribute wealth or support abortion?

This is a pretty interesting article by David Stotts (of Drive Through History and Cold Water Media).

"Would Christ redistribute wealth or support abortion?" by David Stotts

What about the Natural Law from Adam to Moses?

St. Paul's train of thought moves swiftly in the fifth chapter of Romans. One of the most intriguing passages is in verse 13 where St. Paul teaches that "sin is not counted where there is no law."

St. Paul teaches that the time between Adam and Moses was a unique dispensation.

Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned - sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. (Rom 5:12-14).

Here is the line of thought, after Adam men were sinning and they died, but sin was not "counted" because the law had not been given. I think the reference to Moses in v. 14 reveals that "law" here means the Law of Moses. What is this supposed to mean?

If I may take a stab at it, St. Paul sees a connection to the probation and failure of Adam with the probation and failure of Israel at the time of Moses. In a sense, Israel recapitulates Adam's failure. The High Priest, the priests, the Levites, and all the Israelites are New Adams. The Tabernacle/Temple is a New Eden. These New Adams fail and so God removes them from their New Eden by destroying the Temple in 586 B.C.

By sin "counting" or "not counting", St. Paul refers to probationary periods where covenant fidelity fails. Adam's sin "counted" because it brought sin and death into the world. Sin under the Law of Moses "counted" because it revealed Israel was unable to bring "light to the nations" and universal devotion to the God of Israel.

It is not that men between Adam and Moses were not guilty of their sins because they hadn't heard of the Law of Moses. On the contrary, God judged men at the flood for their sins because of their guilt.

Men and women were culpable of their sins on account of Natural Law and their consciences bearing witness to that law (see Rom 1-3). Here, "sin counting" has to do with the possibility of universal redemption, or in the case of Adam and Israel, universal darkness.

If you're interested in the relationship between Natural Law and the Old Law, see Saint Thomas Aquinas Summa theologiae I-II qq 98-99.

Mark Brumley on the Deity of Christ and Jehovah's Witnesses

I just finished teaching a few classes on Christology. We analyzed the Arian history and the students were surprised to learn that Arianism is still alive in the twenty-first century in the ranks of the Jehovah's Witnesses. The Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs) believe that Christ is a created being who is god-like, but certainly not divine.

If you press the JW, he will tell you that Jesus Christ is the archangel Michael - the chief of the heavenly host, but not consubstantial with the Father. This can easily be refuted by examining the chronology of events as listed in 1 Thess 4:14-18.

The chief error of the JWs is their mistranslation of John 1:1-3. I could go through it all, but Mark Brumley (President of Ignatius Press) has a clear and concise article about how John 1:1-3 confirms the deity of Christ and even unpacks the significance of the Colwell Rule. The Colwell Rule is a rule of Greek grammar that conclusively debunks the JWs false claim that Christ is merely "somewhat divine" and not "God from God". If you're interested in this debate, take a look at Mark Brumley's article: "The God or a god?" over at Catholic Answers.

If you do meet a JW, mention the Colwell rule but also ask him or her to give an account of why Paul prays to Christ if Christ is not God. I once stumped a zealous JW on this point when he tried to "evangelize" me on a rather long flight.

Cicero and Temple Cosmology

What is Temple Cosmology? Temple Cosmology is the belief that earthly temples or shrines are microcosms (literally "little universes) of the universe.

A temple is a model of the universe whereby appointed agents (priests or priestesses) enter to approach the divine. They are gates to heaven. What occurs in a temple is supposed to occur in the cosmos.

The Old Covenant tabernacle and Davidic Temple operated in the same way. I can't go into this in detail at the moment, but I have put together a podcast on the topic. Please take a listen to Jewish Temple, Catholic Cathedral to get the gist of it.

[Listen to Jewish Temple, Catholic Cathedral mp3 by clicking here.]

The concept of "Temple Cosmology" is found in the Old Testament and described in detail by Philo of Alexandria. It entails the Platonic idea of participation - so much so that many of the Church Fathers believed that Plato received his doctrine of participation by reading the account of the construction of the tabernacle in the Hebrew Bible with Plato was in Egypt.

[Read "Justin Martyr on Plato’s dependence on Moses" by Taylor Marshall (Canterbury Tales)]

I recently found an exceptional passage in Cicero's De Re Publica in which he follows the Stoic doctrine that the universe as both a "home" and "temple" (domus and templum).

Take for example De re publica VI, 15:

"No so, for unless that God, whose temple is everything that you see..."

"Nisi enim deus is, cuius hoc templum est omne, quod conspicis..."

It's worth noting that the "god" in question is identified by Cicero as the "princeps deus" (VI, 13, 26), "deus arcens (VI, 17), and "deus aeternus" (VI, 26). Cicero is referring here not the pantheon of Roman gods but to the "chief god" who dwells in the "temple" of the universe.

Moreover, Cicero refers to the earth's place in the universe as "that sphere in the middle of the temple" (illum globum, quem in hoc templo medium).

By no means do I wish to suggest that Cicero was a proto-Christian. He certainly held scorn for the body and believes that souls are fashioned from the eternal fires of the stars. His notion of the "supreme God" seems to be pantheistic, as well. However, I do wish to shed light on the fact that Cicero is a pre-Christian, non-Jewish, Roman witness to the idea of "Temple Cosmology".

Cicero on Man as the likeness of God

I am reading Cicero's De re publica (On the Republic) and De legibus (On the Laws) for a text seminar at the University of Dallas.

Today, I came across an interesting passage in De legibus which comes close to the doctrine of man being made in the image and likeness of God. It should be stated that Cicero's doctrine of God is Stoic and approximates pantheism. Nevertheless, Cicero's statement about the relationship between men and God is impressive:

"Virtue is nothing else than Nature perfected and developed to its highest point. Therefore there is a likeness between man and God" (Cicero, De legibus I, viii, 25).

The word Cicero uses is "similitudo": est igitur homini cum deo similitudo.

Just prior to this passage, Cicero articulates the cosmological argument in favor for belief in God.

Keep in mind that Cicero wrote before Christ. His philosophical works are a testament as to what natural man can know. Cicero surely dwells in Limbo - to say the least.

What does 'Israel' mean?

What does 'Israel' mean? The word יִשְרָאֵל‎ (Yisrael) is Hebrew for "Struggles with God" since Jacob after he wrestled with the angel of the Lord (Genesis 32:28).

Here are the meanings of some other well-known Old Testament figures:

Adam - either comes from adam meaning blood or adamah meaning earth.
Eve - living
Abraham - father of many nations
Sarah - princess
Isaac - he laughs
Rachel - ewe
Moses - drawn out
David - beloved
Elijah - Yah is God
Elisha - God is salvation
Isaiah - Salvation is Yah

Testimony and Testicles - The Oath of Abraham's Servant

You may also like these articles:

• The Mystical Significance of the Fish in Jonah
• Christ's blood over the doors of our mouths (from St. Chrysostom)
• Seven reasons why Christ died on a wooden cross (from the Church Fathers)

In Genesis 24:2-9, we read of how Abraham instructed his chief servant to "place his hand under his thigh" and swear an oath. This oath was an important one because it indicated that Abraham's covenantal son (Isaac) should marry a monotheist and not one of the idolatrous Canaanite women. This oath "under the thigh" secured the monotheistic tradition of the Abraham's descendants.

[2] And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who had charge of all that he had, "Put your hand under my thigh,
[3] and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell,
[4] but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac."
[5] The servant said to him, "Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land; must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?"
[6] Abraham said to him, "See to it that you do not take my son back there.
[7] The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and swore to me, `To your descendants I will give this land,' he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.
[8] But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there."
[9] So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

The placing of one's hand under the "thigh" is a euphemistic way to refer to swearing upon the testicles of the master. The testicles are the sign of Abraham's descendants (they literally contained the "seed" that God had promised to bless in Genesis 15, 17, 22).

By placing his hand there, the servant of Abraham made a solemn oath concerning the blessed progeny of Abraham. This association between testicles and testimony is not particularly Semitic or Jewish. Although the etymology is contested by some (e.g famed etymologist Carl Darling Buck), the word Latin word testes is identical to the same word for "witnesses". It may be that testis derives from tri-literal roots ter ("three") and stas ("stand") referring to the ancient custom that a testimony comes three witnesses who stand in court (Hat tip to Michael Bolin, Ph.D. Cand. for this insight).

This etymological connection between testicles and witnesses is also found in Greek, French, and obviously English. The Abrahamic Covenant in general is sealed upon the genitals of Abraham and his descendants. It's not a "yucky" practice but a powerful sign of the powers of generation in the bringing about of redemption in God's economy. Circumcision is a sign that points to the promised Seed of Redemption, originating in the promise of Genesis 3:15. Circumcision is no longer necessary, because Christ has been born. Christ was the last to receive true circumcision because the sign was completed and fulfilled in Him. Thus, Christians receive baptism alone when they enter into the New Covenant of Christ. Saint Paul explains that the benefit of circumcision is received by the Christian through baptism (cf. Col 2:10-11).

You may also like these articles:

• The Mystical Significance of the Fish in Jonah
• Christ's blood over the doors of our mouths (from St. Chrysostom)
• Seven reasons why Christ died on a wooden cross (from the Church Fathers)

Where is Saint Jerome's body?

WDTPRS has an interesting post about the remains of Saint Jerome at Santa Maria Maggiore.

Click here.