Incarnate Love Invites Us

Christ is born!  Let heaven and earth rejoice!

Did You Know Series # 17

Dormition of the Theotokos

Did You Know?

“One important way to grow in mutual understanding and unity consists precisely in improving our knowledge of one another.  The children of the Catholic Church already know the ways indicated by the Holy See for achieving this: to know the liturgy of the Eastern Churches; to deepen their knowledge of the spiritual traditions of the Fathers and Doctors of the Christian East” (Orientale Lumen 24, Pope John Paul II).

The Feast of the Dormition of Mary and her Assumption into heaven was a feast of the East long before the Roman Catholic church accepted it.

Did You Know Series # 16

Did You Know?

“I have a keen desire that the words which Saint Paul addressed from the East to the faithful of the Church of Rome may resound today on the lips of Christians of the West with regard to their brothers and sisters of the Eastern Churches: ‘First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world’ (Rom 1:8).  The Apostle of the Gentiles then immediately and enthusiastically stated his intention: ‘For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine’ (Rom 1:11-12).  Here the dynamic of [East and West] meeting is wonderfully portrayed: knowledge of the treasures of [each] other’s faith” (Orientale Lumen 22, Pope John Paul II).

Christ is Risen!

Christ is Risen!  Christos anesti!  Christos Voskrese!

"We feel drawn to follow the example of Our Redeemer and Master, Jesus Christ, Who, when about to return to Heaven, implored of God, His Father, in earnest Prayer, that His Disciples and followers should be of one mind and of one heart: I pray . . . that they all may be one, as Thou Father in Me, and I in Thee: that they also may be one in Us.  And as this Divine Prayer and Supplication does not include only the souls who then believed in Jesus Christ, but also every one of those who were henceforth to believe in Him, this Prayer holds out to Us no indifferent reason for confidently expressing Our hopes, and for making all possible endeavors in order that the men of every race and clime should be called and moved to embrace the Unity of Divine Faith. . . . .

Nor is there any reason for you to fear on that account that We or any of Our Successors will ever diminish your rights, the privileges of your Patriarchs, or the established Ritual of any one of your Churches.  It has been and always will be the intent and Tradition of the Apostolic See, to make a large allowance, in all that is right and good, for the primitive Traditions and special customs of every nation." Pope Leo XIII Praeclara Gratulationis Publicae

Did You Know Series # 15



Feast of The Annunciation

 Did you know?

“It has been stressed several times that the full union of the Catholic Eastern Churches with the Church of Rome which has already been achieved must not imply a diminished awareness of their own authenticity and originality.  Wherever this occurred, the Second Vatican Council has urged them to rediscover their full identity, because they have ‘the right and the duty to govern themselves according to their own special disciplines.  For these are guaranteed by ancient tradition, and seem to be better suited to the customs of their faithful and to the good of their souls’” (Orientale Lumen 21, Pope John Paul II).

Great Lent

Today Great Lent commences.  The liturgical life is fundamentally one of imitating Jesus and sharing in the mystery of his life.  Driven by the Spirit, through prayer and fasting Jesus prepared himself for his future ministry.  Even throughout the next three years he spent his nights in prayer so as to constantly stay attuned to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Great Lent beckons us to get in tune with what's really driving us and to examine how attuned we are to the Spirit of Holiness.

Did You Know Series # 14

Presentation of the Lord

Did you know?

“It has been stressed several times that the full union of the Catholic Eastern Churches with the Church of Rome which has already been achieved must not imply a diminished awareness of their own authenticity and originality. Wherever this occurred, the Second Vatican Council has urged them to rediscover their full identity, because they have ‘the right and the duty to govern themselves according to their own special disciplines. For these are guaranteed by ancient tradition, and seem to be better suited to the customs of their faithful and to the good of their souls’” (Orientale Lumen 21, Pope John Paul II).

Did You Know Series # 13

Theophany of the Lord

Did you know?

“The Church of Christ is one.  If divisions exist, that is one thing; they must be overcome, but the Church is one, the Church of Christ between East and West can only be one, one and united. . . . . . True union is possible only in total respect for the other’s dignity without claiming that the whole array of uses and customs in the Latin Church is more complete or better suited to showing the fullness of correct doctrine” (Orientale Lumen 20, Pope John Paul II).