The Byzantine Liturgical Year kicks off with two feasts that are also observed, on the same dates, in the Roman Rite: the Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos and the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The latter, which we observe today (September 14), is an appropriately paradoxical feast, being also a fast.
Today is the celebration the birth of Mary, the Mother of our Lord. This feast is observed on September 8 in both the Roman and Byzantine rites. The Gospel appointed for the feast, in the Roman Rite, is Matthew 1:1-16. This passage, like Luke 3:23-38, presents the genealogy of Jesus.Ā
Our first article at Called to Communion called attention to the sanctification of time in the Reformed tradition; namely, the observance of the first day of the week, Sunday, as the Christian Sabbath. Although there are some differences between Catholics and Reformed Protestants concerning the meaning and observance of the Lord’s Day, there is general […]
The Scripture readings for today’s liturgy provide a biblical basis for the papacy, as John Bergsma explains. But as a Protestant, I was not able to see those verses as providing that basis, until I read Plato’s Republic. Of the various philosophical factors that helped me become Catholic, one was teaching through Plato’s Republic. I […]
Brent Stubbs This is a guest post by Brent Stubbs, in which he reviews Christian Smith’s recent book The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture. Brent is a convert to the Catholic Church from the Pentecostal tradition. However, his theology became Reformed while he was pursuing a BA […]
Today, August 15, is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven. On this day, the universal Church celebrates what took place at the end of our Blessed Mother’s earthly life. “The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and […]
Called To Communion readers might already be familiar with Devin Rose, who is no stranger to the combox here; but if not, please visit Devinās blog. Devin is a convert from atheism to Christianity first, and from Evangelical Christianity to Catholicism. He is now an up and coming Catholic author and apologist. Devin recently signed […]
Terry Johnson Terry Johnson, senior minister of Independent Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Savannah, Ga., wrote an article titled “Our Collapsing Ecclesiology” in the March issue of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church’s magazine New Horizons. The article is well worth reading, because it examines the recent trends in Evangelicalism away from attendance in Sunday morning services, even […]
Stephen Beck Stephen Beck was raised Evangelical, but read his way into the Reformed world. He became a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and then the Presbyterian Church in America. Stephen and his family were received into the Catholic Church on the Easter Vigil of 2011 at St. Andrew’s by the Bay Catholic Church […]
I first read G.K. Chestertonās Orthodoxy about seven years ago. DespiteĀ the anti-Calvinist rhetoric throughout the book, which at the time greatly reducedĀ Chesterton’s credibility to me, I was deeply struck at his insight into the world of children. Chesterton was never able to have children himself, but nonetheless he seemed to retain in his own life […]
