Feast Day: Blessed William Carter

Benedict XVI: Religious Freedom is a Right of Everyone

St. Gregory of Nyssa

 We celebrate St. Gregory of Nyssa's feast today.  His younger brother was St. Basil The Great.  Both St. Gregory and St. Basil defended the faith against the attacks and heresies of the Arians.  Arians believe that the Son of God did not always exist, but was created by—and is therefore distinct from and inferior to—God the Father. 

From News Advent: In a letter to Eustathius St. Gregory of Nyssa stated ". . . O especially at this time in this indescribable malice of our enemies, which you skilfully dispersed when it swept like some evil flood over our life, dispelling this violent inflammation of our heart by your fomentation of soothing words. I thought it right, indeed, in view of the continuous and varied effort of our enemies against us, to keep silence, and to receive their attack quietly, rather than to speak against men armed with falsehood, that most mischievous weapon, which sometimes drives its point even through truth. But you did well in urging me not to betray the truth, but to refute the slanderers, lest, by a success of falsehood against truth, many might be injured. 


"I may say that those who conceived this causeless hatred for us seemed to be acting very much on the principle of Æsop's fable. For just as he makes his wolf bring some charges against the lamb (feeling ashamed, I suppose, of seeming to destroy, without just pretext, one who had done him no hurt), and then, when the lamb easily swept away all the slanderous charges brought against him, makes the wolf by no means slacken his attack, but carry the day with his teeth when he is vanquished by justice; so those who were as keen for hatred against us as if it were something good (feeling perhaps some shame of seeming to hate without cause), make up charges and complaints against us, while they do not abide consistently by any of the things they say, but allege, now that one thing, after a little while that another, and then again that something else is the cause of their hostility to us. Their malice does not take a stand on any ground, but when they are dislodged from one charge they cling to another, and from that again they seize upon a third, and if all their charges are refuted they do not give up their hate. They charge us with preaching three Gods, and din into the ears of the multitude this slander, which they never rest from maintaining persuasively. Then truth fights on our side, for we show both publicly to all men, and privately to those who converse with us, that we anathematize any man who says that there are three Gods, and hold him to be not even a Christian. Let the inspired Scripture, then, be our umpire, and the vote of truth will surely be given to those whose dogmas are found to agree with the Divine words.


"What, then, is our doctrine? The Lord, in delivering the saving Faith to those who become disciples of the word, joins with the Father and the Son the Holy Spirit also; and we affirm that the union of that which has once been joined is continual; for it is not joined in one thing, and separated in others. But the power of the Spirit, being included with the Father and the Son in the life-giving power, by which our nature is transferred from the corruptible life to immortality, and in many other cases also, as in the conception of Good,and "Holy," and Eternal, Wise, Righteous, Chief, Mighty, and in fact everywhere, has an inseparable association with them in all the attributes ascribed in a sense of special excellence. And so we consider that it is right to think that that which is joined to the Father and the Son in such sublime and exalted conceptions is not separated from them in any. For we do not know of any differences by way of superiority and inferiority in attributes which express our conceptions of the Divine nature, so that we should suppose it an act of piety (while allowing to the Spirit community in the inferior attributes) to judge Him unworthy of those more exalted. For all the Divine attributes, whether named or conceived, are of like rank one with another, in that they are not distinguishable in respect of the signification of their subject. For the appellation of the Good does not lead our minds to one subject, and that of the Wise, or the Mighty, or the Righteous to another, but the thing to which all the attributes point is one; and, if you speak of God, you signify the same Whom you understood by the other attributes."


I think we can take a lesson from St. Gregory of Nyssa for Today's times.  As Christianity is attacked by those who want to tear down Christ, Christian values, and the Truth we must not be silent but in fact we must stand up for Truth, our Faith, and the Church.  We need to fight and stand up against our enemies. We need to continue to stand up for Jesus and Christian principles. It is very important that we defend the Church against both heresies and scandals. 

Catholicism 101 Series: The Incarnation

Here is the third installation in my Catholicism 101 Series. This is a post on the Doctrine of The Incarnation of Jesus Christ as taught by the Catholic Church. 


Here is the part of the Athanasian Creed that pertains to The Incarnation:

29. Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
30. For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man.
31. God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of substance of His mother, born in the world.
32. Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.
33. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.
34. Who, although He is God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ.
35. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of that manhood into God.
36. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.
37. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ;
38. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead;
39. He ascended into heaven, He sits on the right hand of the Father, God, Almighty;
40. From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
41. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies;
42. and shall give account of their own works.
43. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.
44. This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved.

In Genesis, God is depicted as creating the world by speaking it into being.

Creating through His Word (Logos), which is the second Divine Person of the Blessed Trinity.

The Incarnation implies three facts: 1)The Divine Person of Jesus Christ;  2)The Human Nature of Jesus Christ;  3)The Hypostatic Union of the Human with the Divine Nature in the Divine Person of Jesus Christ.

Here is a further explanation of the three facts stated above: 

The fact of the Divine Person of Jesus Christ means that Jesus is uniquely and Eternally Begotten of the Father.

The fact of the Human Nature of Jesus Christ means that Jesus is Man, Jesus is a human being. Jesus is fully God and he is fully man.

The fact of the Hypostatic Union of the Human with the Divine Nature in the Divine Person of Jesus Christ means that the Human Nature and Divine Nature are united by both natures belonging to one Person, the Logos, God the Son.


Here are some Old and New Testament Proofs for the divinity of Jesus Christ: 

In Sirach 24:7, Wisdom is described as uncreated, the "first born of the Most High before all creatures", "from the beginning and before the World was I made" (Sirach 24:14). There was universal indentification of Wisdom with

Christ.  This Wisdom, also spoken of in similar terms in the Book of Proverbs (chapters 1-9) and in the Wisdom of Solomon (chapters 7-9), is none other than the Logos or Word of God that we read of in John chapter 1, the Word through Whom God created the world, and which was made flesh and dwelt among us.

Isaiah 9:6 - "A child is born to us . . . his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Strong One, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace."

Isaiah - God the Strong One (9:6) and Emmanuel (7:14)

John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Mark 3:12 - Thou art the Son of God"

Colossians 2:9 - St. Paul reminds them that they should think according to Christ; "for in him dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead (pleroma tes theotetos) corporeally" (ii, 9)

Philippians 2:10,11 - "the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father" (ii, 10, 11).

Romans 8:3 - "God sending his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh and of sin" (viii, 3). His Own Son
 (ton heautou) the Father sends, not a Son by adoption.


Here are a few New Testament Proofs of the Human Nature of 
Jesus Christ:

 Luke 2:52 - "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."

Mark 13:32 - “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

1 Timothy 2:5 - "For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human,"His obedience to the heavenly Father and to Mary and Joseph supposes a human soul (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38; Luke 22:42).

Here are a few examples of the witness of Tradition from the early Church Fathers:

 Saint Justin Martyr (Harnack. A.D. 150) wrote: "Since the Word is the first-born of God, He is also God" (Apol. I, n. 63; P.G., VI, 423).

St. Irenæus proves that Jesus Christ is rightly called the one and only God and Lord, in that all things are said
to have been made by Him (see "Adv. Haer.", III, viii, n. 3; P.G., VII, 868; bk. IV, 10, 14, 36). Deutero-Clement (Harnack, A.D. 166; Sanday, A.D. 150) insists: "Brethren, we should think of Jesus Christ as of God Himself, as of the Judge of the living and the dead" (see Funk, I, 184).

 St. Clement of Alexandria (Sanday, A.D. 190) speaks of Christ as "true God without any controversy, the equal of the Lord of the whole universe, since He is the Son and the Word is in God" (Cohortatio ad Gentes, c. x; P.G., VIII, 227).

Mike Pence says Catholic-Bashing Obama Adviser Must Go

Mike Pence is great! I love the way he sticks up for traditional Christianity and especially the Catholic Faith. It is absurd that a faith-based adviser bash a particular religion and then he keep his position.  This is yet one more example of intolerance, religious bigotry, and immorality by the Left. Harry Knox must go!!!

Shine Jesus Shine

Vatican Splendors: A Journey Through Faith and Art

My husband and I recently viewed the exhibit called Vatican Splendors. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and it was quite an extraordinary experience to say the least. We both had a wonderful time viewing all the relics and works of art. It was really awesome to be able to experience 2000 years of art and history of Christ's Church.  Here is a small list of items to give you an idea of what we saw: Golden Angels which were created in the workshop of Bernini, Michelangelo's Caliper -drawing compass he used in his work in the Sistine Chapel and Basilica-, A large sculpture from the 15th century showing the crucifixion of Saint Peter, and a bronze cast of hand of Pope John Paul II.

These Golden Angels are similar to the ones by Bernini:

Here is a picture of Michelangelo's Caliper: 

These pictures are from the internet since in order to preserve the integrity of the relics visitors weren't allowed to take photos at the exhibit. 

Vatican Splendors covered: Early Christian Dialogue between Faith and Art
                                           The Rise of Christian Rome
                                           The Early Renaissance
                                           Michaelangelo
                                           The Renaissance Basilica
                                           Art in the Service of Faith
                                           The Art of the Liturgy
                                           Dialogue With the World
                                           The Successors of Peter - Papal Portraiture
                                            Art and the Contemporary Papacy
                                           Catholicism in Western Pa.

I purchased a Vatican Splendors catalogue which consists of informational essays, commentary, and photographs so I will be posting a series on the individual objects in the exhibition as well as historical data from Church history.