One of the Greek words for “gluttony” is “γαστριμαργία”, a compound derived from “γαστρ- – stomach” and “μάργος – mad, furious”: hence, “madness of the
In the Byzantine Rite, February 29th is the feast day of one of the greatest among the early patriarchs of Christian monasticism, St John Cassian.
St Peter Damian died in 1072, on February 22, the feast of St Peter’s Chair, a very appropriate day for one who spent so much
February 15th is the date of one of the most ancient and long-lasting Roman religious festivals, the Lupercalia. It was originally instituted as a purification
The church in Milan traditionally celebrates today as the feast of a relative of St Ambrose, a woman named Soteris who was martyred in the
On this day in the year 1878, Blessed Pius IX died, ending the longest documented papal reign in history. (I will explain below why I
Manuscripts of the works of the Church Fathers in all languages often contain writings falsely attributed to them for one reason or another. For example,
Today the Church celebrates the feast of St John Bosco (1815-88), an Italian priest from Turin who founded the Salesian Order (named after St Francis
