D.D. Emmons explores the life of Saint Martin de Porres, America’s first Black saint. Born in 1579 in Lima, Peru, he and his sister grew up in abject poverty. Martin received only limited schooling and, at age twelve, became a barber’s apprentice.
Various international agencies report that over 70 million Christians have been murdered for their faith since the time of Christ’s passion. The same agencies claim that upwards of 45 million such murders took place in the 20th century; other reports say as
If you’ve been Catholic for at least a few years, you will be familiar with a tradition celebrated on Good Friday in churches around the world — the adoration of the cross. But how did this tradition begin, and what does it
One of the great controversies in Church history occurred less than twenty-five years after Our Lord Jesus ascended back to his Father. The dilemma concerned whether or not a non-Jew, a gentile, seeking to become a Christian, had to comply with Mosaic
D.D. Emmons writes about the feast of the Transfiguration, a liturgical celebration every August sixth that often slips by with limited attention; yet, it is an episode that proclaims Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah. Jesus along with Peter and
D.D. Emmons explores the practice of offering Communion under both species. The distribution of Communion must be carefully discerned, reverently conducted, and even the potential for abuse, especially mishandling the Precious Blood, avoided. Further, the faithful should be well informed that Christ
D.D. Emmons explores the life of St. Anthony and how this Bible scholar and teacher’s life reflected the mission of the Church to worship God, evangelize and care for the poor. Known as a great preacher, St. Anthony left the Church a
In the story of the Church, the thirteenth century is an epoch chapter. The Roman Catholic Church was at the center of life; a unity developed among God’s people that encompassed not only religion but culture, laws and society in general. The
The early Christians experienced persecution for their faith, including martyrdom, first at the hands of the Jews and then at the hands of the Romans. Some historians contend that the Church was born out of the persecutions and martyrdom of its first
Most often we associate the term “Crusades” with an effort by the European Christians of the Middle Ages to take back the Holy Land, specifically Jerusalem, from the Muslims. Indeed, there were Crusades mounted for that reason. Popes from the 11th to