Saint Polycarp
Today, February 23, the Catholic Church celebrates the Memorial of Saint Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr. Polycarp (AD 69–c.155) was the Bishop of Smyrna (modern-day Izmir, Turkey), one of the early Christian bishoprics known as the Seven Churches of Asia (along with Ephesus, Pergamum, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, and Thyatira). His Letter to the Philippians is among […]
Saint Athanasius
In AD 325, the Roman emperor Constantine, with the assistant Bishop of Alexandria, Athanasius, at his side, presided over the Council of Nicaea. Constantine had summoned the bishops of Christendom, from both the Eastern and Western churches to address the nature, or homoousios, of Jesus in relation to the Father. Disagreements had arisen in the […]
Bernadette Soubirous and the Miracle at Lourdes
As this blog is devoted to the Rosary, we will obviously be discussing the Blessed Virgin Mary and instances of Marian apparitions that have been documented by the Church. February 11 is, in fact, the anniversary of the Miracle at Lourdes. While I will touch upon the historical aspect of that event, I also want […]
The Crusades
On February 8, 1250, the last major battle of the campaigns known as the Crusades began in northern Egypt about 75 miles outside Cairo. On that day, King Louis IX of France, with the full support of Pope Innocent IV, led the Seventh Crusade against the Moslems at Mansura. Louis believed that to reclaim Jerusalem, […]
