The Church Fathers
About AD 100, the last of the apostles, John, died in Patmos, Greece. With the passing of the twelve men called by Jesus to build his church—as well as Paul, who been killed about thirty-five years earlier—the responsibility for sharing the teachings of Jesus and defining his universal church fell to Christian bishops and theologians […]
The Shroud of Turin and the Sudarium of Oviedo
The Shroud of Turin, Jesus’ burial cloth, and the Sudarium of Oviedo, the napkin that covered his head after his death, are both mentioned in the Bible. Matthew 27:59 tells us that Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body, wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, and laid it in the tomb. John 1–7 relates that […]
King Abgar and the Mandylion
King Abgar and the Mandylion In 2009, the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia introduced a banknote depicting King Abgar and the Mandylion. The front of the note shows Abgar, described as the King of Armenian Mesopotamia, looking at a flag bearing the image of the Mandylion; the back shows Thaddeus of Edessa handing […]
The Ascension of the Lord
On May 25, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. This holy day of obligation commemorates the transition of Jesus’ humanity into divine glory—of the risen Jesus into the exalted Christ who from that time forward would be seated at the right hand of the Father. Christian tradition holds that the […]
