Friday Frivolity: Salty Shakers
Mark: a study in fours
At the moment in Bible study, we’re currently reading through the Gospel of Mark. As I’ve been preparing for this tour through the Evangelist’s testimony, I’ve been struck again and again that, although Mark is often described as the “simplest Gospel”, Mark is by no means simplistic. The more I study, the more I realize that the construction of this work was extremely carefully planned out.
When we began our study, I remarked to the group that Mark has something of a penchant for the number four. We have now been studying Mark’s Gospel for a couple of months, so last week as we reviewed the material covered thus far, we spent some time highlighting some of the quintuplets we have encountered thus far. In today’s post, I would like to list the collections we found…
Wise Words on Wednesday: Whispered Prayer
God is on His throne, but only a whisper away…
– Mark Hall, Lifestories
Symbolism: The Cross
A little while ago I wrote a post about the earliest known depiction of the crucixion, the Alexamenos Graffito. During the ensuing Facebook discussion, the subject of the use of the cross in Christian art and worship was raised. This reminded me that I had myself that I would do a blog series on early Christian symbolism.
I’ve written before about abbreviations such as IHS and INRI, but I would like to expand upon this by examining early Christian symbols. So with that in mind, I’ve decided to do that today, beginning with probably the best known Christian symbol, the cross.
Irenua-Veleia, Basque (3rd Century)
It may come as a surprise to many people to find out that, in the first few centuries, the use of the cross in Christian art and worship is somewhat unclear. Some historians and archeologists see this symbol throughout the historical record, while others claim that the cross is almost completely absent.
At first glance this might seem strange. Why is there such disagreement? Over the remainder of this post we will see why…
Music Monday: The Thrice Holy
We’re going to be going Byzantine for the next few weeks. Today, the Trisagion (The Thrice Holy)…
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.
When The Church Was Young
“When The Church Was Young” is the latest book from “Dr. Italy”, Marcellino D’Ambrosio.
I first came across Dr. D’Ambrosio when I was living back in England and was exposed to the Catholic Faith Exploration (CaFE) videos. His warmth and gentle presentation style made the Catholic Faith look rather attractive. During the priestly discernment of my mid-twenties, I read his book Exploring the Catholic Church which gave me a lot of light concerning my vocation during that somewhat turbulent time.
A couple of years later, I got to meet Dr. D’Ambrosio in person when I travelled to Walsingham for “New Dawn”, a charismatic Catholic family camp and retreat. Dr. D’Ambrosio was one of several speakers giving smaller talks around the campsite. I didn’t really understand the title of the talk listed in the schedule as I had no idea who the “Church Fathers” were, but having enjoyed watching him speak in the CaFE videos, I decided to go and have a listen…
Life of St. Charbel
Looking for something to watch this weekend? Why not watch the life of St. Charbel?
