Catholic Fire

The saint of the day for June 28th is St. Irenaeus (c.130 - c.200), Bishop of Lyons (France) and Father of the Church. Irenaeus was born in Smyrna (modern-day Turkey), although he later settled in Rome. He was well -educated and was influenced by men who knew the Apostles, especially St. Polycarp, who had been a student of St. John the evangelist. Irenaeus served as a priest of the Church of Lyons during the Christian persecution under the reign of Marcus Aurelius,  the pagan Roman emperor (161–180). Many of the clergy from Lyons were imprisoned for their faith. In 177, he journeyed to Rome carrying a letter to Pope Eleuterus, urging him to deal with the heresy of Montanism , which was now flourishing in the East. While Irenaeus was in Rome, a massacre occurred in Lyons. A persecution broke out, and some of the leaders of the Lyons church were imprisoned, while others suffered martyrdom. Thus, he did not share in the martyrdom of his fellow Christians. When he r...

On April 13, the Church commemorates Pope Saint Martin I. We know little of Saint Martin’s early life.  We do know that he was born in Umbria, Italy of a noble family. In his youth, he served as a lector and deacon. When Martin I became pope in 649, Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire and the patriarch of Constantinople was the most powerful Church leader in the eastern Christian world. The struggles that existed within the Church, at that time, were magnified by the close collaboration of emperor and patriarch. Just prior to Martin’s papacy, a heresy known as Monothelitism , was creating chaos and misunderstanding in the Church. This doctrine held that Christ had only one nature—the divine nature—and that Christ had only one will.  Thus, it denied that Christ was like us in all things but sin and therefore rejected our redemption. In an edict entitled the Typos, Emperor Constans II essentially accepted the heretical doctrine by forbidding discussi...

April 13 is the feast day of Pope Saint Martin I. We know little of Saint Martin’s early life.  We do know that he was born in Umbria, Italy of a noble family. In his youth, he served as a lector and deacon. When Martin I became pope in 649, Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire and the patriarch of Constantinople was the most powerful Church leader in the eastern Christian world. The struggles that existed within the Church, at that time, were magnified by the close collaboration of emperor and patriarch. Just prior to Martin’s papacy, a heresy known as Monothelitism, was creating chaos and misunderstanding in the Church. This doctrine held that Christ had only one nature—the divine nature—and that Christ had only one will.  Thus, it denied that Christ was like us in all things but sin and therefore rejected our redemption. In an edict entitled the Typos, Emperor Constans II essentially accepted the heretical doctrine by forbidding discussion of the ...

The Vatican has banned the makers of a prequel to The Da Vinci Code from filming in its grounds or any church in Rome, describing the work as “an offence against God”. Angels and Demons, the latest Dan Brown thriller to be turned into a film, includes key episodes that take place in the Vatican and Rome’s churches. Archbishop Velasio De Paolis, the head of the Vatican’s Prefecture for Economic Affairs, said that Brown had “turned the gospels upside down to poison the faith”. “It would be unacceptable to transform churches into film sets so that his blasphemous novels can be made into films in the name of business,” he said, adding that Brown’s work “wounds common religious feelings”. Father Marco Fibbi, a spokesman for the Diocese of Rome, said: “Normally we read the script but this time it was not necessary. The name Dan Brown was enough.” MORE That name is certainly enough to make me feel a little nauseous. It's really sad that people believe his blasphemous works of fiction are...

"A heretic insinuates himself under the title of Christian, carrying Christ in his mouth in order to deceive simple people, but bearing the devil in his heart; and indeed he confesses him with his tongue, but blasphemes him in his mind." ~ Saint Maximus of Turin This quote reminds me so much of the post I just put up I have to link to it here . It is true of so many of our pro-death politicians, who claim to be Christian or "Catholic".