Free Republic

There are two facile and credulously accepted claims that make the rounds of Late Roman-interest online fora and social media with some frequency. They are roughly as follows: “Christianity sought to destroy the art, architecture and culture of classical civilization.” and “Modern Christian holidays are nothing more than ancient pagan holidays with a Christian overlay.” Both of these declarations are treated uncritically as fact by those who use the outmoded Gibbon as their sole guide to Late Antiquity. The second is also used by those of a Protestant persuasion who wish to prove that Catholicism (and Orthodoxy to a lesser...

Contrary to popular misconceptions, All Saints Day and its vigil, Halloween, are not the same as the pagan feast known as Samhain. The feast of All Saints developed independently among Christian churches within the territory of the later Roman Empire. Halloween is merely the vigil of the feast of All Saints -- hence, All Hallows Eve. Samhain, meanwhile, was theoretically a festival of those pagans in Celtic regions outside the Roman Empire, specifically Ireland, about which almost nothing is known prior to the 12th century AD. The two feasts seem to share a common date, but beyond that, their provenance...

A voice is heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more. –Matt. 2:18 quoting Jer. 31:15 Our week of martyrs continues, and the contrast (at least in age) between yesterday and today's saints couldn't be more dramatic. St. John lived into his mid 90s, none of the Holy Innocents lived past the age of two. While St. John's importance to the Church is as numerous as his days, the Holy Innocents are crucial because of their lack of age. As the name implies, the youngest...

Lest anyone's tempted to think otherwise, be forewarned: your monitor isn't edible. As always, the Green Beer, Irish potatoes -- and, of course, Corned Beef -- of St Paddy's Day might be taking the dominant line as feast-day food goes this time of year... but for the Northeastern Italians among us (and those elsewhere lucky enough to have the goods shipped their way by friends), these mid-March days are all about (Spring Training and) the Zeppoli, the cream-filled cakes shown above that traditionally herald St Joseph's Day, observed annually on the 19th. While the lines outside the South Pharaohtown...

A voice is heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more. –Matt. 2:18 quoting Jer. 31:15 Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, 'Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted—and you yourself a sword will pierce—so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.' –Luke 2:34-35 In the Catholic Church, each day's liturgy brings a different celebration or commemoration, either from the life of Christ or...

Q. Some Prophecy Teachers today teach that the Feast of Trumpets will be the future Jewish feast that the Church is raptured on.They also hold to the view of imminency. 2 Prophecy Teachers I know teach that the Church is not bound by the Jewish festivals meaning Christ could come on any old day. Why would God (Jesus)have all the types and shadows of Rapture, Resurection, and Judgement evident in a couple of jewish feast days and then Rapture the Church any old day?

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has approved stricter guidelines for determining which saints will be remembered with mandatory feast days. The General Roman Calendar, the universal schedule of holy days and feast days for the Latin rite of the Catholic Church, is so packed that more selectivity is needed, according to new norms and a commentary published in the official bulletin of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments. The pope determines who makes the universal calendar based on recommendations from the congregation, the commentary said. And, according to the new norms published in the bulletin in...

In my first article on the Fall High Holy Days, we saw that the Feast of Trumpets is intimately linked by both Yeshua and Sha’ul with Yeshua’s Second Coming on the clouds of heaven, and saw that this corresponded with the expectations of the rabbis. Now we come to the second of the Fall Feastdays, and the holiest day of the Jewish—which is to say, Biblical—calendar: Yom Kippur takes place on the tenth of Tishri, nine days after Rosh Hashanah. On that day, the high priest would put on a special coat of white linen and carry out a very...