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.. SELECTED PROVERBS . P R O V E R B S 1 - 4 New International Version, emphases added Abrdgd: the complete text is in your Bible . C L I C K : To read PROVERBS in full To hear MAX McLEAN reading it To hear a DRAMATIZATION of it HIGHLY recommended by Maudeen! To see an ANIMATION of the Proverbs 9 5 0 B. C. . HOW THESE PROVERBS WERE "SELECTED" They can be illustrated—that's it! There's nothing "special" that differentiates them from all the others. . PROVERBS 1 8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction...

...Many people who know this parable or the term ‘Good Samaritan’ are unaware of who the Samaritans really are. In actuality, the Samaritans are a unique people whose history can be traced to Biblical times. They are not considered ethnically Jewish or Arab, despite the fact that Samaritans have lived in close proximity to both groups for thousands of years. Though they used to be numerous, there are now only about 700 Samaritans left, divided between two towns near Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. They rarely marry non-Samaritans, and their religious practices are distinct from all Jewish sects. Their ability to...

In a world that changes constantly, people wonder if the Church can change its doctrine.

The St. George the Victory-Bearer Church on Poklonnaya Gora is associated with military glory, and this year it celebrated many significant events, including the 75th anniversary of Victory in WWII and the 25th anniversary of the building of the Church of St. George to commemorate this victory. Moreover, this year the church’s priest, Seraphim Nedosekin, celebrated his milestone birthday. In our interview, we asked him how these Heavenly and earthly Christian warriors can help us overcome the problems of this world. Just desire to serve God, and God will take care of everything—Fr. Seraphim, are there any stories in your...

Concerning the Eucharist and how what was supposed to be the exception to the rule after Vatican II goes against previous councils, and against popes in agreement with those councils both during, before and after each, etc: 1.) St. Sixtus 1 (circa 115): "The Sacred Vessels are not to be handled by others than those consecrated to the Lord." 2.) St. Basil the Great, Doctor of the Church (330-379): "The right to receive Holy Communion in the hand is permitted only in times of persecution." St. Basil the Great considered Communion in the hand so irregular that he did not...

In Moscow, the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation handed over several early-18th-century icons to Metropolitan Tikhon of Pskov and Porkhov, the abbot of the Pskov Caves Monastery. At the request of His Eminence Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov) of Pskov and Porkhov, a search was undertaken for a number of unique icons that were taken to Germany from the Pskov Diocese during the Nazi occupation in WWII. After an extensive search by the Russian Special Services together with their German counterparts, 12 icons were found in a private collection abroad. The icons are a Menaion series, depicting the...

January 25 is the feast day of the ancient martyrs, Juventius and Maximus (sometimes called Juventinus and Maximinus). These two were soldiers during the time of Julian the Apostate and suffered martyrdom at his hands, most likely in AD 363. You may remember from similar posts on this blog that although Julian had a deep animosity toward Christianity, he refrained from enacting a wholesale persecution in the style of Diocletian because he had seen that such methods failed to suppress the Faith and indeed, seemed to enhance its appeal. As a result, Julian had taken a more subtle approach to...

.. P R A I S E T H E L O R D . P S A L M 1 4 8 New International Version, emphases added Abrdgd: the complete text is in your Bible . C L I C K : To read PSALM 148 in full To hear MAX McLEAN reading it To hear a DRAMATIZATION of it HIGHLY recommended by Maudeen! To see an ANIMATION of the Psalms 9 7 9 B. C. . PSALM 148 . 1 Praise the LORD. . .. .. .. Praise the LORD from the heavens; . praise him in the...

Pope Honorious I was declared to be an invalid Pope posthumously over the issue of monothelitism, and later primarily for failure to even try and stop it. Have other Popes been Anathematized? Can Popes still be Anathematized posthumously or even in real time?

Up until the 19th century, cities often stationed watchmen on high walls or in watchtowers to keep guard. Their job was to keep an eye out for the enemy, by watching out over the horizon from their vantage point. They were the ones who warned the people of any apparent dangers. If they saw any sign of an attack, they would alert the people with a trumpet blast, or ringing a bell. However, if they failed to properly warn the people, by falling asleep or just being unaware, then the city could be attacked without the citizens being prepared to...

.. S I N G P R A I S E S T O . O U R G O D . P S A L M 1 4 7 New International Version, emphases added Abrdgd: the complete text is in your Bible . C L I C K : To read PSALM 147 in full To hear MAX McLEAN reading it To hear a DRAMATIZATION of it HIGHLY recommended by Maudeen! To see an ANIMATION of the Psalms 9 7 9 B. C. . SPECIAL NOTE TO ART LOVERS This series illustrates the Bible, primarily using art. But when...

.. H I S L O V E E N D U R E S F O R E V E R . P S A L M 1 3 6 New International Version, emphases added Abrdgd: the complete text is in your Bible . C L I C K : To read PSALM 136 in full To hear MAX McLEAN reading it To hear a DRAMATIZATION of it HIGHLY recommended by Maudeen! To see an ANIMATION of the Psalms 9 7 9 B. C. . PSALM 136 . 1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.His love...

.. G I V E P R A I S E T O . T H E L O R D. P S A L M 1 0 5 New International Version, emphases added Abrdgd: the complete text is in your Bible . C L I C K : To read PSALM 105 in full To hear MAX McLEAN reading it To hear a DRAMATIZATION of it HIGHLY recommended by Maudeen! To see an ANIMATION of the Psalms 9 7 9 B. C. . PSALM 105 . .. 4 Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always....

...Israel’s first king, Saul, only governs some of these people. His successor, David, pulls all the tribes together under him. David’s son, Solomon, does little to hold them in place. When Solomon dies in 930 B.C.E., the kingdom fractures into big northern Israel and meager southern Judah. The north names its capital Samaria. The southern kings retain David’s capital at Jerusalem. As scholar Raymond Brown points out, the distance between Samaria and Jerusalem was 35 miles—closer than Baltimore and Washington, D.C., which share an airport. But proximity doesn’t equal intimacy. Eventually, Samaria becomes a catchword for the entire northern region....

A 1,500-year-old Greek inscription bearing the name “Christ, born of Mary” was unearthed in northern Israel, the Antiquities Authority announced on Wednesday. The archaeologists discovered the inscription engraved at the entrance of an impressive building from the Byzantine or early Islamic period, featuring mosaic pavements decorated with a geometric design. The finding was unveiled in a salvage excavation directed by Tzachi Lang and Kojan Haku ahead of the construction of a road inside the village of Taiba in the Jezreel Valley. “We did not know what to expect ahead of the work, but we knew that this was an area...

.. PRAISE THE LORD, MY SOUL . P S A L M 1 0 4 New International Version, emphases added Abrdgd: the complete text is in your Bible . C L I C K : To read PSALM 104 in full To hear MAX McLEAN reading it To hear a DRAMATIZATION of it HIGHLY recommended by Maudeen! To see an ANIMATION of the Psalms 9 7 9 B. C. . PSALM 104 . 1 Praise the Lord, my soul. . . Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. 2 The Lord wraps himself...

Greetings, brothers and sisters!We find ourselves in the midst of an intense and prolonged storm, eagerly waiting for rescue. While charting this unique course and navigating these waters with the aid of the starry signs above, many of us knew that we were close to safe harbor, but who could have foreseen the crosswinds of this current crisis now engulfing the world? All throughout the years leading up to this climactic moment, we have been warning of imminent danger and sudden judgment. And now, we are bracing for impact. The proverbial iceberg is right in front of us.While some are...

A bleg for Latin experts, sorta: St. Malachy's list of popes is usually expressed as referring to a final pope, Peter the Roman.In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will sit Peter the Roman, who will pasture his sheep in many tribulations, and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The End.I just found out that this was written in two paragraphs! In persecutione extrema S.R.E. (Holy Roman Church) sedebit. Petrus Romanus, qui paſcet oues in multis tribulationibus: quibus tranſactis ciuitas ſepticollis diruetur,...

I recently ran across a passage written by Lactantius in his enigmatic and fascinating work entitled On the Deaths of the Persecutors about the demise of the original persecutor of Christians, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus—that is, Nero. Writing in the early 4th century AD, or about 250 years after the fact, Lactantius says the following of Nero: When Nero heard of those things [that is, the growth of Christianity in Rome] and observed that not only in Rome but in every other place a great multitude revolted daily from the worship of idols and, condemning their old ways, went over to...

.. S A V E M E O G O D. P S A L M 6 9 New International Version, emphases added Abrdgd: the complete text is in your Bible . C L I C K : To read PSALM 69 in full To hear MAX McLEAN reading it To hear a DRAMATIZATION of it HIGHLY recommended by Maudeen! To see an ANIMATION of the Psalms 9 7 9 B. C. . PSALM 69 . 1 Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. 2 I sink in the miry depths, where there is...