Church History – Catholic Stand

A Pre-Holy Week Pilgrimage

Fr. Nathaniel Dreyer April 6, AD2026 1 Comment

Just before Holy Week I was able to go on pilgrimage with some of the American students I teach in Rome. It was a very

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Catholic Saints as Living Gospels

Brother Joseph Freyaldenhoven December 14, AD2025 1 Comment

Timeless Lessons for Modern Catholics The history of the Church glimmers with the radiant witness of the saints—men and women who stepped beyond the ordinary,

Debunking the Misconception That St. Frumentius “Introduced” Christianity to Ethiopia

Haile haile November 10, AD2025 1 Comment

Each year on October 27th, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of Saint Frumentius. Yet, within this veneration lies a persistent and pervasive historical fallacy

St Francis of Assisi: Part 1- The Second Christ

David Torkington October 15, AD2025 3 Comments

In 1209 St Francis of Assisi who the medievals called The Second Christ presented his first rule, totally based on the Gospel, to the great Pope Innocent III

Fr. Anselmus vs. the Gestapo

Dorothy Osanna September 29, AD2025 4 Comments

When the chips are down, our best intentions often disintegrate before a fierce grasping for self-preservation. It is a regrettable, though a very familiar, result

Saint Maximilian Kolbe

Alexandra Greeley August 5, AD2025 2 Comments

Born in Poland when it was still a part of the Russian empire, Raymund Kolbe was the son of a German father and a Polish

A Perspective on Church Controversies

Tom Collingwood July 31, AD2025 2 Comments

The exploration and discussion of various issues and controversies facing the Church often takes place in the variety of Catholic blogs, including Catholic Stand. And

The Path to Glory: Sister Judith Mendes da Costa O.P. Part II

Dr. Edouard Belaga July 19, AD2025 3 Comments

Sister Judith In the concentration camp Sister Judith continues, We went to the police station in Bilthoven, where I had to get out. ‘Go inside,otherwise

The Path to Glory: Sister Judith Mendes da Costa O.P. Part I

Dr. Edouard Belaga July 18, AD2025 3 Comments

Sixty years ago, in May 1944, Sister Judith (1895-1944) was arrested for the second time by the Gestapo in Holland, Amsterdam, and brought to Auschwitz,

July is Super American Saint Month

Russell D. James July 12, AD2025 No Comments

When one really embraces the Church’s liturgical calendar, certain patterns emerge. One of them for many Americans, an increasing number, actually, is spending some extra

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Pope Francis and the Ignatian Presupposition

Timothy McHugh May 24, AD2025 5 Comments

The surprising death of Pope Francis naturally led to a surge in articles, stories, and analysis of his papacy. From the secular mainstream media to

Jews: Deo Gratias!

Guy McClung May 17, AD2025 3 Comments

Thank God for the Jews! God the son, God almighty, the Christ – the Messiah, Jesus was a Jew, is now a Jew, and will

Bells, Catholic Bells – Small and Big!

Russell D. James May 14, AD2025 No Comments

Thinking of bells often evoke memories of little kids with bells tied to their shoe laces, bells that are rung by the Santa standing by

A Simple End

Tom Thomas May 10, AD2025 2 Comments

Walking through a cemetery can be quite educative. Reading the various inscriptions on the headstones, one can get an idea of the person. The age,

Carmelite Prayers on the Prairie

Nathan Krupa March 4, AD2025 No Comments

In a small town on the South Dakota prairie, a monastery of Carmelite Nuns spend their lives being “prayer in the heart of the Church.”

Catholic Pilgrimage Destinations in the U.S.

Genesius January 22, AD2025 1 Comment

In gathering spaces before and after mass, it’s common to find at least one posting for a pilgrimage abroad. Italy and the Holy Land are

Hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church: Divinely Ordained or a Purely Human Construct?

Rev. Kenneth M. Dos Santos MIC November 11, AD2024 1 Comment

Does the Roman Catholic Church find its origin in the eternal providence of God? Who is it, that founded the Church and its structure? And,

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Incensed About the Incense, Altered by Altars

Fr. Nathaniel Dreyer October 29, AD2024 5 Comments

I frequently take the train here in Italy, and, with the rare exception, the station platforms have lime green markings on them. The markings divide

Help for the Lost from St. Anthony

Genesius August 25, AD2024 7 Comments

This past month, in the men’s group I belong to, we recounted which saint inspired us the most. St. Joseph and St. Michael got top

Origen and the Problem of Posthumous Condemnation

Rory Fox July 7, AD2024 8 Comments

Origen (c.185–253) was lauded as “the greatest teacher in the Church, after the Apostles,” by Didymus the Blind (d. 398). But he was also condemned

Montanus and the Problem of Hearing the Holy Spirit

Rory Fox May 7, AD2024 14 Comments

Montanus was an early Church heretic. His views remain interesting because they raise a question which confronts every generation of Christians. It is the question

True Ecumenism Leads To The One, True, Holy Catholic Church

Guy McClung April 9, AD2024 8 Comments

Jesus used the word “church,” singular, not plural. Not a Mother Church with 24,000 “denominations” or franchise locations. Jesus has one, and only one, Church.