Desecrating the Host: Reading time about 3 minutes The word host comes from the Latin word hostis, meaning victim. The Roman Catholic Church uses the term in reference to their communion wafers. Therefore, desecrating the host refers to assaulting or damaging a communion wafer. Catholics believe the elements of communion or eucharist—the bread and […]
Circumcision and the Holy Foreskin: Reading time approximately 4 minutes. What’s the importance of circumcision? Circumcision was a very contentious issue from the very beginning of the Christian religion. It was an important Jewish tradition and the early followers of Jesus—who were all Jews—wanted to require it for non-Jewish, or gentile, converts as well. Circumcision […]
In 897, Pope Stephen VI commanded that the corpse of the seven-month dead Pope Formosus be disinterred. His assistants then dressed it in papal garments and a tiara and transported it to the Basilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome. They placed the decomposing body of Formosus on a throne and propped it up so […]
Today, people remember Saint Nicholas as a generous man who lived long ago in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). His superiors chose him as the bishop of Myra because of his admirable reputation. His gift-giving, miracle-working, and great wisdom combined to make people respect him as a saint even during his lifetime. He died in AD 343, […]