By Robert Wiesner Even though at least two ascetics preceded him into the desert wilds of North Africa (Paul of Thebes and Mark of Athens), Anthony is yet widely considered the Father of Monasticism. Neither Mark nor Paul had monks in obedience following them. Anthony, on the other hand, became the abbot of a large [...]
With his choice of lifestyle, Paul opened new paths for the monastic world By Robert Wiesner “Saints Anthony Abbot and Paul the Hermit” by Diego Velázquez, Prado Museum, Madrid. Saint Anthony the Great is generally considered the Father of Monasticism, but he was not the first monk in the Egyptian desert. That honor seems [...]
"Alas, today there are Christians in name only, but not in deeds" By Robert Wiesner There exists a wide variety of particular expressions of monasticism, almost all of which arose in Eastern Christianity. One of the very earliest monks was St. Mark of Athens, one of the most obscure of all the pioneering Desert Fathers. In [...]
“I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen!” By Robert Wiesner St. Paul states in First Corinthians (15:17) “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” The resurrection of Jesus is the single most astounding and important miracle He [...]
I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins By Robert Wiesner The history of water, beginning with Creation itself, provides a sort of unifying theme throughout salvation history. At the very beginning, we find the Holy Spirit brooding over the primordial waters, already prefiguring the vital role water is to play for humanity: water is [...]
"I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church" By Robert Wiesner ”The Divine Trinity” in this 1905 Neo-Gothic back of the Klaren Altar in Cologne’s Dom by artist Wilhelm Mengelberg These four marks of the Messiah’s Church have been a part of Christian belief from early times without any notable dissent; their inclusion [...]
