NB! · Archaeology · Architecture · Faith · The East · Heritage
The ruins of the 6th-century Church of Saint John the Theologian in Selçuk, Turkey. According to one version, the church stands on the site of the burial of John the Theologian
NB! · Faith · The East · Observations · People
Faith · People
The British martyr Saint Utvara fell victim to the treachery of her stepmother. After her father's death the pious girl continued to lead a righteous life, fasting and giving alms. One day her breast began to ache, and her stepmother advised her to apply soft cheese to it,
Architecture · Faith · Monarchies
The Church of St Mary Magdalene at the royal residence of Sandringham is best known for its part in the life of the British royal family: Princess Eugenie and Charlotte were christened here, the royal family's Christmas services are held here, and memorial tablets to departed members of
Faith · Society · Rome
On 28 October 1965 Pope Paul VI promulgated a document known as the "Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions". It repealed the declaration of the collective guilt of the entire Jewish people made by Pope Innocent III 760 years earlier
Architecture · Faith · Heritage
A Pulpit in the Form of a Whale in the Eighteenth-Century Polish Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Duszniki-Zdrój. Such a decoration for a pulpit is highly unusual in Catholic churches, and is found chiefly in Poland and Bohemia. The image of the whale evidently alludes to
Faith · Observations · Mores · Society
Pope Francis has expressed concern that many priests and nuns use the internet to watch pornography. The Pontiff urged his brothers and sisters to be more wary of diabolical temptation. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines, in so many words, the exploitation of sexual images as an offence against
Faith · Observations · People · Humour
There is a popular story about a child who grew up to become a Catholic priest after being kissed by Pope John Paul II. It is usually shared as a headline and a photograph in which the Pope brings his lips to the head of an infant. One would not
Faith · Ethnography
The angel who redeemed me from all evil bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. Genesis 48:16 During the reading of this passage
Faith · The East · Geography
"..what thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea."
NB! · Faith · Art · Rome
The Separation of Light from Darkness. Fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, 1508-1512, Michelangelo Buonarroti
Faith · Art
So-called mixed-hypostasis icons of the Holy Trinity, depicting Jesus with three faces and four eyes, were banned by both the Catholic and the Orthodox Church, although they once had a broad iconographic tradition. The Holy Synod forbade the depiction of God the Father, the Son and the Holy