Christopher Columbus and Escriva

Josemaria and his first followers remind me of the conquistadors. They were young; they were enthusiastic, fresh, tireless, and enamored of spiritual adventure. Eager for a voyage of discovery, they gathered around a leader they called simply "the Father". There would be dangers in the [...]
Tags: Jesus Christ, Early Christians, Holiness, Josemaria Escriva

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Opus Dei: Seeking Holiness in Daily Life

Your institution has as its aim the sanctification of one's life, while remaining within the world at one's place of work and profession: to live the Gospel in the world... This is truly a great ideal. Pope John Paul II Heaven and earth seem to merge, [...]
Tags: Gospel, Freedom, Opus Dei, Early Christians, Holiness

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St Peter’s Basilica

Download St Peter’s Basilica in pdf format. St Peter was martyred during the persecution of Christians that took place under Nero following the great fire of Rome in 64 AD. St Peter had come to Rome a few years earlier, following our Lord’s command as recorded [...]
Tags: Church, Places in Rome, Pope, Early Christians

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The Catacombs of St Callixtus

The Catacombs of St Callixtus The persecution ordered by the Emperor Nero in 64 AD resulted in the martyrdom of a large number of Christians. It was a hard trial for the young Church at Rome, which from that point on also had to undergo [...]
Tags: Early Christians

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St John Lateran

St John Lateran During the first centuries, because of persecutions, celebration of the Eucharist and instruction in the faith took place in private houses, which some Christian families – usual those who were better off and whose houses were therefore larger – placed at the disposal [...]
Tags: Apostolate, Baptism, Places in Rome, Opus Dei, Early Christians

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The Roman Forum

The Roman Forum In the time of the Emperors, after a long period of peace and prosperity, the population of Rome had reached the impressive figure of one million people. A tiny minority of these lived in tranquil, spacious villas, while the most of the [...]
Tags: Passionately Loving the World, Citizenship, Places in Rome, Early Christians

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The Colosseum

The Colosseum In 1972 St Josemaría said in a homily, “I venerate with all my strength the Rome of Peter and Paul, bathed in the blood of martyrs, the centre from which so many have set out to propagate throughout the world the saving word [...]
Tags: Places in Rome, Early Christians, Ordinary life

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The Via Appia

The Via Appia In the year 312 B.C. the Senator Appius Claudius was appointed Censor of the Republic of Rome. During his term of office he undertook many major reforms and public works, but history remembers him principally for the construction of the road that [...]
Tags: Places in Rome, Early Christians

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The memory of St Paul

The memory of St Paul Among the first Christians at Rome were disciples of St Paul, as is evident from the long list of greetings at the end of the Letter to the Romans. On the Aventine Hill in Rome lived Aquila and Prisca or Priscilla, [...]
Tags: Places in Rome, Early Christians, Proselytism

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"Light, Salt, and Leaven": Lay people's role in the Church's mission

The early Christians, who had lived with Jesus and the Apostles or belonged to the next generation, were very conscious that their mission was to fill everything that they did with faith. In Tertullian’s words, “What the soul is in the body, that the Christians [...]
Tags: Alvaro del Portillo, Apostolate, Citizenship, Presence of God, Early Christians, Work, Unity of life