St. Jerome writes to one of his friends about a mutual friend, Bonosus, who has become a hermit on a remote island. The devil will tempt him, says St. Jerome, but Christ will defend him from those temptations. What nets do you think the devil is weaving for him now? What tricks does he have up his sleeve? Perhaps, remembering his old trick, he’ll try to tempt Bonosus with hunger. But he has been answered already: “Man shall not live... Read more
Adam Blai (pronounced “Bly”) is a Church-decreed expert on religious demonology and exorcism in the Pittsburgh diocese. He is an auxiliary member of the International Association of Exorcists based in Rome. Over the past decade, he has helped educate priests regarding exorcism at national conferences, seminars, and through consultation on many cases in a number of dioceses. He has assisted at many dozens of solemn exorcisms, house exorcisms, and resolutions of hauntings. In addition to Church cases, he reaches out... Read more
Writing to the bishop Paulinus, St. Jerome tells him that he should love nothing better than reading and meditating on Scripture. I beg you, dear brother, to live among these books—to meditate on them—to know nothing else, to look for nothing else. Don’t you think a life like that seems like a foretaste of heaven here on earth? Don’t let the simplicity of Scripture or its simple vocabulary put you off. These things are either the fault of the translators... Read more
Don’t let the obscurities and difficulties in Scripture keep you from reading, says St. John Chrysostom. Keep trying, and ask for help when you need it. But (someone objects) are the parts containing the signs and wonders and histories also clear and plain to everyone? This is a pretense, and an excuse, and a mere cloak of idleness. You do not understand the contents of the book? But how can you ever understand, while you are not even willing to... Read more
Writing to Gregory, later known as St. Gregory Thaumaturgus (“Wonder- Worker”), Origen, one of the first great Christian biblical scholars, urges him to study Scripture—and to pray when he studies. So, my son, apply yourself diligently to reading the sacred Scriptures. Yes, I say apply yourself, for we who read things that belong to God need to apply ourselves a lot to keep from saying or thinking anything about them too recklessly. Apply yourself to studying the things of God,... Read more
St. Augustine discovered the Scriptures when he was a young man. He didn’t like them. He had been studying the elegant works of the great Latin writers. Much later he realized that you have to approach Scripture with humility, and only then does it reveal its most sublime truths. So I resolved to turn my mind to the Holy Scriptures, to see what they were all about. There I saw something not comprehended by the proud, not revealed to children,... Read more
If we had not fallen through our own sin, we would have been in close communion with God, as Adam and Eve were at the beginning. Since we’ve lost that privilege, says St. John Chrysostom, we should be careful to make use of Scripture, through which the Spirit of God speaks to us. We ought to live so purely that we do not even need written words, but give up our hearts, as if they were books, to the Spirit.... Read more
Paul Thigpen, Ph.D., is the editor of TAN Books and the best-selling author, co-author or compiler of forty-one titles. Among his most popular books are The Burden: A Warning of Things to Come and The Rapture Trap: A Catholic Response to End Times Fever. A convert to the Catholic faith, Paul has served the Church as an award-winning journalist, historian, apologist, catechist, and member of the National Advisory Council of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. His work has... Read more
About to begin a series of homilies on the Gospel of Matthew, St. John Chrysostom warns his congregation to pay careful attention. We are on the point of entering (if God permits it) a city of gold, and more precious than any gold. Let us mark her foundations, and her gates of sapphire and pearl—for we have an excellent guide in Matthew. His is the gate through which we shall now enter, and we need to be very diligent. For... Read more
Some people love to accumulate jewels from the farthest corners of the earth. But if you study Scripture diligently, says St. Cyril of Alexandria, you will gather a treasure greater than any collection of jewels. If you wish to explore the Holy Scripture, and you overcome your laziness and apply yourself, thirsting for the knowledge, then every good thing will be yours. You will fill your mind with the divine light. Then, when you apply that light to the doctrines... Read more
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