Ancient
History of Sukkot: Festival of Booths
Reading Time: 3 minutesHISTORY OF SUKKOT: FESTIVAL OF BOOTHS Tonight, at sunset on September 25, begins the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, also known as the Festival of Booths or the Festival of Tabernacles. We’ve talked about the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur; Sukkot, which follows five days later, differs in that it is one of…
Read MoreHistory of Yom Kippur: Day of Atonement
Reading Time: 2 minutesHISTORY OF YOM KIPPUR he Jewish High Holy Days begin with Rosh Hashanah and continue until Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur, the “Day of Atonement,” or more correctly Yom ha-Kippurim (Leviticus 16), dates back to Jewish antiquity, nearly 4,000 years to the time of Moses. This most solemn occasion of the Jewish Festival cycle was the season…
Read MoreHistory of Rosh Hashanah: Jewish New Year
Reading Time: 2 minutesHISTORY OF ROSH HASHANAH osh Hashanah marks the beginning of the Jewish new year, which starts tomorrow according to the Jewish calendar; tomorrow begins at sundown tonight. “Rosh” is Hebrew for “head,” and Rosh Hashanah refers to the head of the year on the 1st day of Tishri, the seventh month of the Jewish ecclesiastical…
Read MoreHistory of the Fall of the Roman Empire: the Short Version
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE On September 4, AD 476, Odoacer captured the city of Ravenna and deposed Emperor Romulus Augustulus, marking the Fall of the Roman Empire. What do we mean by the Fall of the Roman Empire? First, what do we mean by the Roman Empire? This part of the…
Read MoreHistory of St. Augustine: Sinner and Theologian
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF ST. AUGUSTINE he Feast of Saint Augustine is celebrated on August 28, the date of his death in 430 A.D. Augustine is considered the most influential bishop in history; he is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, and several cities and dioceses worldwide. Most of what we know about him is from…
Read MoreHistory of St. John the Baptist Day: Midsummer
Reading Time: 6 minutesHISTORY OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST DAY Podcast version he Feast of St. John the Baptist, or the Nativity of St John the Forerunner, sometimes called St. John the Baptist Day, is celebrated on June 24 in many places worldwide, though not much in the United States, as we’ll see below. The celebration of…
Read MoreHistory of the Founding of Rome: the Short Version
Reading Time: 4 minutesHISTORY OF THE FOUNDING OF ROME ome was founded on April 21, 753 B.C., according to the Roman antiquarian Titus Pomponius Atticus. The City’s origins are shrouded in legends and myths. One founding myth is about Aeneas, a Trojan War hero, and his descendants, who are believed to have played a role in the City’s…
Read MoreHistory of Telemachus: the Monk Who Ended the Roman Gladiatorial Games – January 1, A.D. 404
Reading Time: 5 minutesHistory of Telemachus: the Monk Who Ended the Roman Gladiatorial Games – January 1, A.D. 404 Podcast version January 1, A.D. 404, marked Rome’s last known gladiatorial games. What part did an obscure Christian monk from the East play in this epic change in Roman entertainment? his is the story of St. Telemachus,…
Read MoreHistory of Childermas: Feast of the Holy Innocents
Reading Time: 3 minutesHISTORY OF CHILDERMAS: FEAST OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS Podcast version hildermas, from an Old English word meaning the Mass of the Infants, is a festival in the church calendar that began in the fifth century. It is celebrated in the Western Church on December 28 and in the Eastern Church on December 29. It…
Read MoreHistory of Christmas Magi: Who were the Wise Men?
Reading Time: 3 minutesHistory of the Magi: The Wise Men. Who were they, where were they from, why did they come?
Read MoreHistory of Caesar Augustus: What Did He Have To Do With Christmas?
Reading Time: 4 minutesHISTORY OF CHRISTMAS: CAESAR AUGUSTUS Podcast version he Nativity story in the Gospel of St. Matthew was written by a Jew from the tribe of Levi. It features the Jewish King Herod and the Wise Men from the East. St. Luke was likely not Jewish but a gentile, who was introduced to us in…
Read MoreHistory of Christmas: King Herod – Why was he called Great?
Reading Time: 4 minutesHistory of King Herod: Why was he called Great?
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