A Catholic Monthly Magazine

Tag Archive for ‘Reformation’

Thursday 24 January

ST FRANCIS DE SALES Hebrews 7:25-8:6; Psalm 39 (40):7-10, 17; Mark 3:7-12 Gentleness St Francis de Sales had to be a leader in church when the Reformation was in full force. He chose interesting weapons in his battles – sincerity, gentleness, respect and love. God does not need bluster or bullying, domination or heavy-handedness. The […]

Mary and the Reformation (7) – John Calvin (1509 – 1564) Part 2

True praise of Mary Christian praise is praise of God. Yet Calvin was not against praising Mary if it was done in the right way: “Let us learn to praise the holy Virgin. But how? By going along with the Holy Spirit, and then there will be true praise.” Mary herself recognised that, mere ‘servant […]

Mary and the Reformation (2) Zwingli Part 1

Crying for Reform To mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation it is important to consider one of its most important controversies, that which swirled around the figure of Mary. It does no good to evade the catastrophic decline in church discipline and theological teaching in the Catholicism of the fifteenth century and the papacies […]

Mary and the Reformation (1) – Erasmus

500 years ago Many things contributed to the breaking up of the Catholic Christian world of the Middle Ages: the Hundred Years War, the Black Death, the Western Schism, and the Islamic invasions. Humanism found a warm reception in Rome with the popes of the late 15th and early 16th centuries, all worldly men more […]

Mary and the Reformation

While in the UK I have tried to visit as many churches as I can. Most of the beautiful old churches are now Anglican, having been through the English Reformation which was a traumatic and destructive time. The lovely Adoration of the Magi illustrating this page is witness to this. It resides in the Anglican […]

Concrete Symbols

During the Protestant Reformation, one set of catch cries of the Reformers was the “Five Alones”. From the teaching of Martin Luther these phrases encapsulated the Protestant viewpoint: “By Scripture alone”, “By Faith alone”, “By Grace alone”, “Through Christ alone”, and “Glory to God alone.” Luther had objected to the selling of indulgences, holy relics, […]