Address catholic bishop writing a book

Bishop Catholic Church The bishopswho possess the fullness of orders, and therefore the fullness of both priesthood and diaconate, are as a body the College of Bishops considered the successors of the Apostles [15] [16] and are "constituted Pastors in the Church, to be the teachers of doctrine, the priests of sacred worship and the ministers of governance" [17] and "represent the Church.

Cyprian of Carthage St. Cyprian of Carthage Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. At the time of his conversion to Christianity he had, perhaps, passed middle life.

He was famous as an orator and pleader, had considerable wealth, and held, no doubt, a great position in the metropolis of Africa. We learn from his deaconSt. Pontius, whose life of the saint is preserved, that his mien was dignified without severity, and cheerful without effusiveness.

His gift of eloquence is evident in his writings. He was not a thinker, a philosophera theologianbut eminently a man of the world and an administrator, of vast energies, and of forcible and striking character.

His conversion was due to an aged priest named Caecilianus, with whom he seems to have gone to live. Caecilianus in dying commended to Cyprian the care of his wife and family.

While yet a catechumen the saint decided to observe chastity, and he gave most of his revenues to the poor. He sold his propertyincluding his gardens at Carthage.

His baptism probably took place c. He tells how, until the grace of God illuminated and strengthened the convert, it had seemed impossible to conquer vice; the decay of Roman society is pictured, the gladiatorial shows, the theatre, the unjust law-courts, the hollowness of political success; the only refuge is the temperate, studious, and prayerful life of the Christian.

At the beginning should probably be placed the few words of Donatus to Cyprian which are printed by Hartel as a spurious letter. The style of this pamphlet is affected and reminds us of the bombastic unintelligibility of Pontius.

It is not like Tertullianbrilliant, barbarous, uncouth, but it reflects the preciosity which Apuleius made fashionable in Africa. In his other works Cyprian addresses a Christian audience; his own fervour is allowed full play, his style becomes simpler, though forcible, and sometimes poetical, not to say flowery.

Without being classical, it is correct for its date, and the cadences of the sentences are in strict rhythm in all his more careful writings. On the whole his beauty of style has rarely been equalled among the Latin Fathersand never surpassed except by the matchless energy and wit of St.

Another work of his early days was the "Testimonia ad Quirinum", in two books. It consists of passages of Scripture arranged under headings to illustrate the passing away of the Old Law and its fulfillment in Christ.

A third book, added later, contains texts dealing with Christian ethics. This work is of the greatest value for the history of the Old Latin version of the Bible. It gives us an African text closely related to that of the Bobbio manuscript known as k Turin.

Another book of excerpts on martyrdom is entitled "Ad Fortunatum"; its text cannot be judged in any printed edition. Cyprian was certainly only a recent convert when he became Bishop of Carthage c. He had declined the charge, but was constrained by the people.

A minority opposed his election, including five priestswho remained his enemies; but he tells us that he was validly elected "after the Divine judgment, the vote of the people and the consent of the bishops ".

The Decian persecution The prosperity of the Church during a peace of thirty-eight years had produced great disorders. Many even of the bishops were given up to worldliness and gain, and we hear of worse scandals. In October,Decius became emperor with the ambition of restoring the ancient virtue of Rome.

In January,he published an edict against Christians. Bishops were to be put to deathother persons to be punished and tortured till they recanted. On 20 January Pope Fabian was martyredand about the same time St.

Cyprian retired to a safe place of hiding. His enemies continually reproached him with this. But to remain at Carthage was to court death, to cause greater danger to others, and to leave the Church without government; for to elect a new bishop would have been as impossible as it was at Rome.

He made over much property to a confessor priestRogatian, for the needy.Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson, Bishop Moreno Pastoral Center. Brandon Vogt is a bestselling and award-winning author, blogger, and speaker who serves as content director for Bishop Robert Barron’s Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.

In the second book, dealing with dialectic and rhetoric, Isidore is heavily indebted to translations from the Greek by Boethius. Caelius Aurelianus contributes generously to that part of the fourth book which deals with medicine.

Lactantius is the author most extensively quoted in the eleventh book. Brandon Vogt is a bestselling and award-winning author, blogger, and speaker who serves as content director for Bishop Robert Barron’s Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. ABUSE TRACKER A digest of links to media coverage of clergy abuse.

Click on the headline to read the full story. On March 28, — Good Friday, according to the family tradition — our beloved saint was born and baptized in the obscure mountain village of Prachatitz in Bohemia.

He was named after the holy Bohemian martyr and patron of Continue reading →.