About St. Mary's School
A Brief History
St. Mary’s Catholic School was established in 1878 to teach children in an atmosphere of faith. St. Mary’s has been the only Catholic, parochial, elementary school to operate for over 140 years, in the Diocese of Memphis and is the oldest continuously existing parochial school in the state of TN. The school has been administered by the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation, in Nashville, from 1900 to present. It is owned and operated by St. Mary’s Parish and supported by parents and parishioners and the wider community.
It takes a special place to prepare the children of today for success tomorrow. A place where quality teachers and a remarkable curriculum make a difference. A place where students forge lasting friendships. A place where praying is as important as playing. A place like St. Mary’s School.
St. Mary’s is known for its traditional yet unique programs that encourage the highest degree of academic excellence and spiritual formation. It is a place where education is inspired by a supernatural vision that forms the whole child – spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, and physically.
Authentically Catholic in the Dominican Tradition
Our mission is founded on a Christian anthropology
that fosters a love for wisdom and truth while
integrating the four Dominican pillars of prayer, study, community and service. Through a solid moral formation and a classical approach to learning, St. Mary's provides a well-rounded experience in an environment that prepares children for the future.


Today I’d like to highlight evidence for the existence of God that we all experience every day: the argument by design.
We live and work in buildings that were designed (and built) for a purpose, and we use machines every day as well that were designed (and built) for a purpose.
Houses, computers and cars didn’t just randomly form out of naturally occurring materials. We immediately know that architects and factories are responsible for designing and building these things we use every day. Design points to a designer.
Such is the case with nature. The more we learn about the world in which we live, the more amazed we should be about how intricately it is made.
The Teleological Argument for the existence of God argues that the intricacies of our world point to the existence of a God who created it.
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. -Psalm 19:1
Below is a short, 6-minute YouTube video from William Lane Craig’s ministry on The Fine Tuning Argument (which is a modern variant of the teleological argument) if you want to take a look.
Because Jesus satisfies the mind and the heart.
-Pastor Steve York
Compassion. Hope. Help. This has been our theme for the last 12 months as we launched our medical clinic in June 2021.
COMPASSION: The Latin word compati means to suffer with. That is what we do. We feel what our clients are feeling and ‘suffer’ along with them.
HOPE: “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” “For I know
the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil,
to give you a future and a hope. These words ring true every time we help encourage a
young woman that she can do this. We offer hope and help in Christ. The best hope
anyone can receive.
This is who we are, and how we serve the women, men and families that come to PCS. We have had the blessing of being able to show ‘life in the womb’ to so many since attaining our medical license. Many have chosen life due to seeing the little heart beating, the hands, fingers, and toes of their little one, alive and well growing in God’s grace, mercy, and love.
We had a young woman come in, afraid of the unknown that comes along with an unplanned pregnancy. I met with her, caringly showing her how we could support her if she chooses to keep her child. Then during the ultrasound appointment, Peggy was able to show her the little heart beating inside...at only 6 weeks. The “window to the womb.” There was a silence in the room. No words needed to be spoken...just the little flicker of the heart beating 158 beats per minute. Growing. Thriving. Being divinely knit within her womb.
After discussing her options, speaking with her about her options. With a heavy heart, she and her support person left. Weeks went by. Then prompted by the Holy spirit, I knew I had to reach out to her. She answered and when I told her who was calling, I knew the moment she started to speak...she was choosing life for her baby. She said she had decided to keep the baby and was so grateful for what we were able to show her. Her journey will not be easy, but she knows we are here to help her along, giving a lifeline when needed most.
How can you help:
The Cosmological Argument (The Philosophical Version)
One of my favorite arguments for the existence of God is the Cosmological Argument:
Awhile back I posted about the scientific version of this argument; this is the philosophical version. The philosophical version of this argument gives evidence for premise #2 by arguing philosophically that the universe began to exist.
The argument is summed up well in William Lane Craig’s video (see below if you’d like to watch it - it is only just over 6 minutes long):
“If the universe did not have a beginning, then the number of past events in the history of the universe is infinite... But that’s a problem because the existence of an actually infinite number of past events leads to absurdity - it is a metaphysical impossibility.” -William Lane Craig
The philosophical evidence is that the universe (space, time, and matter) is not eternal in the past; it has a beginning. The cause of the universe must therefore be outside of the material universe; it must be spaceless, timeless, immaterial, and extremely powerful. Again, sounds like the God of the Bible?
Believing in the existence of the God of the Bible is therefore a reasonable belief. In fact, I am convinced that the evidence is overwhelming such that to disbelieve in God is intellectually unreasonable. Both the scientific and the philosophical evidence are in agreement.
"Modern science is based on the principle: Give us one free miracle and we'll explain the rest... And the one free miracle is the appearance of all the matter and energy in the universe and the laws that govern it for nothing in an instant." - Terence Mckenna
Lastly, below is a short, 6-minute YouTube video from William Lane Craig’s ministry on The Cosmological Argument (the Philosophical version) if you want to take a look.
Because Jesus satisfies the mind and the heart.
-Pastor Steve York
When I was asked to write a Wisdom Spotlight for the blog I decided to take it literally and write about wisdom.
Wisdom is not something we naturally have. We’re not born with it and we can’t acquire it from the world. True wisdom comes from God. The Bible says,
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Proverbs 9:10
That’s where wisdom starts- with God.
There’s a lot of knowledge in the world; endless information, facts, figures, and statistics, but that’s different than God’s wisdom.
“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.” 1 Corinthians 3:19
Knowing information does not produce wisdom, knowing God does. It begins there, and there is where it grows, in time spent with Him, in His word and in prayer.
If we lack this kind of wisdom, we can ask God for it.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God,
who gives generously to all without finding fault,
and it will be given to you.” James 1:5
God desires for those who know Him to have wisdom and He is eager for us to ask for it and believe we will receive it.
“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt,
because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea,
blown and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6
How can you tell the difference between God’s wisdom and the world’s? James 3:17 tells us,
“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure;
then peace-loving, considerate, submissive,
full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”
I don’t know about you, but I need all the wisdom I can get. Wisdom helps us maneuver through a turbulent world and whatever may be going on in our lives each day. Isn’t it comforting to know all we have to do is ask God for it and then take Him at His word?
In His Grace and Truth- Charlotte
Fellowship sounds like a “churchy” word, doesn’t it? But it’s biblical and essential to living as Jesus followers— with God and “fellow” believers. From the beginning God intended humans to commune with him and each other (Genesis 1-3).
Last month I had the opportunity to celebrate fellowship with our association of churches, Transformation Ministries (tmchurches.org). The event was an annual 2-day celebration. This year was extra sweet because though I serve on TM’s Board of Directors, I connected with people I hadn’t seen since prior to Covid.
A personal blessing came the final hour of the event. During a time of worship, there was opportunity for people to receive individual prayer. I was one of the pastors praying for those who came forward. This is the thing about praying together— the one who prays is often just as blessed, if not more so, than the one who is prayed for.
There is a 3-way connection in those moments… a unity in fellowship formed: between God, the pray-er and the pray-ee. And guess who shows up in his all powerful glory? Yep! God’s Spirit flows over the moment.
And blessings linger. Because his presence does (Acts 1:8). Through tears and smiles, we experience the unity of the Spirit through God’s amazing love (John 17:23, Ephesians 4:3)!
Prayer brings us closer to each other and Heaven’s door because it’s where our spirits come alive with his. It’s why many get emotional during prayer. We encounter Jesus… and he changes us.
So when you have the opportunity to be prayed for, or perhaps you’re moved to pray for another… remember, prayer unites people. The Holy Spirit is ready to rain down blessings upon you and through you.
Will you take that step? Heaven will celebrate with us!
To talk/pray: firstname.lastname@example.org
I cannot believe that God would use my life to reach the lives of people an ocean away, but I should know by now that God loves to surprise me! My brother Jesse and I have been asked to go with a team of four others to Senegal, Africa to reach the souls of college students for Jesus Christ. We will be overseas for six weeks this summer, taking language classes at a college campus and working to build lasting relationships with the students we encounter.Our goal is to share the gospel with students and connect them with full time workers that live in Senegal so that they can continue to grow after we leave in July. I cannot help but praise God that Jesse and I are able to work together for the sake of the gospel; I also cannot help but praise God for the church that has loved us since we were little! When you pray, God works. I trust that God will be with us, working through us to reach these students and share the good news of Jesus Christ. Please be praying for us and the rest of our team for safe travels, boldness in building relationships, and for God to be working in the hearts of the students we encounter. I am excited to see God continue to grow the faith of my team!
With much love, Amy Blair
Work is not always required. There is such a thing as sacred idleness. -George MacDonald
I was looking through my book of quotes and this one got my attention. I believe The Bible would refer to “sacred idleness” as the Sabbath. But what exactly is Sabbath?
My husband John and I were debating this one night. Are picking up a few things at the grocery store or Home Depot while we’re in town after church considered Sabbath? I was perturbed so I prayed about it. What should our rest look like? The next morning in my devotional, I read this from Rabbi Abraham Heschel:
Six days a week we wrestle with the world, wringing profit from the earth; on the Sabbath, we especially care for the seeds of eternity planted in the soul. -Rabbi Abraham Heschel
I don’t know if God is concerned about groceries and household project shopping, just like Jesus told the man he healed to “carry his mat”, but I have a feeling that He wants my Sabbaths to include “sacred idleness” that “cares for the seeds of eternity planted in my soul”.
Your Fellow Sojourner,
May this day bring sabbath rest to my heart and my home.
May God’s image in me be restored, and my imagination in God be re-storied.
May the gravity of material things be lightened, and the relativity of time slow down.
May I know grace to embrace my own finite smallness in the arms of God’s infinite greatness.
May God’s Word feed me and His Spirit lead me into the week and into the life to come.
Peter Greig, A Sabbath Prayer
In my years of walking with people and hearing about their journey with Jesus I have heard some incredible stories. Two in particular stand out. Kenton told the story of being abducted and attacked. He was being held by two men and a third was beating him with a tire iron and then stabbed him in the neck. He cried out "Jesus of Nazareth, save me!" The men released him and fled. Though bleeding profusely and he should have been knocked unconscious he was able to make it to a nearby home where help was called and he was saved.
Jennifer told me the story of when she was a younger woman being assaulted by a man in his car. She cried out to Jesus and suddenly the man was flung to the other side of the car. She was saved from the assault.
They are extraordinarily dramatic stories where the name of Jesus was called upon and his presence was undeniable. There are many others I have heard as well from the mission fields around the world of people in dire straits experiencing the presence and power of God, even if they were not yet followers of Jesus. It always leaves me amazed.
I try to remember to end my prayers with the name of Jesus. I don't think it is a magic formula that is a requirement for God to hear and act. I don't believe if someone forgets to pray, "...in the name of Jesus. Amen." that God will neglect the prayer. God is bigger than us getting our formulas right so we can manipulate the Almighty to get what we want in the way we want.
When we know someone's name, we begin to understand the essence of their being. Some parents don't choose their child's name until after they are born and they have a chance to experience who they are and what they are like so they can choose a name that reflects their personality. When it comes to God, his name is hugely important. When Moses asked God who should he say is sending him to the Egyptians, God revealed his name as YAHWEH. His name in essence means "I am who I am." There are numerous other names for God that show his actions, like Jehovah Jireh - the God who provides.
Here's an exercise for you the next time you pray. Pray in the name of God using the character quality of God you most need. If you are stressed out and overwhelmed, pray for that and then say this: "I pray this in the name of the God of Peace." If you are up against a challenge where you are being treated unfairly, end your prayer by saying, "I pray this in the name of the God of Justice." What do you need in your life? What is the character of God he has revealed to meet that need? That is God's name to pray.
When we pray in the name of the character of God, we invoke the whole essence of God. It is not a reminder to God of who he is, it is a reminder to us of who he is.
Peace and Grace,
“All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. This is the motive of every action of every man.” -Blaise Pascal
I grew up in a Christian family, attending church regularly and involved in the youth group. After finishing high school, one of the college students in the church invited me to work at a camp for the summer. It was at that camp that I realized that happiness was possible. As I was reading the book of Mark for my morning devotions (this was my first experience of reading the Bible on my own regularly), I came across Mark 8:35.
If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. -Jesus (Mark 8:35)
It took me awhile to figure out what Jesus was saying. But finally I got it. Jesus was telling me that if I put my trust in him, surrendering my life to his Lordship, then, and only then, could I experience true happiness.
Now I’ve been a Christian for 32 years, and I am more convinced than ever that real, abundant life is only found in surrendering my life to Jesus and his agenda. The challenge, of course, is to live this out day after day.
Lord, I want my life to be one long prayer of putting your agenda first.
-Pastor Steve York
the act or process, or a manner of growing; development; gradual increase.
size or stage of development
development from a simpler to a more complex stage:
development from another but related form or stage
something that has grown or developed by or as if by a natural or Spiritual process:
origin; source; production:
of or denoting a business, industry, or equity security that grows or is expected to grow in value over a long period of time: adjective.
of or denoting a business, industry, or equity security that grows or is expected to grow in value over a long period of time:
When we take small steps of growth every day, over time, we see progress. And then our hope has the most potential to be realized. If you string together enough days of consistent growth, you begin to change as a person. You become better, stronger, more skilled, or all of the above.
If you are growing, your organization, your ministry, your circle of influence is growing because each one of you contributes to the whole organization, the whole ministry, the community.
The “Big Mo,” momentum, is an individual’s and organization’s best friend. Depending on which way it’s heading, it either puts the wind at your back…or in your face. And it follows that age-old-rule that an object in motion tends to stay in motion, unless specific actions are taken to change its direction. If your organization or you have momentum, then you need to intentionally put “the pedal to the metal” and continue to ride on that momentum. If an organization or you as an individual are not moving forward, the organization or individual is most likely going backwards.
verb (used with object), cel·e·brat·ed, cel·e·brat·ing.
to observe (a day) or commemorate (an event) with ceremonies or festivities:
to make known publicly; proclaim
to praise widely or to present to widespread and favorable public notice, as through newspapers or novels
to perform with appropriate rites and ceremonies
verb (used without object), cel·e·brat·ed, cel·e·brat·ing.
to observe a day or commemorate an event with ceremonies or festivities.
My six-year-old daughter is small in stature but makes up for it in confidence and competitive juices. There is no greater time of celebration around the Cole household than when we stand Maci next to the door jam and measure how much she has grown in the last three months . She loves to grow, she loves the results of growth, but mostly she loves the childlike excitement Dad and Mom express about how much she has grown. There is a little kid in each of our leadership development journeys that loves the significance of progress. If you don’t celebrate your growth or drive excitement around your team’s growth, you are missing a key element to its sustainability.
“That which gets rewarded gets done”. Growth is no exception. If you want a culture of growth in your team or a discipline of growth in yourself, learn how to “throw down” with enthusiasm about advancement!
My success can be achieved only with others.
to the Cold Springs Blog!


Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will
not depart from it.
A Holy Family Academy faculty member radiates love for our Lord and is dedicated to His Church. Driven by a passion for education and working with children, they captivate the attention of their students and draw out the best in them. They are devoted to the mission of helping their students grow, both academically and morally. They enthusiastically welcome parents as co-educators and defer to them as the primary educators of their children. All of our teachers value the liberal arts and receive training in classical methods of education. They are encouraged to grow in their faith, pray for their students daily, and continually evaluate how to best serve the children in their classrooms.
Upper Grades Science
Lower Grades Science
Fr. Dennis Schenkel


Doing anything daily is hard. So many times I have committed to doing something daily and failed. I am going to read my bible every day, set an alarm, first thing when I wake up. Good intentions but after a week the intentions fade and I find myself on Facebook instead of in Romans. I am going to eat better. No more sugar, candy, sweet treats. I do good for a couple weeks and then have a sick baby and next thing I know a half a tub of Carmel cookie crunch gelato is gone. I have failed over and over again. So when a friend of mine mentioned that she would like a daily bible verse to encourage her I reluctantly agreed. I said I would try. I knew I would fail. I know my limits . I have been committed to daily acts of serving, giving, and loving and even then I have failed. There have been times I wanted to give up, when I had nothing to give, when this journey seemed impossible, but it is at those moments when I lean on God most and am reminded that none of this is possible without him. I have learned to give myself a little Grace. To accept the fact that I can not do it all and I can’t do it alone. That there are times where God’s plan may not be my plan. So I have done my best to give daily words of encouragement to this new friend. But more importantly I send them when I think of her, or am in prayer for her, or I read something that makes me think of her. Because if I am just sending words of encouragement daily to check it off my list then it looses its meaning. Just like if my acts of serving, giving and loving are done just to check off the list then I am not listening at those tugs at my heart or Glorifying God. Learn to fail and accept Grace. Again God amazes me on how he uses something like a request for daily verses of encouragement to teach me about His will and Grace. So although I have failed in sending them daily, I have found purpose and meaning in when I send them and have learned to allow myself a little bit of grace on this journey.


Hallo Leute. Wow, our first full year in Berlin and what a year 2019 has been! As Sarah articulates so well in the Vlog, we've had some amazing times we are grateful for but also some challenging times too. As we spent 2019 going through the book of Acts we've learnt that this seems to be a regular pattern for the apostles and the early church. Persecution, challenges, trials, and setbacks as a result of putting God first, followed by gospel advance, healings, churches being established and lives being transformed. We haven't as yet seen any salvation, but we are definitely seeing lives changed, some incredible moments of supernatural provision, and a fantastic team learning how to be Berliners. Our Church Camp was a really significant moment for us as the team of 20 people we've been praying for had gathered together for the first time. Chris Taylor from the New Ground team introduced us to his friends Angela and Greg Kemm originally from Jubilee Cape Town now serving Relational Mission based out of Cambridge. They all served us superbly preaching on resilient faith, being a witness, and a people of the Spirit. We enjoyed some incredible times of worship and prayer, plus much laughter, fun and games. Pete and Abi Cowley and their girls from Jubilee Community Church, East Grinstead also served us with friendship, worship and kids work. Wow! We were blessed. We're so grateful for an incredible team that God is building together. It's such a courageous thing to do, to up-root your life and be planted into a whole new city, church and nation. We are so proud of all the team, the faith and courage they are displaying on a daily basis is inspirational. We're growing as a church community, in length, depth and as followers of Jesus. What will 2020 hold? More challenges with opportunities to trust Jesus, plus much breakthrough and kingdom advance? Please continue to join us in prayer for Berlin and the church.


Excerpted and revised from Fictional Foundations of Trinitarian Thought
Keith G. Morehead
An explanation of why philosophy influenced the Church:
The thought of the Fathers of the Church in the first centuries of the Christian era is called Patristic speculation. The Christians' purpose is neither intellectual nor theoretical. In spite of the extraordinary profundity of their writings, St. John and St. Paul do not intend to create a philosophy; it is another matter that philosophy must inevitably concern itself with them. But, little by little, speculative themes acquire a place in Christianity. This was brought about particularly by two stimuli of a polemical (controversial) nature: heresies and the intellectual reaction of paganism. The first centuries of the Christian era are those of the establishment of Christian dogma. Orthodox interpretation is accompanied by many heresies, which call for greater conceptual precision if the Church is to discuss them, repel them and convince the faithful of the authentic truth. Dogma is formulated all during the struggle against the numerous heretical movements. On the other hand, the pagans pay belated attention to the religion of Christ. At first it seemed to them to be a strange and absurd sect, one which they did not clearly distinguish from Judaism; they considered it a religion made up by men who were almost insane [emphasis mine], who worshipped a dead-and crucified- God, a religion of people who related the most surprising and disagreeable stories. When St. Paul speaks on the Areopagus to the refined and curious Athenians of the first century, who are only interested in saying or hearing something new, they listen attentively and courteously while he speaks of the unknown God whom he has come to announce; but when he mentions the resurrection of the dead, some laugh and others say that they will listen to him speak of that some other time, and almost all of them leave him. The almost total ignorance of Christianity on the part of even such a man as Tacitus is well known. Later, Christianity acquires greater influence; it reaches the higher classes, and paganism begins to take notice of it. Then the intellectual attacks begin, and the new religion must defend itself from them in like manner; to effect this it must make use of the intellectual instruments which it has at its command: the Greek philosophical concepts [emphasis mine]. In this way Christianity, which shows a total hostility toward reason in many of its earliest figures (the most famous example is Tertullian), ends by assimilating Greek philosophy in order to use it, in Apologist writings, in defending itself against attacks based on the point of view of Greek philosophy [emphasis mine].
Thus Christianity sees itself committed, first, to the intellectual formulation of dogma and, secondly, to a rational discussion with its heretical or pagan enemies. This is the origin of Patristic speculation, the purpose of which, I repeat, is not philosophical, and which can be considered philosophical only in a limited sense (Marias, pp. 107, 108).
This view, that the early Church fathers used Greek philosophy to give the Christian faith credibility with critical intellects of their time is not exclusive, by any means, to this one particular author.
I would like to mention at this point that I have relied heavily on McClintock's and Strong's Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (twelve volumes), and Philip Schaff's History of the Christian Church (eight volumes). James Strong is the same individual known for Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible . The authors of these sources are Trinitarian in their doctrine which should free me from suspicion of bias in the use of my sources.
I now cite a second author.
The contact between the Greek and the Hebrew worlds created a new problem, that of explaining and justifying the Hebraic religious view, and later the Christian outlook, in terms that would make sense to those who did not accept either the Old or New Testament picture of the world. As St. Paul discovered, the message of Christianity sounded like nonsense to the Greek philosophers. When he spoke to them at Athens, they ridiculed him. Jewish and Christian thinkers began to try to state their religious beliefs in terms that would be reasonable to someone schooled in Greek philosophy. They attempted to show that the assertions of their religion were justified on the standards employed by the Greek philosophers [emphasis mine]. Philo Judaeus, of the first century A.D., and the early Church Fathers Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 150?-220-?) and Origen (A.D. 185?-254?) argued that the religion of the Bible was compatible with Platonic philosophy [emphasis mine]. They contended that philosophical reasons could be given for accepting certain religious views, and that various religious contentions could be interpreted as ways of stating philosophical theses. Over the next several centuries, many theories from the writing of the Greek philosophers were employed by theologians to clarify or justify their religious convictions [emphasis mine]. Proofs of the existence of God, and theories about His Nature were set forth to provide a rational justification for the religious knowledge-claims of the Judaeo-Christian tradition [emphasis mine], and of the Mohammedan religion (Stroll and Popkin, p.342).
We have discovered that the introduction of philosophy into Christian doctrine was made by the need to legitimize Christianity with Greek thinkers in order to make it more palatable to the pagan world. Since Christians were made to be fools in comparison to the philosophical thought of the day, something had to be done to give Christianity a rational foundation. To communicate to the pagans and give Christianity credibility, church leaders argued that Christianity was not in conflict with the Greek philosophy that the pagans revered and respected.
The Word of God does not require human philosophy or intellectualism to be valid. God announces His opinion of man's wisdom in Isaiah 55: 7-8: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways , and my thoughts than your thoughts. God's Word stands whether it is accepted to be true or not. If men do not honor God or His Word it does not detract from Him or make His Word any less true.
When the Word of God is interpreted in the light of human philosophy there can be only one result, the loss of an accurate understanding of what God was trying to communicate to us. The perfect Word of God becomes contaminated. This is illustrated in the damage that has been done to the monotheistic message of the Bible since the incorporation of philosophy into biblical interpretation. It began a deviation from the absolute Oneness of God; a deviation which was never promoted or preached by the apostolic Church, and one that later Church leaders did not correct.
I make no attempt to ridicule or judge the Church fathers since I have no idea what the frustration of communicating the marvelous Gospel of Jesus Christ to cynical and sarcastic philosophers was like, but I do question their judgment. I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt by personally thinking that their only desire was to allow pagans to benefit from the atoning sacrifice of Jesus' blood. Possibly, they hoped to bring the pagans to salvation by attempting to communicate with them in a jargon that they could understand. However, this is all speculation on my part.
In order to understand how philosophy could be so completely blended into Christian doctrine, an understanding of philosophical teaching must be grasped. I will give a brief description of the teaching of the major philosophers and the contribution to Christian doctrine that scholars have credited them with.
427 BC- 347 BC
The question may be asked, Why is Plato, a philosopher that died before Jesus was even born, included in a discussion involving the influence of the post apostolic church on modern doctrine? Plato is considered to be one of the most important of all Greek philosophers, and by far the most influential of all the students of Socrates. The influence of Plato increased when Christianity was in its developing stages and facing opposition from pagan beliefs. Both sides used his philosophy to strengthen their arguments and they both submitted to his intellectual dominance. Below is a synopsis of his theological viewpoints and the effect it had on posterity.
Plato's thoughts on God, which are among the most difficult to comprehend, found their way into both the Christian religion [emphasis mine] and Western philosophy. This could not take place however, until the Idea of the Good of Plato had been transformed into the One of the neo-Platonists and adapted to the Christian religion [emphasis mine] by St. Augustine, Origen, Dionysius the Areopagite, John the Scot, and other key figures of the Christian Church (Fishler, p. 19).
Plato's God is the cause of all that exists and all that transpires in the world, but his is a divine principle--the Idea of the Good, for the fulfillment of which all things strive; a final purpose rather than a person or a compelling force or power; he is an ideal goal, the eternal, perfect type of existence (ibid., p. 22).
One important result of this Platonic view of the world is that Mind as the principle of reasonableness, orderliness, harmoniousness, and perfectability, is woven into the very structure of Reality and is so universally diffused as to allow no particle of reality to remain unaffected by it.
Mind or Reason is in control of the universe. And Plato invokes a principle, midway between Mind and the physical universe, the "Demiurge," to create and fashion the world in imitation of the perfect, eternal Ideas or Forms.... The divine Demiurge may be said to correspond in the nature of universal being to an artisan or craftsman in our physical world [emphasis mine]. Instead of a single specific idea which the human craftsman seeks to make objectively real, however, the divine craftsman--the "Demiurge"--makes manifest and gives embodiment to the most comprehensive of all Ideas, the Idea of the Cosmos, in all its multifarious being.
The divine craftsman makes Reason or Mind manifest in creation (ibid., p. 32).
Plato: "The father and maker of this Universe is beyond discovering, and even if we did find him, to tell of him to all men would be impossible (Theat)" (ibid., p. 40).
Please take special note of the first paragraph describing the influence of Plato on the Christian religion and how his Idea of the Good was transformed into the One of the Neo-Platonists. The creation of the "Demiurge" as the mediator between the Mind or Reason, created to create and fashion the world is a significant point to remember in the context of how the fourth century church interpreted the Logos of John 1:1-14. This "Demiurge" is built upon and refined by future philosophers and church leaders.
An explanation of Plato's Demiurge:
Yet though God is distinctly and habitually acknowledged as the father and creator of all things, all things were not directly framed and regulated by the Supreme Divinity. For the government of the sensible universe he created a subordinate deity, and placed it in the material creation [emphasis mine] Timaeus, p. 34. This guiding spirit, or Demiurgus, was a mixture of the ideal and of the material of the one and of the many, that being intermediate, it might communicate with both (McClintock and Strong, Volume VIII, p. 286).
Philo Judaeus of Alexandria
B.C. 20? - A.D. 50?
Philo was born in Alexandria, Egypt where he lived his entire life. Alexandria was the center of Hellenistic (Greek) and Christian philosophy, the metropolis of the learned world in Philo's lifetime. In fact one dictionary defines Alexandrian school as "the school of Christian philosophers and theologians at Alexandria during the first five centuries A.D., that sought to combine Christianity and Greek philosophy" (Funk and Wagnall).
Philo was a Jew, and it is asserted by the Jewish historian Josephus, Eusebius, Jerome and others that he was a member of the sacerdotal (priestly) family. Some believe he was a Pharisee. In addition to a knowledge of Jewish theology, he possessed an extensive comprehension of Greek philosophy, especially Platonic. Philo is therefore declared to be the first and most important Neo-Platonic philosopher. Since Philo was alive during the life of Jesus, a crossing of their paths may be expected but no mention of this is made.
The following quote is taken from the introduction of a ten volume set of Philo's own writings. It serves as an overview of Philo's contributions to both philosophy and Christianity.
But the ruling side of his [Philo's] theology is that while God is absolutely removed from us, incomprehensible and only known as absolute being [emphasis mine], He is also infinitely close to us, in fact at once transcendent and immanent. As is well known, Philo solved this antinomy by postulating, as intermediaries between the uncreated and the created, the Logos or Divine Reason, and also "Powers" or "Potencies," the two chief of which are goodness and sovereignty represented in the Old Testament by the names of "God" and "Lord" respectively. Of these intermediaries, the Logos has attracted more attention than any other Philonic question, mainly, no doubt, because of the similarity--and dissimilarity--of Philo's conception to that of the Prologue of the Fourth Gospel....If Philo is a link between Judaism and Hellenism, he is also a link between Judaism and Christianity [emphasis mine], and that in two different ways. In the first place, quite apart from the relation of his Logos to the Johannine there is a certain affinity between Philonism and the New Testament, which will at once attract and disappoint the student. Philo's conceptions of Conscience as the inward Judge, of the Spirit, of Faith, of Sonship, of Immortality, and many other conceptions of the same kind, are sufficiently like the uses of the same terms in the Epistles to make comparison fruitful. But except perhaps in the case of the first-named, where his attitude shows a great advance above his Stoic predecessors and a remarkable approximation to the Christian view, there are differences which to many will seem to out weigh the likeness....So far the conexion[sic] between Philo and Christian thought is one that springs from their common heritage and atmosphere, and their common ideals and temperament. There is no direct contact or conscious borrowing. But when the first century or so of Christianity is passed we find something more. Philo becomes something of a power in the Church [emphasis mine]. It is true that the Christian mind eager to find in the Old Testament figures and types of Christ could not altogether welcome his kind of exegesis, and indeed Augustine, while acknowledging his acuteness, deplores his deficiency. Still otherwise his treatment of the books made a great impression on some of the Fathers, and his Logos doctrine was superficially at least, sufficiently like that of the Fourth Gospel to suggest that his was an "anima naturaliter Christina [natural Christian principle]." His influence is probably to be seen in Justin, and is obvious in the two great liberal Christians of Alexandria, Clement and Origen. Among the Latin Fathers, Ambrose uses him considerably [emphasis mine]. Doubtless this feeling of his affinity to Christianity helped preserve his works, when so much of the post-Aristolelian philosophy has perished (Philo, Editors: Page, Capps, Rouse, Volume I, Introduction, pp. ix-xxii).
Some of the Church fathers were greatly impressed and influenced by the writings and teaching of Philo. The primary question during the time of Justin Martyr, Clement, and Origen was How can God be alone in His reign and Jesus be divine, without the devastation of monotheism? Philo's doctrine of the Logos, with its close similarity to John 1:1-14 (prologue of John) offered the perfect solution.
Let us read a second opinion.
The Fathers of the Church do not have a definite and precise system. They take from Hellenic thought the elements which they need at that particular moment. One must also bear in mind that their knowledge of Greek philosophy is very incomplete and faulty. In general, they are eclectics: they select from all the pagan schools what seems to them most useful in obtaining their goals [emphasis mine]. We find a formal declaration of eclecticism in the writings of Clement of Alexandria (Stromateis [Miscellanies],I,7). But the major philosophic source which nourishes the Fathers is, of course, Neoplatonism, which is to influence the Middle Ages so greatly [emphasis mine], especially until the thirteenth century, when its influence will diminish before Aristotle's prestige. The Fathers come to know Plato (in a rather imprecise way) through the Neoplatonic philosophers (Plotinus, Porphyry, etc.), and they look for analogies to Christianity in Platonic thought [emphasis mine]....
The questions which most concern the fathers of the Church are the most important problems created by dogma. As a general rule, philosophic problems are created by religious, revealed truths which require rational interpretation, and this is the case in the Middles Ages. Thus, reason is used to clarify and formulate dogma, or to defend it. The Creation, God's relationship with the world, evil, the soul, the meaning of life and of redemption--these are the major problems with which the early Fathers of the Church concern themselves. And alongside these problems we find strictly theological questions, such as those that refer to the essence of God, the Trinity of divine persons [emphasis mine], and so on (Marias, p. 109).
In addition to the "Logos," philosophers contributed a concept that God was impassible , which means that they believed he was untouchable, unreachable, incapable of feelings, unable to experience pain and invulnerable. This concept of the impassibility of God is passed down to the Church fathers and is illustrated later in the history of the Church when "patripassianism (explained on page 59)" is condemned. The concept of impassibility is introduced in the preceding reference stating God is absolutely removed from us, and is expanded in the following reference.
How close was Philo's teaching of the Logos of God to the teaching of the so-called orthodox Christian Church? I will pass that judgment onto the reader after this next passage is considered.
How does the Highest Spirit, the eternally Perfect One, enter into the finite world? He creates ideals from himself, says Plato. He introspects himself, and thus perfection is produced; but this perfection impresses itself upon more subordinate [emphasis mine] existencies, and thus it descends from immediate causes to intermediate causes, until the real objects spring into existence, and creation becomes manifest to us; God, the eternal existence, the eternally perfect is the highest cause, but the eternally Pure One does not immediately come into contact with the impure [emphasis mine]--only by means of manifold(many types of) emanations (to flow from a source) and concatenations (the act of linking together ), the earthly grows into existence. Such views afforded the philosophic Jew a happy means of preserving the theory of the infallibility and inconceivableness of God, and yet of accepting the different figurative expressions concerning God in the Bible, because they could refer to the subordinate beings. ....tenaciously adhered to, and whenever it expressed entities too directly, it had to yield to forced interpretations. To such also the Bible was frequently subjected [emphasis mine]. Narratives and commands were forcibly driven from their natural simplicity into artificial philosophemes, in the belief that their value would thus be enhanced [emphasis mine]. The figurative expressions and events in connection with God were referred to such subordinate spirits as had evolved themselves from God. In the writings of Philo that intermediate agency is comprised in the Logos [emphasis mine] .
Philo offered a solution in that idea of a Logos, or Word of God, divinity articulate, speaking and acting in time and space, and therefore by successive acts, and so doing in time and space the will of the timeless and spaceless Father, the abysmal and eternal Being, of whom he was the perfect likeness. In calling this person the Logos, and making him the source of all human reason, and knowledge of eternal laws, he only translated from Hebrew into Greek the name which he found in his sacred books, "The Word of God." Of God himself, Philo teaches that he is incorporeal, invisible, and cognizable only through the reason; that he is the most universal of beings, the Being to whom alone being, as such, truly pertains; that he is more excellent than virtue, than science, or even than the good per se and the beautiful per se. He is one and simple, imperishable and eternal; his existence is absolute and separate from the world [emphasis mine]; the world is his work...
God is not in contact with matter; if he were he would be defiled [emphasis mine]. He who holds the world itself to be God the Lord has fallen into error and sacrilege. In his essence God is incomprehensible; we can only know that he is, not what he is... In creating the world, God employed as instruments incorporeal potencies or ideas, since he could not come in contact with polluting matter.
...Philo describes the Logos, therefore, as the first-born before all existence, as the perfect reflection of God...he calls him God's vicegerent in the world: he gives him the office of mediator between God and the universe.... Hence he is the high priest of the world, the advocate for the defects of men with God and generally the revealer of the divine nature to the universe [emphasis mine]. The Logos is the archetype of the reason, which is formed not after the Absolute himself, but after the Logos. He is the revelation of Absolute in the reason, is the image of God after which man, according to Genesis, was created. In this connection he calls the Logos the ideal man; and alluding to a Jewish mystical idea, the original man. In the Logos is the unity of the collected revelations of the Divine Being which is individualized in man. In general, everything is traced back to the distinction between the Divine Being as he is in himself and his revelation in the Logos....But this Logos by Philo is only a sort of intermediate being between God, who is in his nature hidden, simple, without attributes, and the eternal, shapeless, chaotic matter. It is the reflection, the first-born Son of God; the second God [emphasis mine]; the sum of the ideas, which are the original types of all existence; the ideal world itself; the medium through which the actual, sensible world is created and upheld [emphasis mine]; the interpreter and revealer of God; the archangel, who destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, spoke to Jacob and to Moses in the burning bush, and led the people of Israel through the wilderness; the high priest, and advocate, who pleads the cause of sinful humanity before God, and procures for it the pardon of its guilt [emphasis mine]. We can see an apparent affinity of this view with the christology of St. Paul and St. John, and thus it probably came to exert no small influence with the early Church fathers in the evolution of their doctrine of the Logos...Alexandrian ideas formed a bridge to Christianity( McClintock and Strong, Volume VIII, pp. 112, 113).
A final quotation concerning the Logos, from the same source, only under the heading of NEO-PLATONISM, states:
The highest of all the divine forces is the Logos, in which the world of ideas finds its place. The Logos is the image of God, and the type after which the world is formed, and the manifestation of the Deity, making and ruling the world, and serving as the Mediator between God and man. The conception of an incarnate Logos was, however, impossible to Philo, who regarded matter as impure [emphasis mine]. This conception forms one of the fundamental doctrines which separate Christianity from the Alexandrian theosophy(McClintock and Strong, Volume VI, p. 940) .
A.D. 205-A.D. 270
Plotinus is the last philosopher we will present as strictly a philosopher. After Plotinus, all the individuals discussed may still be considered to be philosophers, but their primary role is that of Church Fathers. The influence of Plato, Philo, and Plotinus on the Christian Church is not the result of their involvement in the Church; their influence on the Christian Church is the result of the impact that their teaching had on the forthcoming Church leaders.
Plotinus was, like Philo, a Neo-Platonist. He was a fellow disciple of Origen (a later Church Father) under the teaching of Ammonius. He, in turn, was the teacher of Porphyry. Plotinus was the first of the Neo-Platonists to document his beliefs about God in an organized method. Below is a small sample of his philosophy of God.
A fundamental principle of the philosophy of Plotinus is the identity of the subject and the object, of the cogniser and thing cognised. The office of philosophy should be to gain " a knowledge of the One...["...." part of quotation]..the essence and first principle of all things," not by a process of thought or reasoning, but by an immediate intuition. This One is variously styled by the Being, the One, the God. The three elements of being are Unity, or the One, described as original pure light, pervading space; Intelligence, thenous [nous] emanating from the One, and contemplating it in order to comprehend it; the World-Soul, an emanation from the Nous. These constitute the Trinity of Plotinus (McClintock and Strong, Volume VI, p. 941).
It is necessary to evaluate and summarize the data that has been presented thus far, before continuing. Plato's concept of God revolves around God not being a person, but an Idea of the Good . Plato's god is in control of the universe; he is the indirect creator of all. Plato's god is not the creator of all because a being, called the "Demiurge," was created by the supreme god and placed between himself and the physical universe to act as a mediator.
Philo expanded on the philosophy of Plato. In Philo's theosophy the mediator was called the Logos. Mediation between god and man was mandatory; it was impossible for God to have personal relationships with humanity because He would be defiled upon contact with physical matter. God himself, is imperishable and separate from the world; he cannot suffer, he cannot be seen, he cannot be understood (incomprehensible). The Logos is the image of God in the world. It was the Logos that created the world, spoke to Moses in the burning bush, destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. The Logos could be touched, seen, and understood to a degree. But Philo could not imagine the Logos becoming a man; to him, this was impossible.
Plotinus went one step further by creating a three tier god that was still one being. Plotinus documented his beliefs in a systematic manner.
How can God be a solitary God, absolutely alone in His Deity, if God and Jesus Christ
Philosophy developed a "perfect" answer for the Christians of the post-apostolic church that were seeking an answer. It has been documented that Greek philosophy was necessary to legitimize the new Christian religion with pagan intellectuals. The progression of philosophical thought concerning the nature of God was similar enough to the Christian dogma of the post-apostolic church to make any difference small enough to be of little or no consequence. This is especially true when consideration is given to how philosophical thought bridged the gap between the pagans and Christians. However, a willingness to compromise doctrine is unacceptable, no matter how pretty the package looks from the outside.
I question the degree of influence that the Bible had in the process of obtaining an understanding of the nature of God in the post-apostolic Church. It appears to me that the difficult texts of the Bible were interpreted in the light of philosophical thought instead of referring to biblical texts that were more easily understood.
How can we, finite created beings, expect to know and understand God, an eternal,
The development of this type of question has also been documented by the authors quoted. They have told us that the thought of the day was that God is incomprehensible, unable to touch material things, unable to communicate to mankind directly, and impassible in His nature. This teaching was ingrained into the minds of people seeking to know God throughout history. They were condemned for obeying the Word of God. Eternal life is dependent on our knowledge of God. John 17:3. Yet they were denied that knowledge.
How easy it is to understand that so many people fall into the trap of believing in a doctrine that they cannot understand. They have been programmed by history and the very institutions from which they seek help, to believe that God cannot be understood. This is as far from the truth as the doctrine of the Trinity itself is.
While it is true, we cannot know everything about God, He will show Himself to us if we seek Him. Does the influence of philosophy end now? I am sorry to say, "It has only just begun."
Few Trinitarians will agree with my conclusions. Is this because I am wrong? Or could it be that Trinitarians have 1700 years of tradition and mistakes to protect? The majority of sources that I have quoted from have been Trinitarian authors, with the exception of the philosophical works. Why is it that the philosophers are so confident in their statements concerning the impact of philosophy on Christianity whereas the Church downplays its influence? Could it be because the influence of pagan philosophy is greater than that of the Bible? Such an admission would be a most difficult pill for the Christian orthodox church to swallow, but that is the medicine necessary if the Church is to return to orthodoxy.
1. Julian Marias, Translated from the Spanish by Stanley Appelbaum and Clarence Strowbridge, History of Philosophy. (Dover Publications Inc. New York © 1967).
2. Avrum Stroll and Richard H. Popkin, Introduction to Philosophy, third edition. (Published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, ©1979).
Max Fishler, What the Great Philosophers Thought About God, University Book Publishers, Los Angeles, CA, © 1958.
4. John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological , and Ecclesiastical Literature , (First published by Harper and Brothers, 1867-1887, Reprinted by Baker Book House Company, 1981).
5. The Readers Digest Great Encycolpedic Dictionary, Including Funk and Wagnells Standard College Dictionary (Pleasantville, New York© 1969).
6. Philo, with an English translation in ten volumes. F.H. Colson, M.A. and Rev. G. H. Whitaker, M.A., translators. T.E. Page, LITT.D., E. Capps, Ph.D., LL.D., W.H. D. Rouse, LITT.D., Editors (The Loeb Classical Library. Published by London: William Heineman Ltd., New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1929). Volume I, Introduction, pp.ix-xxii.
7. Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. © 1910, Reprinted February 1985.
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28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
To be honest, my heart, my spirit, and my relationship with God and the Church are not in a place where I am able to do much more than survive. I am weary, poor, tired, weak, lonely and disappointed in myself and the way I've lived my life in recent years.
Perhaps the church is exactly where I need to be. My childhood was full of the relationships shared with people in my church. The first church I remember attending was a very small, vibrant group of about 50 people. It was the mid-1970s. Services were held at our local YMCA, which was closed to the public on Sundays.
Can you imagine a fitness facility being closed on Sundays today?
As I grew up, the little YMCA church group changed and we moved to a larger church in a different part of town. This one was much more established, with a large building and an independent Christian grade school. There were lots of families with kids my age, older and younger. My family--my brother, my mom and dad--went to services three times week, Sunday morning and night, and Wednesday evenings.
In that larger church, I found it easy to make friends. There were Sunday School classes and youth groups that I participated in on a regular basis. In my junior high and high school years, a group of us girls built some strong, faith-filled relationships through Bible studies, youth activities, church trips, and more. I felt strong and secure in my beliefs and thought I might be hearing a divine call to missions, particularly mission work on the African continent.
After high school, I attended two years of undergrad at a small Christian liberal arts college in Massachusetts. Students there were required to attend Chapel services a minimum of four days a week. The campus was small and a bit remote, though, and I didn't join an off-campus congregation for Sunday services on a regular basis.
I would say that, until college, I had gone to church for all but a handful of Sundays in my entire life. Our family would even find churches to attend while we were on vacations, in and out of the United States. Being among believers and having a living faith was my reality for my first nineteen years of life.
At the tender age of nineteen, I married Hero. We moved back home from the Massachusetts college and applied to attend our much larger (and financially accessible) hometown university. We became active in serving the children of the congregation of the larger church of my childhood--also Hero's first church home.
But that congregation had grown rapidly and gone through an enormous building project, reaching out to many new families and many new members. Attendance nearly doubled in the first two years in the new building; we used to joke that the whole complex was the size of a large strip mall. It just had a cross on the top.
So, what happened to that child of the church, that girl of faith?


Poisoned Glen – is a picturesquely situated village at the foot of Mount Errigal, the highest peak of the Derryveagh mountain range in County Donegal and surrounded by vast valleys and shimmering lakes.
This place is known for frequent photographs of the beautiful ruins of the church in Dunlewey with Mount Errigal in the background. This church was built by Jane Smith Russell as a monument to the late husband, the owner of the estate of Dunlewey, who died in 1848 and his remains rested in a vault under the church floor.
The church is built of white marble and blue quartzite, which was mined in local quarries.
With the collapse of Dunlewey’s estate, the church ceased to be used regularly, and the cost of its maintenance was the reason for its deterioration and in 1955 for safety reasons the roof was removed, the furniture was sent to other churches in the diocese, and the bell was installed in the church in Cashel near the Doe castle.
The ruins of this church is really an amazing windfall for photography enthusiasts.


In Nigeria today there is a proliferation of liberal churches preoccupied with issues of prosperity rather than eternal salvation. Such churches have become relevant because of the old fashioned way of traditional churches that scold their congregation every weekend for not living righteous lives.
The orthodox churches over the past decade and half have had to grabble with the problem of mass exodus of their members to the new churches. In Northern Nigerian the most dominant churches have been the Evangelical Churches of West Africa (ECWA) and the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN). They have conducted their activities in Hausa, the most spoken language in the northern region of the country for more than one hundred years. The threat of the new generation churches have now spurred them into starting English branches in an effort to hold on to the younger generation of their flocks.
The Cherubim and Seraphim
him Church of Christ was founded by Prophet Moses Orimolade Tunolase at Ikare in the present Ondo State in South Western Nigeria. In recent time, the church too has become preoccupied with the strong desire for relevance to potential members. While the repulsion of younger members of the ECWA and COCIN churches have come as a result of the desire for sermons in English a symbol of modernity and to move away from conservative preachers with modest education, the Cherubim and Seraphim in addition to similar problems is generally misconstrued as a church that practices a hybrid religion of Christianity and a traditional African religion. The exotic elements of the church that have kept away potential members are the exclusive use of Yoruba and the manner of worship that bears the semblance of a traditional practice. Members most wear white garments and a red girdle. They must also leave their footwears at the entrance of the church. The church has also been associated with children wearing matted tubes of hair commonly referred to as dreadlocks.
Though the church later spread to other parts of the world after it was founded in the Southwest, its Nigerian congregation has largely remained Yoruba. In 1925 when it was founded the only religions were the diverse forms of African voodoos. In South Western Nigeria, there were practices like the worship of sango (god of thunder), ogun (god of iron), esilouku (god of water), etc. Members of the early churches in black Africa as a whole were either animists or former members of traditional religious groups. Changing from a traditional African worship to a church was a mere change of the Supreme Being that was been worshiped. The posture for asking for favour, forgiveness or exultation of the Supreme Being may not have changed much. It was difficult to draw a distinct dividing line between the traditionalist and Christians. Thus the only way the semblance of traditional Yoruba practice could have been expunged from the church would have been through converts from other tribes or through later generation of educated members.
The right to wear whatever one chooses to a place of worship has led to flamboyance in church and the distraction from the primary reason of going to church. Thus a homogenous costume takes care of that problem and explains why the cherubim and Seraphim insist on white garments for all members during worship. When Moses was to receive the Ten Commandments, the voice of God instructed him to remove his sandals, as the place where he stood was holy. In this regard members of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church most leave behind their shoes at the entrance of the church. The issue of Children with dada, as the hairstyle is known in Nigeria, are however not exclusive to the C and S Church. When such children are born the church seeks for guidance through prayers. The decision to cut the hair or not follows a revelation that come as a respond to the prayer.
In view of the threat of modern churches the Cherubim and Seraphim have resorted to efforts to keep their congregation. They have not only embarked on the education of the general public to understand the actual nature of the church but have also resorted to the establishment of English branches to hold on to their children as members and attract people from elsewhere. If the church must succeed in its campaign, it must also renounce the use of white garments and allow members to come into the temple with their sandals. Majority of today’s Christians don’t go to church for the word and are thus not prepared for any regimentation.


St Oscar Romero
Oscar Arnulfo Romero was born in 1917 in El Salvador. As a child he trained as a carpenter, but felt a strong calling to be a priest. He joined the seminary at the age of 14 and was ordained a priest in 1942 in Rome. He returned back to El Salvador where he became famous for his inspirational sermons which were broadcast across the by five radio stations.
In 1970, Archbishop Romero was made Bishop and in 1977 he was made Archbishop of San Salvador, the capital city. When his close friend, Fr Rutilio Grande was shot and killed along with two parishioners for standing up for the rights of the poor, Archbishop Romero became a fierce advocate for human rights. He spoke up repeatedly for the voiceless, listening to the stories of the poor and establishing aid projects and pastoral programs to support the victims of violence. He fearlessly denounced the injustices of the military, who had murdered and terrorized thousands of citizens.
Archbishop Romero sermons were broadcast on the radio, which inspired people across the country. He challenged those who enjoyed wealth and privilege to change their lives and called upon the military to stop their violence. On the 24th of March 1980 as Archbishop Oscar was saying Mass, an army assassin shot and killed him.
At his funeral, thousands attended, but the army shot and killed 30 people. The civil war continued till 1992.
Oscar Romero was declared a martyr and beatified on the 23rd of May 2015. He was canonised on October 14, 2018.
Strength, Courage, Communication, Justice and Love


Hi there! CarePackage Prayers is moving along smoothly today. As you may have already noticed, this is a combination of social prayer sharing and care package gift shop. It is the developing result of an idea thought up by Hannah Noriega. Hannah is currently away in college at the University of Maine. It’s her first year and, precisely, her first weekend living away from home.
Being a Christian college student is an learning adventure. Students are often plucked up from the fertile roots of their hometown church – and burdened with the quest for spiritual, personal growth in a new town, city, state or even country! As parents and friends we want to help them feel like they are never “too far” from the love we have for them and absolutely never too far from the ultimate friend, Jesus Christ.
Each of the CarePackage Prayers we offer includes a bit of the Gospel in some way. There are Inspirations, devotionals, study bibles, or tokens that remind us that the Lord our God is always with us.
Here on the site we welcome a community of prayer. Sharing a prayer requires that you register as a member. This is primarily to allow you control of the privacy of your prayer. You can create a prayer journal of your own, or invite friends and other members to pray with you, pray for you or be inspired by what you’ve shared.
We will never sell or share your email address, prayer or post content. You choose what to post and when, and it is your choice to remove a post if you see fit. The site is secured for payment transactions, and your personal data is protected. That being said, posting online is inherently a public thing. Please take care and consideration before sharing personal or private details in a prayer post.


Perception is a funny thing. The reality can be one thing and the faith within us pushes us forward in hope of what will come.
For the past little while I've been doing a lot of soul searching on the idea of what we say about the church. By the church I mean the body of Christ collectively, from the church all over the world right down to the church that you attend every Sunday morning. People are free on their facebook statuses and twitter accounts and blogs and the long list of social media outlets to allow our frustrations to vent. An outlet to let the steam off is good, prayer is a good outlet for that. Typing up a tirade and posting it publicly is not necessarily the best way. Every body seems to think that because we have the freedom to do so that we should exercise that freedom. Gossip and backbiting are not just spoken sins...
Another thing is that we think in mentioning this stuff we are helping the situation. Thought process here: I see (perceive) a problem, I don't like it, I tell somebody about it (not necessarily the right person), problem remains.
As a part of the Body of Christ, you are in fact the body and when you talk bad about it, you are in effect talking badly about yourself. You cannot distance yourself from the problem. Like it or not you are a part of the team and therefore part of the problem. That's a perception adjustment!
I know that its difficult to push on when it feels like you are the only one. That is an age old misconception. We can look around and see that we are doing our best but that person over there sure could be doing a better job. God calls people together to triumph but it starts with each one individually. Instead of tearing down, seek to build up with your words. Collectively, we can get so much done when each person has their hearts in line to complete the task. Nehemiah and the people rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem come to mind. Go back and read the book of Nehemiah and take notice of the troubles that came their way but also make note of the work of each family to bring about the desired result of rebuilding the wall.
Recently I came across the story behind the Keep Calm posters that seemed to be everywhere for awhile. Pretty cheesy in my opinion until I learned the purpose behind them. They were actually part of a three part series printed in England during WW2 and plastered on walls all over the British Isles to keep the morale of the people up. The message is simple and straightforward and speaks to our situation today as well. My very favorite one is the second poster.
The message reminds us of the individual responsibility we all have to remain brave, joyful, and determined even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Life isn't a picnic, but no matter the circumstances you can find encouraging words for others instead of constantly tearing down the situation.
Nehemiah 2:17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.


Bound 4 Glory is a ministry that specializes in Preaching, Speaking, and Life Coaching… Thank you for visiting our site! Dr. Andra Cunningham is here to Equip, Empower, and Encourage your God-given Faith! And if you feel that your “mustard seed” has been lost, we are here to Restore that “mustard seed” and “measure” of faith that God created in you. For every man(woman) is given a measure of faith. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that make it hard for us to believe that the outcome will be other than what we can perceive.
As a Christian Coach, Author, Speaker, Preacher and Teacher, Dr. Andra Cunningham utilizes various platforms to help you find the result you are looking for! Whether it is Coaching, a Workshop or Retreat, let Andra show you that Christianity doesn’t have to be “religious” and neither is growing a church, nor pastoring should be stressful, Faith applies to all aspects of your life and ministry.
Andra is motivated by the belief that God’s Word is sufficient and that people who follow its life-changing message can bring glory to God through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We intentionally work towards spreading the Gospel of Christ to all through every means the Lord allows upon us, so that your dream can come to pass, being a pastor would be enjoyable and growing a church would be rewarding. We pray that you are blessed as you journey through our site!


Lady always found herself in toxic, unhealthy relationships with men that she believed were attracted to her but all she got in return was let downs and hurt. She had female "friends", but really she knew none of the women she thought were her friends, were there as a friend.
Lady, could not understand why she always experienced rejection. Whether it was a job opportunity, an achievement she tried to obtain or even a family member to talk with, that rejection seemed to always be around. She did not know how to distance herself from the rejection or how to pick herself back up after those rejected emotions.
Because of the constant let downs and hurt form relationships and friendships, the rejection she had experienced; Lady developed a fear of speaking up for herself or expressing her opinion around others. She had a fear of even getting close to people because she didn't want to deal with the emotional pain of it all. Un-forgiveness also began to grab her heart from people not being who they say they are.
How can Lady embrace God's healing, how can she begin to transform into that butterfly of change and restoration? Are you that Lady, in some way are you dealing with these same issues?
The Un-masking Process:
1. No longer rehearse or replay that same negative or hurtful conversation. Stop thinking what happened to cause the pain. Instead re-focus your energy into positive energy. Think of something that makes you happy or think of an encouraging or even a smile that someone shared.
2. Stop going back to things that remind you of the hurt and pain. Let go of negative friends and relationships even family members. It's time to break old habits.
3. Stop holding the hurt inside. It's ok to talk about it, release it. Have the venting session with someone you can confide in. As you vent, you are exchanging all the negative energy and accepting God's healing. God is ready to heal you, embrace the healing.
1. Make the decision to let go of the hurt instead re-focus your conversation and mindset in a positive direction.
2. Confront the fear of having to break negative friendships/relationships. Confront the fear of breaking bad habits that keep you from receiving God's healing.
3. Fight to stay in that place of healing and of freedom. Don't go back to the old conversation, the old friends and the old habits. You are strong, fight for your healing.
God’s Word is health to all my flesh. His Word is medicine to my flesh. I am the Lord that healeth thee is medicine to all my flesh. I will take sickness away from the midst of thee is medicine to my flesh. The Word of God is full of the life of God. That life is saturating my spirit. God’s life and healing power is in His Word, and His Word is at work in me now. The Word of God is depositing the life of God and the healing of God into my spirit. That life and health is spreading out of my spirit into every tissue and pore of my body, creating health and soundness. My body has no choice but to respond to the healing in the Word that is being absorbed into me now.
Trust God and Walk in your healing in Jesus name, Amen


The Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius came into being as the result of several events which were indirect consequences of the Russian Revolution of 1917. Over the years that followed the Bolshevik revolution, large numbers of Russians, many of them young and forthright Orthodox Christians, left Russia and came to live in the countries of western Europe, especially France, as refugees. Here they came into contact with other Christian denominations that many of them had only read about, or had very limited contact with, in Russia.
Under the auspices of the Student Christian Movement, one of these young Russian refugees, Nicolas Zernov, organised a series of conferences in the English town of St Albans with the aim of bringing together young Eastern and Western Christian students with the aim of discussing points of similarity and difference between their respective theological outlooks and church disciplines.
For most of those present, the Anglo-Russian Student Conferences of 1927 and 1928 were to be the first real opportunity to meet with Christians of other traditions. The Orthodox dimension of the conferences came mainly in the form of Paris-based Russian refugees, though there were also a few Greeks and non-Chalcedonians present. The Anglicans came mainly from the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church of England, although there was initially some interest from evangelicals and also from Methodists and Scottish Presbyterians.
Opportunities for contact between Anglicans and Orthodox in England had been very limited until this point. At the beginning of the twentieth century there were only five Orthodox Churches in Britain: Greek churches in London, Manchester, Liverpool and Cardiff and the Russian Embassy Chapel in London, which was itself closed in 1917. There were similarly small numbers of English people who considered themselves to be members of the Orthodox Church.
Stephen Hatherley, an Englishman who converted to Orthodoxy in the late 19th century was one such person. Having been ordained a priest of the Ecumenical Partriarchate of Constantinople, he gathered around himself a group of English converts, opening a small church in the town of Wolverhampton in the industrial midlands. His activities so displeased the Anglican authorities however, that following the intervention of the British Foreign Office, Hatherley was forbidden to receive a single further person into Orthodoxy. The church in Wolverhampton was closed and he ended his days ministering to the community of Greek merchant sailors in the newly-opened Greek church in Cardiff.
Another key figure was yet to return to England. Archimandrite Nicholas (Gibbes), another Englishman, had spent time in Russia as Charles Sidney Gibbes, English tutor to the Tsarevich Alexis, son of the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II. Following the assassination of the Russian imperial family, Gibbes left Russia for the large Russian communities in the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Harbin, taking with him icons and other personal belongings of the Tsar as relics. In China he received the monastic tonsure and was ordained priest, so it was as Father Nicholas that he returned to England, establishing the first Orthodox chapel in Oxford in 1941.


With much of the longstanding buzz about the art scene in Marfa, one doesn’t hear as much about the traditional, but very important, aspects of the city.
Though mostly a bit behind the scenes, St, Mary’s Catholic Church in Marfa plays an important role in the early part of my novel, A Moveable Marfa. A very important scene takes place in front of the Statue of the Blessed Virgin inside the church. Mass is celebrated most days in the active parish, and the church contributes greatly of the fabric of the more traditional aspects of the city. At times the avant-garde expressions of the artistic community of Marfa creates tension with the more traditional aspects of the community. Other times, they complement each other. Regardless, it is an important influence to the overall cultural landscape of the city and nearby region.
The roots of Catholicism run deep in the area.
Though Presidio County had been inhabited by indigenous tribes for thousand of years, Catholicism started to take root in the region in the 1500s with the arrival of Spanish expeditions across the region. The first Spaniards likely came to area in 1535. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and his three companions stopped at the Native American pueblo, placed a cross on the mountainside and called the village La Junta de las Cruces (at a site south of modern day Marfa near the modern-day City of Presidio). The history of St. Mary’s Parish dates to 1875 when Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission was established in Marfa in a small building west of the present town limits.
More background on St. Mary’s Catholic Church
In 1889 the population of Marfa and the surrounding area became great enough that Our Lady of Guadalupe was established as a parish. As a parish, Marfa gained its own resident priest.
The cornerstone of the present day building is dated 1889. However, the people ran out of funds and building was delayed for a time. During this time, services were held in a building which had been a wool storehouse. When funds again became available, the church was finished.
From the time the parish was established in 1889 with one priest until 1912 when there were four priests, there was no rectory. The priests lived in the back rooms of the church building. A rectory was finally built in 1912.
At one time, Marfa actually had two Catholic churches. In 1917 a second church, Sacred Heart Church, was built at the northwest corner of Highland Ave. and San Antonio St. It was dedicated on December 27, 1917. That same year Our Lady of Guadalupe Church was enlarged and remodeled. In 1945, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church was again enlarged. The name of the Church was changed to St. Mary’s.
In 1959, St. Mary’s Church and Sacred Heart Church were made one and the Sacred Heart property was sold. St. Mary’s was again enlarged. Furnishings and materials from the Sacred Heart Church, including adobe bricks and the stained glass windows, were used to renovate and beautify St. Mary’s Church. (Primary Source: https://churchmarfa.blogspot.com/)
Per a 1960’s history of the church, the church is, like many historic Marfa structures, constructed of adobe blocks. The exterior walls are reported to be three feet thick. Like Saint Mary’s and its history, this preponderance of adobe architecture is just another special aspect of the City of Marfa.


BIBLE FITNESS PROGRAM: A 2-month adventure (June-July 2017) to help folks get to know their Bible better with weekly worship, readings, and classes.
KICKOFF MESSAGE FROM THE PASTOR
The beginning of summer marks a time when people start thinking
about getting fit. For some, it is an upcoming special event or
reunion that motivates them. For others, it is the anticipated time at
the pool or beach. The summer is a great time for getting fit.
And so, we are going to get fit as a church. No, this won’t really
help you to fit into those smaller pants or wow folks along the
beach. With this program, we are going to get Bible fit. What does
that mean? It means that June and July will be an intentional 8-week
program of helping the people of First United get to know their
Bibles better. We will use 40 key scripture passages divided into five
readings per week to guide our training. Stick with the B-Fit Program
and we will help you to feel more confident in your relationship with
The Bible is such a rich and beautiful resource for us, and yet so
many walk through their lives feeling hesitant and baffled by its
contents. We are committed to empowering people to live into the
new life that God is offering. The Bible holds power and wisdom
that we want all to have. Do not let another summer go by without
getting fit... Bible fit. Then, let us grow stronger and healthier in our
relationship with God together.


Old Point Monument is a landmark of interest to every student of the history of New England and is of special interest to citizens of Madison for, here, within her bounds, came the tragic end of the Norridgewock tribe of Abenaki Indians who had for generations roamed this region unmolested.
The death of Reverend Father Sebastian Rasle and the wiping out of the Norridgewock Indians was due to warring between the English and the French to obtain the portion of land where the Indian settlement was located. The monument, erected in 1833 on the supposed site of the massacre by English troops, stands as a silent reminder of the life and labors of a man whose only offense was devotion to the people he served.
The first recorded arrival of the white man to Madison is that of Reverend Father Druillette, who passed through this town in 1646 on his way to Cushnoc (Augusta) to establish a Mission in response to a request for a mission by the Abernaquois Indians in this section. The second recorded arrival of the white man here is that of Reverend Father Rasle who settled here, according to some historians, in 1697. He was the builder of the first church edifice in town. The interior of this church was said to be extremely beautiful for the time and place.
The story of the events leading to the death of Reverend Father Rasle is one of dramatic interest. Father Rasle, giving the indians counsel and acting as their representative in many conferences with their enemies, won the hatred of the English. Affairs reached a climax when a formal notice was given to the English by the Indians to vacate certain Indian lands of which they had taken possession. This notice caused trouble between the Indians and the white settlements. The English, considering Reverend Father Rasle responsible for the attitude of the Indians, offered a large reward for his capture. Troops were called out and three times an expedition was sent out for the capture of Father Rasle, but they were unsuccessful.
The forth attempt was made in August, 1724, when English troops, led by Captains Moulton and Harmon, set out from Boston, coming up the Kennebec River in whale boats. On August 24, in a surprise attack, they advanced upon the indian village which was at once in a panic. Father Rasle, riddled with bullets, fell at the foot of the cross he had erected with his own hands. By his side were several loyal followers, seven of whom died with him. Other indians, in the attempt to defend their homes, were killed and wounded.
The purpose of the expedition was accomplished and the village wiped out as the few indians who survived fled to St. Francis, never to return to this valley which had been a peaceful home for years before knowledge of the white man.
A granite monument, bearing the name of Reverend Father Rasle, who gave his whole life even to death itself to the betterment of his indian neighbors, was erected in 1833.


Scoil Nano Nagle J.N.S
Bawnogue, Dublin 22.
Eircode: D22 VF68
T: (01) 457 1306
Fáilte go suíomh greasáin Scoil Nano Nagle!
Welcome to our website!
Scoil Nano Nagle was founded on 1st September 1975 in the parish of Bawnogue, Clondalkin. The school is proudly under the patronage of the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin.
Our junior national school caters for over 350 children aged between 4 and 9 years, from junior infants to second class. We also host a dedicated pre-school, called "Early Start".
Click on the image above to download our 2023/2024 Holiday Calendar!