Faith through history

The Little Flowers of St Francis

It is a collection of stories and traditions about St Francis of Assisi and his companions in thirteenth century Italy. It was originally composed by Brother Ugolino di Monte Santa Maria, but was later edited by an anonymous author. It gives an exquisite picture of the religious life and spirit of the early Franciscans. The […]

Henry Suso (c. 1295-1366)

Blessed Henry Suso, (Heinrich Seuse in German), was a German Dominican friar and the most popular vernacular writer of the fourteenth century. He was a native of the German city of Constance. He entered the Dominican convent there at the age of 13. After five years of routine religious life, he experienced a conversion and […]

Meister Eckhart (c. 1260-c. 1328)

“The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me.” German theologian, philosopher, preacher and mystic, Eckhart von Hochheim, commonly known as Meister Eckhart, was born at Hochheim in Thuringia, Germany. At the age of eighteen he entered the Dominican convent of Erfurt and was sent to study in […]

Conciliar Movement

The conciliar movement, based on the theory that supreme authority in the church lies with a general council culminated in the 15th century, but the foundations of it were laid in the early years of the 13th century when canonists found difficulty in reconciling the increasing claims of papal authority with the theoretical possibility of […]

William of Ockham (1285-1347)

William of Ockham, is, along with Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus, among the most prominent figures in the history of philosophy and theology during the High Middle Ages. He hailed from the British Isles, from the village of that name in Surrey. He became a Franciscan friar and studied and taught at Oxford University, […]

St Catherine of Siena (1347-80)

Caterina Benincasa was the 23rd of 25 children born to a prosperous Sienese dyer. She grew up in Christian piety, though sometimes her long hours of prayer and severe mortification brought her into conflict with her family. According to her confessor and biographer Raymond of Capua, she had her first vision of Christ when she […]

St Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden (c. 1303-73)

Declared as one of the six patrons of Europe together with Benedict of Nursia, Saints Cyril and Methodius, Catherine of Siena and Edith Stein, Bridget is the most celebrated saint of Sweden. She was a mystic and founder of the Bridgettine Order. Her father was one of the wealthiest landholders of the country, and her […]

Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

Thomas à Kempis was born in Kempen (hence à Kempis) near Krefeld in Germany. Little is known of Thomas himself, and he is known for little else than writing the “Imitation of Christ” although this one contribution has made him famous enough. It appears there was only Thomas and a brother, some fourteen years his […]

Pope Tells New Cardinals Never To Stray From The Path Of Jesus

Notre Dame Cathedral ‘Back In The Light’ After Glorious Reopening