Undusted Texts

Below is a list of all the posts in my Iconic Icons series. This will be updated as further posts are added. Pantocrator (Παντοκρατορ) (9/18/11) Theotokos (Θεοτοκος) (11/27/11) The Holy Trinity (Троица) (12/4/11) Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Sancta Mater de Perpetuo Succursu) (12/7/11) Acheiropoieta (Αχειροποιητα) (12/9/11) Trojeručica (Тројеручица) (12/10/11) The Nativity (12/28/11)  Our Lady of Kazan (Казанская Богоматерь) (1/2/12) Theotokos of Vladimir (Vladimirskaya) ( Владимирская) (1/3/12)    Axion Estin (Αξιον εστιν) (1/8/12)  'Η Αναστασις (The Resurrection) (4/8/12)  The Ascension ('Η Αναληψις) (5/21/12) Supplements: Our Lady of Guadalupe (Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe) (1/26/12) Ethiopian Icons (2/2/12)  Icons of the Trinity (6/3/12)  The Symbols of Icons (6/25/12) I also have some posts on icons in general. Below is the list of them. St. Gregory Palamas on the Graven Images (7/29/11) A Supplement on Graven Images (...

After a rather long hiatus, I am continuing my series of Iconic Icons . Since Advent (and thus a new Liturgical Year) began today, and since this season prepares us to celebrate the Incarnation of Christ (among other things), and since the Incarnation is the doctrinal basis of iconography, I decided it is an appropriate time to revive my series. Following the post on the Pantocrator , a post on a popular icon of Christ, I decided to write a post on the second most important and popular category of icons: the icons of the Theotokos (θεοτοκος). Theotokos is a title for Mary, the Blessed Virgin, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The word literally means "God-Bearer," but it describes the dogma that Mary is "Mother of God." This dogma (I believe it is a dogma, though I am not absolutely certain of the difference between doctrine and dogma, though I am studying Catechetics) was proclaimed at the Council of Ephesus in 431 in response to the Nestorian heresy, which soug...

In researching for my recently begun project, The Church Documents Index , I came across The Franciscan Archive , which includes links to a great many papal bulls and other documents regarding the Franciscan Orders. While are large number of these are translated into English or linked to English translations, not all of them are: some are only in Latin, or Spanish, or other languages. Though I do not know Latin, I do know Spanish, so I decided to translate some of these bulls into English in order for those studying the history of Franciscanism to have this resource available. To start with, here are the Bulls Cum Dilecti , Pio Dilectis , and Cum Secundum of Pope Honorius III translated into English: these are some of the earliest papal documents written regarding Franciscanism (they were all written while St. Francis was still alive). Even though these translations will not be perfect (they're translations of translations, after all), I hope they are helpful to you. Pope Hono...

The following is merely a collection of links to English versions of Church documents from throughout the Church's history sorted by subject alphabetically and arranged by date within each heading. Documents that are exceptionally well-known or important are in bold. Since my main goal is to consolidate links to the most authentic and authoritative documents of the Church, I stick to documents of the Magisterium, that is, the Pope and the Congregations of the Roman Curia. I have added two appendices, however: one for Pontifical Councils and Commissions, including the International Theological Commission, (if a document was written by both a council and a congregation, it is placed in the main section) and one for the documents of the American Church (primarily the USCCB, formerly the NCCB). This is a work in progress, and I will hopefully be updating it frequently. If any of these links are dead or missing, or if you know of a document I did not include on this list that I sh...