Matt West
Trivia Question❓Before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, Emperor Constantine had a Christian symbol marked on his soldiers' shields. What was it? Answer at the bottom of the newsletter |
Welcome to Catholic Tales |
Welcome back to Catholic Tales, and a special hello to everyone who joined us this week! This issue is about turning points: the moments when a life, or a whole empire, changed direction in a single night. You'll stand beside a Roman general on the eve of a battle he should have lost, as he looks up and sees a sign in the sky. (That's where this week's trivia comes from. Got your guess?) Then you'll meet a long-haul trucker with a short temper and a rosary on his dashboard, and a Protestant pastor who spent years trying to pull people out of the Church, until one weekday Mass undid him. Read all the way to the bottom for the trivia answer. And if one of these stories reminds you of someone, forward this email to them. You never know which story someone needs to hear. |
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This Week's Stories |
Ray spent three hundred nights a year in the cab of an eighteen-wheeler, and he liked it that way.
Out on the road, nobody could see his temper, his drinking, or the cold silence waiting at home.
His wife Carol went to Mass every Sunday and prayed for him every night.
He figured it was a waste of her time.
Then a small-town priest heard his first confession in forty years, and a rosary on the dashboard started doing what nothing else ever had.
This is how one stubborn man's life was changed, mile by mile. Read More... |
In 312, the future emperor Constantine camped outside Rome, outnumbered and facing his rival Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge.
Ancient Christian writers say a dream, and perhaps a vision of a cross of light, led him to fight under the sign of Christ.
He won, and Maxentius drowned in the Tiber.
Within months, the Edict of Milan ended the persecution of Christians.
Churches rose, property was returned, and a faith that had hidden for three centuries stepped into the open.
It is a story of grace working through a complicated, flawed man, and of the blessings and dangers that come when faith gains power. Read More... |
Scott Hahn was a gifted Presbyterian pastor who worked hard to pull Catholics out of their Church.
But his own study of Scripture, from covenant to the Gospel of John, kept leading him somewhere he did not want to go.
While studying at Marquette University, he slipped into the back pew of a weekday Mass, determined only to observe.
At the consecration, his last doubts gave way.
He was received into the Church at Easter 1986, and his wife Kimberly followed years later.
His journey shows what can happen when someone simply comes and sees. Read More... |
💡 Answer to Trivia Question: The Chi-Rho. It is made of the first two Greek letters of the name "Christ" (X and P) laid over each other. According to the early Christian writer Lactantius, Constantine was told in a dream to mark this heavenly sign on his soldiers' shields. You can still see it carved in churches and on altar cloths today. |