Click Here to Download: The Nuns of Minsk and the Persecution of the Catholic Church by Czar Nicholas I
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Czar Nicholas I of Russia nearly destroyed the Ruthenians and other Eastern Catholic Christians who refused to abandon their fidelity to the Pope in one of the most effective and brutal persecutions the Catholic Church has known.
…What can we Learn from the Desert Fathers today?
We can learn what the Apostle of Rome learned. St Philip lived over 1000 years from the time of St Anthony the Great and St Paul of Thebes, yet in his cassock he always carried a copy of the writings of the Desert Fathers.[2] St Philip Neri, shortly before the feast of Pentecost, received the Holy Ghost in a superabundance (as a globe of fire) that enlarged his heart so much it physically broke his ribs and as his ribs healed to account for his oversized heart they formed a permanent arch.[1]
We can say that the Desert Fathers were an example to this great Saint whose heart literally burned with love for Jesus.