Catholic Heritage with Dr. Italy

In this 13 minute podcast, Sonrise Morning Show host Anna Mitchell Interviews Dr. Italy on Advent as a season of Hope.  What precisely is Scripture talking about when it tells us that hope is one of …

For the past 500 years, devotion to Mary has been a bone of contention between Catholics and Protestants. But the meaning of the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 highlights some amazi…

Advent is a season of joy & hope.  Paul says to rejoice in hope.  But what is hope, anyway?  How does this theological virtue differ from faith and what does it have to do with rejoicing?

In this 14 minute podcast, Dr. Italy shares some insights into our predicament - we tend to be lulled to sleep spiritually through the constant motion of modern life.  This is especially true in Adve…

The feast of Jesus Christ the Universal King was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 and is observed on the last Sunday of the Roman Catholic Liturgical Year. It causes us to ponder what sort of autho…

Podcast discussing the amazing Roman basilica that goes all the way back to the new testament period, San Clemente, dedicated to Clement of Rome, third successor of Peter.

Podcast by Dr. Italy on Florence, the Renaissance city, and what the art of Michelangelo teaches us about Catholic Culture and life.  With images of sites and churches of Florence that he will visit …

Hear O Israel!  Most have heard of the Great Commandment - to love God with your whole heart and your neighbor as yourself.  But if God is just and salvation depends upon perfect obedience to this co…

A reflection on the Solemnity of All Souls, November 2, touching on the mystery of death and the afterlife including heaven, hell, and purgatory, and the validity of prayers for the dead.

Each November 1st Catholics are obliged to attend Mass to celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints.  This feast is more than a dutiful remembrance of the various saints that don't make it into the Roman…

In this podcast, historical theologian Marcellino D'Ambrosio ("Dr. Italy") clears up misunderstandings about the holiday that are nearly universally believe by Christians, neo-pagans and secularists …

The story of Bartimaeus, the blind beggar who met Jesus on the road to Jericho, is a dramatic event from the Gospel of Mark that illustrates something very important about the true nature of Christia…

Brothers John and James, the sons of Zebedee, had ambition. When they make their famous request for places of honor & privilege in Mark's gospel, Jesus takes the opportunity to teach them that leader…

Ignatius of Antioch, whom the Church remembers on October 17, is one of the most important of the apostolic fathers, the Fathers of the Church who lives overlapped the lives of the last of the apostl…

In this podcast Dr. Italy describes the great Carmelite mystic, Teresa of Avila, pointing out how she combined practical wisdom, mysticism and a sense of  humor in an extraordinary way.

Both the Rich Young Man in Mark's Gospel and King Solomon had a very difficult choice to make. In a similar moment of decision, what would be the desire of your heart? Wisdom and adventure, or comfor…

Angelo Roncalli, better known as Pope St. John XXIII, was a simple peasant boy who never quite lost his country simplicity even as he moved up through the Church’s hierarchy to occupy the chair of St…

Is annulment just a Catholic Divorce?  This article explains the controversial Roman Catholic position on love, marriage, marital intimacy, divorce, remarriage and celibacy.

St. Francis of Assisi happens to be one of the most popular of all saints, honored by non-Catholics as well as Catholics, Buddhists and Hindus as well as Christians.  But are the words popularly attr…

14 minute podcast in which Sonrise Morning show guest host Ryan Lopez quizzes Dr. Italy about the life and impact of Jerome, bible scholar, father and Doctor of the Church and warrior for Christ.  On…