Waypoints in Church History Episode 1: Introduction Dr. Ann T. Orlando Music: O Happy Band of Pilgrims

Place: Waypoints A waypoint is a place along the way to a final destination As individuals and as Church we are pilgrims on our way to the kingdom of God Personal waypoints Pilgrim Church also has waypoints –Locations where especially important events and people shaped the route of the Church’s corporate pilgrimage –But destination is always the same: the heavenly Jerusalem

Introduction Purpose of this series: to introduce the viewer to Catholic Church History Method: Use a location (waypoint) as the center for each episode Instructor: Dr. Ann T. Orlando, professor of Patristics and Church History at St. John Seminary, Brighton, MA and Blessed John XXIII Seminary, Weston, MA

Place: Series Waypoints Cenacle, Jerusalem Coliseum, Rome St. John Lateran Baptistery, Rome Hagia Sophia, Istanbul (Constantinople) Iona, Scotland and Monte Cassino, Italy Aachen Cathedral, Germany Assisi, Italy Notre Dame, Paris Sistine Chapel, Vatican Church of the Gesu, Rome Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican

World map with waypoints on it

Episode 1 Objectives History in time and space Introduce historical eras or periods Introduce waypoints for each era

Time: Most Important Historical Division A.D. and B.C. Birth of Jesus Christ is the most important moment in human history B. C. = ‘Before Christ’ –Time before Christ’s birth and is measured ‘backwards’ from his birth –300 B.C. is earlier than 200 B.C. A.D. = ‘Anno Domini’ or The Year of the Lord –Time since Christ’s birth –We are now in the 21 st Century after Christ’s birth In the last 25 years many news and scholarly journals have replaced B.C. and A.D. with B.C.E. and C.E. –B.C.E. = Before Common Era –C.E. = Common Era

Time: Historical Eras or Periods Invention of later historians Convenient for organizing events and people as related to each other Division between one era and another are sometimes obvious, some times not But even ‘obvious’ divisions are dependent on objective of historian –Important Church history divisions are different from history of politics, technology or economics

Timeline of Historical Periods

Waypoints in Time Timeline with waypoints on it

Expectations and Limits Expectations –Introduction to history of the Catholic Church –Understanding of roots of some contemporary issues –Provide a framework for continued investigation Limitations –Many, many important events, people, places will not be discussed

Next Episode.. First Waypoint: the Cenacle, Jerusalem The ‘birth’ of the Church Apostles and the Early years of Christianity Beginning of persecutions