Was the Church Formed on Good Friday or on Pentecost?
The Church Fathers say that the Catholic Church was formed on Good Friday. Indeed, this is when the water flowing from the pierced Sacred Heart of Jesus was more than symbolic for the water that would one day wash us clean of sin in baptism. Was not the Roman soldier, St. Longinus, washed clean by that very water as he pierced the Sacred Heart of Jesus with his own spear and believed in Him? Furthermore, the Church Fathers teach that the Most Precious Blood that flowed from Christ's pierced heart on the day of His crucifixion is literally the same as the blood that fills the priest's chalice after the [...]