Episode 31: Christmas Special 2023

December 19, 2023

It’s an extra-long Christmas episode! Father Dwight Longenecker discusses his book, The Secret of the Bethlehem Shepherds. Father Longenecker brings a great depth of research to the topic and we learn what Bethlehem might have been like during the time of Jesus’ birth. Brother Richard Hendrick joins The Flowered Path for three segments: a story of Saint Clare’s Christmas bilocation; a discussion of Saint Francis and the Christmas Crib; and a question-and-answer segment covering possession, relics, Poor Souls and purgatory, penance, victim souls, and more. Justin Showalter shares some thoughts on the astrology of Christ’s birth and what the three Magi may have been observing in the skies.

The Secret of the Bethlehem Shepherds: https://www.sophiainstitute.com/products/item/the-secret-of-the-bethlehem-shepherds
Father Dwight Longenecker: https://dwightlongenecker.com
Sophia Institute Press on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SophiaInstitutePress/ 
Sophia Institute Press on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SophiaPress

Still Points by Brother Richard Hendrick: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/brother-richard-hendrick/still-points/9781399700672/

Theme music is Mariam Matrem Virginem, played by a forest beggar.

• The Flowered Path etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LostGrave?ref=shop_sugg_market&section_id=40802353

The closing song is The Holly Crown by Stone Breath: https://stonebreath.bandcamp.com/album/knotwork