Dr. Italy

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.

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. Peter. His election to the Papacy in 1958 surprised everyone, as did his announcement that he had decided to convene an ecumenical council to meet at the Vatican. We learn in this podcast why this Pope was canonized as a saint and why the council he convened cannot really be understood without understanding him.

A 16 minute podcast in which Sonrise Morning show host Matt Swaim asks Dr. Italy some insightful questions about the rosary, Mary, the misteries, and the power of praying the rosary. The Rosary has been the most honored and best known devotional prayer in the Roman Catholic tradition for the last five hundred years.   Yet few, even those very devoted to it, understand its meaning and unlock its full power.  We know that it is a Marian prayer, and associate it with the simplest and best known Marian prayer, the Hail Mary.

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 attributed to him true?  "Preach the Gospel always; when necessary, use words? How about that saying?  Is it his?   What can Francis's famous encounter with the Muslim Sultan teach us about faith and how to approach the followers of Islam?  All these questions and more are discussed in this 15 minute podcast.

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 the occasion of his feast day, September 30.

Podcast in which Dr. Italy identifies spiritual warfare as underlying the current malaise in the world and America.  A spiritual battle can only be fought effectively with spiritual weapons, first and foremost being the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.

Dr. Italy discusses the Capuchin friar Padre Pio who in his lifetime was first famous in Italy and then the whole world for his stigmata and miracles worked through his intercession.

In this 5 minute interview on the Sonrise Morning show, Dr. Italy discusses the amazing life and talents of St. Hildegard of Bingen, the medieval Benedictine abbess renowned for her visions, compositions, and prolific body of written work.  Pilgrims on Dr. Italy’s 2023 Rhine Cruise will be visiting her relics and some of her monasteries.

Many contemporary bishops have been criticized for taking half-measures instead of speaking and acting boldly and decisively.  The same could never be said of the ancient bishop who was a Father of the Church, St. John Chrysostom.  His preaching was so eloquent and powerful that he acquired the nickname of "Chrysostom" or "golden-tongue."  Gold as it may have been, his tongue was often sharp at times as he called out corruption among laity, clergy, even the Emperor.  His unrelenting honesty earned him the emnity of Imperial family and brutal exile that resulted in his untimely death.  In this brief, 8 minute podcast tells his story.

In this third and final episode of Ascension Rountable's Podcast Series on the New Evangelization, Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio (aka Dr. Italy) provides further practical suggestions on a key feature of successful evangelization - hospitality.  Whether we wish to evangelize as individuals, families or parishes, we need to understand that people only open up their hearts when we open up our own hearts, lives, homes and churches in a way that makes them feel comfortable, welcomed, and appreciated.  Hospitality not only sets the stage for the gospel but reveals the gospel as Good News of God's loving acceptance and invitation to belong to the Church, the community of salvation.

In this second episode of Ascension Rountable's Podcast Series on the New Evangelization, Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio (aka Dr. Italy) get's practical when it comes to the nuts and bolts of how to evangelize successfully.   We cannot evangelize just by a silent example -- the fathers of the Second Vatican Council say over and over again that we must bear witness to Christ in word as well as in deed.  Many of us find this rather intimidating.  Where do we begin?  Do we have sufficient education to explain Catholic doctrine?

As the civilization in the West was dissolving into the Dark Ages, a man named Gregory was elected to fill the chair of St. Peter.  First prefect or mayor of Rome, then monk, then the Pope's ambassador to Constantinople, then finally bishop of Rome, Gregory rocked the church and the civilized world.  He was a man who could walk with kings and yet with whom the poor of Rome felt right at home.  In this 20 minute podcast, Dr. Italy discusses just a few of Gregory's strengths as diplomat, disciple, preacher, teacher of bishops and master story-teller.  The impact of Gregory's writings and example upon the Western Church in the Middles Ages is hard to overestimate.

John the Baptist has two feast days -- his earthly birthday on June 24, sixth months before the birthday of his cousin, and August 29th, his birthday into eternal life, the day he was executed by Herod at the request of Salome to who he'd promised anything she asked for.  Apparently, Herod was fascinated by John, even though John condemned his adultery with his half-brother's wife.  Why did John have to die? And why do people so often persecute and kill the prophets God sends to help them?  As those who share in the prophetic anointing of Christ, what can we expect and how can we be effective and faithful in sharing God's sometimes troubling word with the world?

In this episode of Ascension Rountable's Podcast, Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio (aka Dr. Italy) puts the New Evangelization into the context of Catholic history from the days of the Church of the Catacombs down to the present time.  The early Christians grew from a group of 120 at Pentecost to ten percent of the Roman empire in about 300 years. How did they do it?  Dr. Italy discusses this and other key times in Church history, explaining what's so New about the New Evangelization and what about it is not so new after all.

7 minute podcast segment in which Dr. Italy is interviewed about the dynamics of discipleship and the paradox of freedom and rest through discipline. The term discipleship has been heard a lot in the past few years.  Many parishes are writing mission statements these days calling their church a community of missionary disciples.

The prophets of the Old and New Testaments show us that sometimes love demand that we speak truth that people don't want to hear.  Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern; Jesus was run out of Nazareth. This shows us that God's messengers shouldn't expect honor, respect, and popularity.  For the 4th Sunday in Ordinary time, cycle C.

In this 15 minute podcast, Anna Mitchell, host of the Sonrise Morning show, asks Marcellino D'Ambrosio (aka "Dr. Italy") about the origins and meaning of the dogma and feast of the Assumption of Mary, celebrated on August 15th.

In this podcast, other aspects of Kolbe’s life are also discussed which are little known.  Kolbe founded a new monastery near Warsaw that grew into a veritable city, with over 1,000 Franciscan Friars living a live of prayer and apostolic activity.  This monastery was so large that, in the early days of World War II, before it was shut down by the Nazis, it harbored close to 2,000 Jewish refugees, hiding them from the Germans.  Before the war, St. Maximilian saw the importance of using modern media for evangelization, and so began publishing a weekly magazine, and then a daily newspaper which had, on weekends, a circulation of 250,000!  The monastery he founded near Warsaw was the base for the creation and distribution of these publications, and it also launched a radio station to utilize the newest media of the day (the 1930’s), radio.

But St. Clare deserves more than a footnote appearing in a life of another saint.  Unlike Francis, she was a noblewoman, being groomed to marry a wealthy knight or even duke, but she forsook a life of privilege to live in the same abject poverty as St. Francis and his earliest disciples, founding a woman’s branch of the Franciscan Order.  Despite her austerities and constant poor health, she nursed Francis in his final days of suffering and blindness and outlived him, going on to become an adviser to bishops and Popes

In this brief excerpt from the Sonrise Morning Show, Dr. Italy introduces listeners to the fascinating story of Edith Stein, born into an observant German Jewish family who abandoned religion as a young girl only to end her life as a Carmelite nun and a Christian martyr at Auschwitz.