I begin by recounting a magnificently horrible tale from the Church’s past: the exploits of the iniquitous Pope Stephen VI. It speaks to corruption, power, and the extent one is willing to go to “undertake” macabre vengeance. Briefly, the notorious Stephen VI, soon after his election in 896 A.D., had the rotting corpse of his…
Growing up in Bugnini’s liturgical reign of terror, for me, the only semblance of non–spiritually benumbed sanity at Mass came from watching EWTN’s daily Mass. I rejoiced at hearing hymns older than 1966, as well as encountering homilies void of social justice empowerment and the canonization of parish members. Most salient, though EWTN did not…
For better or worse, there are palpable effects to any grave life decision. Ideas, words, omissions, and actions can have fateful consequences. Such a grave decision is being made by many in the Catholic Church. The choice is to believe that Benedict, a man who undeniably still lives in the Vatican, clad in ominous white,…
Despite what may be insinuated, it is yet to be established definitively that the traditional Latin Mass employs only callous garlic-breathed priests who angrily shake their fists at crying babies, loud sneezes, and mispronunciations of Habemus ad Dominum. Conversely, it is yet to be established that every Catholic who seeks a “reform of the reform”…
Consider a young man kneeling devoutly in a quiet church. He strives to be chaste, pious, well catechized, strong, and healthy. It seems that all his life, he has desired to please God. But something is distressing him. The young man seems confused. “Lord, what would you have me do?” he implores the Lord in…
“Mom, why are you cutting a piece of the roast off?” asks a little girl, watching her mother place a roast beef into a roasting pan. “Because that’s what my mom did.” “Grandma,” asks the girl later, “why did you cut a piece of the roast off before cooking it?” “Because that’s what my mom…
As our secular culture mandates, ’tis the season to break the bank and lavishly buy gifts for those close, and not so close, to us. It is difficult to find the perfect present for that special someone (should I buy my wife the ThighMaster?). One could say a spirit of listening and discernment is needed.…
One day, following Mass, a Polish man, in his fifties, shared a childhood story with me. It seems that he and his brother were serving Mass with another boy who, to their frustration, was being deliberately unruly and obstinate. The two brothers, no doubt higher in the pecking order of altar boys, made threatening gestures…
Many Catholics are just now awaking from what seemed like a surreal dream, or rather a hellish nightmare. The Pan-Amazonian Synod mercifully stumbled past the finish line at the end of October, and now the revolutionary attack on the Church will continue in earnest, sans grating daily press conferences and Pachamama denials. First, a caveat.…
“Dad, guess what!” My eight-year-old son Joseph came home from a recent weekend stay with his grandparents. It was his first weekend spent away from his parents, and evidently, he had some exciting news. “Oh boy,” I thought, “what crazy codswallop did my dad teach him now?” “They sang ‘Companions on the Journey‘ at Grandpa’s…
I recall arguing once with a Catholic friend of mine during our teenage years. He was from a big city far away and attended a publicly funded Catholic high school. I was a homeschooled boy from the country. The debate was on whether there were souls in Hell. I held the ideologically rigid belief that…
Please help us to meet our expenses by donating today!
