Over the weekend the news broke that a prominent member of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter was arrested for apparent heinous crimes against the moral law. Since the investigation is still under way, I see no need to dwell on the particulars of this case here. Similar accusations have been made against clergy of…
Perhaps this is not your question, but it is a question I have been asked by Catholics as they discerned what forms of vocal prayer to prioritize in their lives. We have a limited amount of time available to us individually and within the family circle, so the question is not merely theoretical. I hope…
In discussions of whether or not the pope has the authority to radically change the Church’s liturgy, the claim has been made that “if he can modify the bread from leavened to unleavened and limit reception to one species—which pertain even to the substance of the sacrament!—then of course he can do anything else.” I…
When in your own land you go to war against an enemy that is attacking you, you shall sound the alarm on the trumpets, and the Lord, your God, will remember you and save you from your foes (Numbers 10:9). In Jewish tradition, the trumpet or the shofar was blown to announce the new moon,…
Like all ancient liturgical rites of the Church, the traditional Roman rite of Mass—especially if one includes the Asperges me and the Leonine prayer to St. Michael—is full of references and allusions to the holy angels, and more than that, prayers directly addressed to them. To cite all these wonderful texts, let alone comment on…
Back in May, I published an article at LifeSiteNews entitled “Coincidences during the reign of Pius XII? Political background to Vatican II and liturgical changes.” The article generated a fair amount of discussion, both favorable and critical. Since the pontificate of Eugenio Pacelli is so rich with historical interest and consequences, I would like to…
The title of this article is taken from the words uttered by Cardinal Egidio da Viterbo in 1512 during the inaugural oration of the Fifth Lateran Council: “Homines per sacra immutari fas est, non sacra per homines.” Against that backdrop, imagine the following conversation between two seminarians, both studying for their dioceses. They have discovered and…
What might have been “self-evident truths” once upon a time are no longer evident to many clergy, to their superiors, and to their flocks. One of these truths is staggeringly obvious, yet its implications seem to be not only ignored, but suppressed: the priest, too, has a soul to sanctify and save. Stated baldly, this…
The blog Where Peter Is—a site which seems to promote a limitless ultramontanism exempt from the requirements of tradition, magisterial consistency, or reason itself—published an article by Terence Sweeney called “Pope Francis: Guardian of Tradition.” The article launches broadsides against the clericocentrism of the Tridentine rite and the need for a new Mass that would…
In a three-page letter dated August 20, 2021, and addressed to “Dear Brothers in Christ,” Most Reverend David A. Zubik, Bishop of Pittsburgh, apparently in an effort to show that he is more Bergoglian than Bergoglio, takes a hearty step beyond what is demanded by a strict interpretation of Pope Francis’s motu proprio Traditionis Custodes…
Andrea Grillo (born 1961) is a professor of Sacramental Theology and Philosophy of Religion at the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm in Rome (Sant’Anselmo) and of Liturgy in Padua at the Abbey of Santa Giustina. With the promulgation of Pope Francis’s motu proprio of July 16th, 2021, Traditionis Custodes, he has become a more important…
