Vatican News recently gave their headline as “Pope Francis: ‘Liturgy needs to return to center of Christian faith.’” The words of the Roman Pontiff were addressed to an Italian liturgical conference with the theme: “Where two or three are gathered in my name”: Community, liturgies, and territories.” His words themselves are in fact true, but…
The COVID-19 lockdown has placed a greater burden on the poor as many have lost their jobs or homes and are seeking assistance. In a previous post I discussed the obligation of almsgiving according to the authoritative sources of the Church. Here I argued that this obligation is binding on all Christians according to their…
There’s something rarely heard about the commercialization of Christmas. On the one hand, I can forgive the neo-pagan Marxists for the suppression of Christ—they know not what they do. On the other hand, Catholics, who should know better, have in recent decades anesthetized the Incarnation so as to empty it of all physical reality. The…
Advent always reminds me of my Novus Ordo red pill moment. Years ago I discovered three texts around Advent that finally pushed me over the edge. The first was the collect for St. Nicholas. This prayer petitions God, through the intercession of St. Nicholas to save us “from the flames of hell.” This was censored…
Increasingly, I have found myself wondering why the world is so ugly. I do not mean the natural world, which always retains its created splendor, but the art and architecture of the modern world. It seems that almost nothing in modern art can achieve the beauty possessed by numerous cultures before our time. From the…
In my study of history, I’ve noticed a few patterns. One of these is the cycle of impossible situations. It seems that about every ten generations—250 years, sometimes less—the Church is faced with one of these. It is some crisis which threatens to the destroy the whole Church and prove God false. At the time,…
For years as an Evangelical Protestant, the common discourse revolved around quotations from the Holy Scriptures. Speakers would talk at conferences. Pastors would preach. No one would think anyone really argued a point without copious references to the Holy Bible. I remember talking to my friends when I was a Protestant—we quoted the Scriptures in…
I used to argue with Catholics at the grocery store. I was sixteen years old and a fiery Baptist. I remember attempting to convince an elderly Catholic cashier to abandon the Church for the freedom of my Gospel. There was an exhilaration that came in those days as a young man whom ignorance had blessed…
Very few priests have been willing to publicly oppose the champions of the unborn holocaust. Long gone are the days of St. Ambrose, who refused Emperor Theodosius Holy Communion and forced him to do penance for the massacre of the Thessalonians. In our day, the massacre is on the level of the Nazi holocaust multiplied…
Recently I was walking through a college campus with my young son on my way to a Latin Mass. As we walked we saw a large modern “art” sculpture lifting itself from the earth. It was an abstract form of chaos made of metal with bright colors. It contorted in every direction as if the…
The Godmother: Madre Pascalina, a Feminine Tour de Force Author: Charles T. Murr Publisher: Enrique J. Aguilar 304 Pages $9.95 Kindle; $24.95 Paperback Charles Theodore Murr is a Catholic Priest from the archdiocese of New York now retired. During his time as a Seminarian in Rome in the 1970s, he had the blessing of befriending…
