Many OnePeterFive readers are familiar with, if not regular attendees of, the Traditional Latin Mass. The Tridentine Mass is the sort of bedrock or cornerstone of all things traditionally Catholic. However, many of your average Sunday Mass-going Catholics (as well as not-so-regular attendees and fallen-away Catholics) have never heard of the Old Mass. Or if…
The Council had been over for less than a year. Catholics were excited and confused. Different moves towards implementation, sometimes contradictory, were rumored. Already Catholic liberals were hard at work to lead the Church in their direction. What was Rome to do? After fifty-five years, we know what Cardinal Ottaviani, one of Cardinal Ratzinger’s predecessors…
(Editor’s Note: This is Part III of a three-part series: “Leading a Traditional Catholic Life in a Time of Civil War.” Part I can be found here, and Part II can be found here.) In the first part, I spoke of how easy it would be to get discouraged by the renewed assault on the…
A teacher is taking his class on a tour of a grand art gallery. The students are fluttering with excitement at the chance to view some of the world’s most cherished pieces. As they pass through security, the voice of their teacher halts them from advancing further. “Ok, everyone needs to stay with me. No…
In 2019 I was being deployed to Bellevue. Significant portions of Nebraska and Iowa were underwater following a devastating storm, and I was to head up Operations. As I’ve done in anticipation of other disaster response deployments, I looked for local churches that might still be open. I found Immaculate Conception in Omaha, an FSSP…
(Editor’s Note: This is Part II of a three-part series: “Leading a Traditional Catholic Life in a Time of Civil War.” Part I can be found here, and Part III here.) In the first part of this series, I spoke of some of the temptations facing traditional Catholics in the era of Traditionis Custodes, and…
It was August 1940. Churchill was fighting the Battle of Britain. Half of Europe was under the Nazi boot. The Catholic Church in Germany was being persecuted, and the German bishops were gathered for their annual conference. To what grave matters might they have devoted their energies at such a momentous time? Being German bishops some could…
When Traditionis Custodes is carefully considered, it’s clear that it’s not just an indictment against the celebration of the ‘Old Mass’, but instead an attempt to squash the traditionalist revival in the Church. In fact, some commentators have gone as far as calling the motu proprio a declaration of total war against traditionalists everywhere. It’s…
“Destroy the Four Olds.” This slogan was central to the Chinese Cultural Revolution, launched in Beijing in 1966. What were the Four Olds? Old Ideas, Old Culture, Old Habits and Old Customs. The destruction began simply, with the renaming of streets, stores, and even people, who exchanged their traditional Chinese names for revolutionary ones like “Determined Red.”…
(Editor’s Note: This is Part I of a three-part series: “Leading a Traditional Catholic Life in a Time of Civil War.” Part II can be found here, and Part III here.) The past two weeks have been highly emotional for many Catholics. We felt anger, and justifiably so. We talked incessantly about what had happened,…
It has become a cliché with a slightly dark comedic undertone: the perfect family Christmas card photo, with artfully mis-matched clothing, a beach or forest background, and everyone gazing at the same imaginary point in the middle distance. What hides behind the slightly stressed smiles and too-casual-for-comfort poses? The accompanying yearly letter probably won’t mention…
