Is There Any Tradition More Important than the TLM? Yes. And it’s the “One Thing Necessary”
This tradition is more important than the Latin Mass itself.
In Illo Tempore: Low Sunday, Octave of Easter
We bring to completion the great Octave of Easter this Sunday, though “completion” here is to be understood in the Church’s own liturgical sense. For a full eight days, by that ancient inclusive counting which the Romans knew so well and Christians inherited, it has still been Easter Day. The Church has, as it were,…
The Ascending Way of Prayer, Part II
This is Part II of a two-part series. Click here for Part I. In the first part of this series, I listed the nine levels of prayer and described the first four, which exist along what is called “the Purgative Way.” In this second part, I will explore the second and third ways of prayer…
The Ascending Way of Prayer, Part I
This is Part I of a two-part series. Years ago I was involved in a Protestant apologetics online forum. Unlike many online forums, this one included many very bright and respectful people who expertly debated theology without rancor. Just about every viewpoint was represented: Calvinist, evangelical, liberal, conservative, even Mormon and Unitarian. I, however, was…
In Illo Tempore: Easter Sunday
The Church, in her ancient wisdom, does a striking thing on this greatest of feasts. After the dark austerity of Lent, after the long stripping away of liturgical ornaments and consolations, after the silence and stillness and blackness of the tomb, she sets before us on Easter morning an Epistle that glitters with Paschal theology…
St. Alphonsus on the Fifth Dolor of Mary
St. Alphonsus on the 5th Dolor of Mary.
In Illo Tempore: 1st Passion Sunday
From the pre-Lent Sundays onward, Holy Mother Church has led us into a liturgical dying. First there was the silencing of the Alleluia and the Gloria. Violet appeared on Sundays as a herald of the coming fast. Then Lent itself deepened the deprivation day by day, save for the interruption of the greater feasts. Flowers…
This Obscure Italian Saint Offered His Communions for 50 Years for the Conversion of England
This book changed everything for me. But I also believe it (and this Italian tradition) has a providential role to play in our time.
In Illo Tempore: 2nd Sunday of Lent
Each worthy Communion becomes a moment of transfiguration within the communicant’s soul.
In Illo Tempore: 1st Sunday of Lent
The sacred Forty Days open at Rome’s Cathedral, the Papal Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in the Lateran, the “Mother and Head of all the churches of the City and of the world.” The Roman Station anchors our Lent in a concrete place, as it…
Studying Fatima Really Challenged My Spiritual Life
Are you wiling to suffer for sinners?