There is a rhythm to life, to the seasons of the year, to the day, from its dawning to its close, to the history of the world. There is a rhythm to the liturgy of the Church, and there is a rhythm to the Bible, with its opening at the beginning of time and its…
A mechanically inclined friend of mine once commented that a church in his city looks like an enormous Harley Davidson that was disassembled and dropped in a heap of parts. I’ve seen the place from the outside, and my friend’s description is apt. It’s struck me that too much of the Catholic Church in recent…
The Warehouse District in New Orleans, a stone’s throw from the French Quarter, is home to eclectic art galleries; one of-a-kind shops; and two very different museums, though these particular museums share the same theme: war. Located at 945 Magazine Street, the World War II Museum is the most popular attraction in the city. It…
Epistle: Galatians 4:1-7 Gospel: Luke 2:33-40 O almighty and everlasting God, direct our actions according to Thy good pleasure; that in the Name of Thy beloved Son we may deserve to abound in good works. – From the Collect for the Sunday Within the Octave of Christmas During this Christmas Octave the Church calls us…
The new calendar is one of the subtler corrosives the post-conciliar Vatican poured on the faith of an unsuspecting Catholic populace. From introducing confusion as to the existence of well respected saints to obliterating octaves to the chaos of weird concentric asymmetrical lectionary cycles, the new calendar’s pandemonium makes one pine for the days of semi-doubles.…
Christmas of 1223 witnessed one of St. Francis of Assisi’s greatest flashes of poetic brilliance. “To excite the inhabitants of Greccio…to commemorate the nativity of the Infant Jesus with great devotion,” St. Bonaventure tells us, St. Francis thought of setting up a scene outdoors like that of the shelter in Bethlehem: they would fill a…
I had not yet seen HERE the celebration of the Pachamama with Bergoglio in front of the altar at Saint Peter’s Basilica last October 4 at the opening of the Amazon Synod. It is stunning. Now I understand why people are talking about idolatrous profanation and of the need to reconsecrate Saint Peter’s Basilica. Perhaps…
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 Gospel: Luke 3:1-6 Stir up Thy power and come, we pray Thee, O Lord, and with great might succour us; that our deliverance, which our sins impede, may be hastened by the help of Thy grace and the forgiveness of Thy mercy. – From the Collect for the Fourth Sunday of…
Readers may already know about the delightful book The Gentle Traditionalist: A Catholic Fairy-Tale from Ireland by Roger Buck (Angelico Press, 2015). Buck is back with an equally dashing although more earnest sequel: The Gentle Traditionalist Returns (Angelico Press, 2019). So many are the excellent insights in this book that I will undoubtedly return to…
I hope you read the title of this post to the tune of Silver Bells. The Bing Crosby version, naturally. Have you ever heard about the Ember days, observed for most of the history of the Church prior to the late 20th century? If you haven’t, don’t feel bad. Like many traditional practices in the Church laden…
The great saintly mystics and masters of the spiritual life tell us that one of the surest means to advance virtually by light years is by frequent meditation on the passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, on His love and sufferings, and on the heroic pains He endured for us. Thus, St. Louis Marie de…
