As I write this piece, I am wearing around my neck my St. Francis Xavier medal. I wear it almost always. At home, at work, at Mass, even while working out at the gym or playing hockey, it is always there near my heart, literally. While I admire and venerate all the saints, Francis is…
One of the treasures of the Catholic Church is its religious orders, with their various rules and charisms directed toward addressing particular needs in the Church at the time of their founding. Human nature being what it is, though, a common phenomenon is that over time, orders fall into laxity and lose the original vigor…
A university student once sent to me the following heartfelt letter. He expresses well the thoughts and feelings of many young Catholic men and women his age, who are open to a vocation from the Lord, but struggle with how to think about the whole matter. In my response, I try to clear away some…
Editor’s note: The following is not the position of 1P5, but we submit the author’s opinion to help inform discussion on the question of the always troublesome (these days) Jesuits. As we lament their present state, it is worthwhile to consider their illustrious past. Merely saying the word “Jesuit” will likely cause a frown in…
Editor’s note: Julian Kwasniewski conducted this interview with Fr. Cassian Folsom, OSB of the Benedictines of Norcia at the Sacred Liturgy Conference in Salem, Oregon, June 27-30, 2018. Julian Kwasniewski: In his Holy Rule, St. Benedict tells the monks to put the liturgy before all else. According to tradition, St. Benedict died just having received…
Peter Seewald, the German journalist who published several books with Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI, has recently been writing reports on the closing down of monasteries in the Diocese of Freising-Munich, always against the reverent will of the nuns in those monasteries. In April of 2018, OnePeterFive mentioned the case of Altomünster, a thousand-year-old abbey in…
Fr. Zuhlsdorf’s famous adage, “Save the Liturgy, Save the World,” nicely sums up the way God’s presence and grace are conveyed through the sacraments and how our disposition to receive the graces they provide is enhanced by well performed ritual. A liturgy filled with beautiful physical things helps us, body-soul composites that we are, to…
Considering the upcoming 2018 Youth Synod, as well as the 2019 Pan-Amazonian Synod, we may now learn more from two Vatican specialists who predict that the real theme of these synods will be priestly celibacy, and its step-by-step process of attenuation. The two journalists – Edward Pentin and Julius Müller-Meiningen – have quite different backgrounds,…
This interview was conducted in person during a retreat given by Fr. Cassian in Chicago for American oblates of the Benedictine monastery in Norcia. Fr. Cassian graciously allowed the author to publish a transcript of the interview. Julian Kwasniewski: Did you want to become a monk at a young age? Fr. Cassian: Well, not exactly.…
Editor’s note: The following comes from Jack P. Oostveen, emeritus assistant professor of soil mechanics and foundation engineering at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and David L. Sonnier, associate professor of computer science and director of international studies program, Lyon College. Introduction Now that over fifty years have passed since the conclusion of the Second…
With the news that Pope Francis might relax the rule of priestly celibacy in certain regions, there has been much celebration in certain quarters of the Catholic world. Many of those celebrating see celibacy primarily as a burden that forces unnecessary loneliness onto priests. What they fail to see is that such loneliness can have…
