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 …
Category: Religious Life
‘I discovered the beauty of the Roman Rite’: An Interview with Rev. Cassian Folsom, OSB
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 …
The Data on the Death of Religious Orders: How Does Your Favorite Measure Up?
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 …
Celibacy and the Benefits of Priestly Loneliness
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 …
Bold and Terrible Commerce: The Mass, and Those Privileged to Pray It
Editor’s note: This article is Part II of a series. For Part I, click here. The traditional Mass can be compared to a tournament. At the beginning of a High Mass, the priest (knight) processes in with the deacon and …
Bold and Terrible Commerce: A Meditation on Why to Become a Priest
Photo credit: Paweł Kula Editor’s note: This article is Part I of a two-part series. For Part II, click here. Author’s note: This article dwells particularly on the vocation to the priestly life. For the most part, the things said about …
Three Days of Silence
Have you ever been to a particularly boisterous and noisy party, and, perhaps getting a bit weary of the noise, slipped off into a quiet room by yourself for a bit and shut the door behind you? Or maybe out …
On Becoming Your Priest: A Letter from a Seminarian
Editor’s note: the following letter was submitted to us by a young man currently studying for the priesthood in the United States. Sadly, expressing even these measured thoughts on some of the difficulties facing seminarians in the current ecclesiastical climate could …
In Search of a Secular Franciscan Charism
In the early 1200s, St. Francis of Assisi inflamed the hearts of the faithful with the Gospel message. He did not just speak the Good News; he lived it, with a particular emphasis on poverty and simplicity. As he wandered …
In a Time of Desolation, A Calling for New Beguines?
What if there were a place for women to go who love the Lord, who felt drawn to a life of prayer and intimate union with Him, who desired a life devoted to poverty, chastity and obedience but who, for …