And where sin abounded, grace did more abound… Amidst unnecessary contentions and frequent bad news in the Church, it becomes both essential and gratifying to share good news. Enter Catholic composer Frank La Rocca and the forthcoming CD/album release of his luminous Mass of the Americas. In recent years, San Francisco’s Benedict XVI Institute has…
Pope John Paul I, whose original name was Albino Luciani, is beatified. That is, according to Benedict XIV, he can “be venerated in certain province, diocese, city or religious institute with a limited and typical of the Blesseds worship, until the solemn canonization is achieved.”[1] We leave aside the modern controversy regarding canonizations, and direct…
Six centuries have passed since that August 31, 1422, when, struck by a serious illness, an unrepentant libertine who became one of the greatest kings of his people died at the age of 35 in the château of Vincennes, at the gates of Paris: Henry V of England. The prince of Wales was born in…
Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Fr Chad Ripperger, Dr Peter Kwasniewski, Msgr Alberto Turco, Dr William Mahrt, Dr Edward Schaefer, Fr Mark Bachmann OSB, Mr Nicholas Lemme… these are the speakers of the online International Gregorian Chant Conference, Sept 25 – Oct 2, hosted by the Gregorian Chant Academy. How did I manage to organize an International…
Today is the Feast of St. James the Greater, the apostle “friend of the Lord” together with Peter and John. Nine hundred years ago, in 1122, while the last stone of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela was being laid, Pope Calixtus II (†1124) announced the first Holy Year of Compostela for 1126, establishing that…
450 years ago, on May 13, 1572, after a conclave lasted less than a day, a man, to whom we owe our calendar and the scrupulous implementation of the decrees of the Council of Trent (1545-1563), was unanimously elected to the Chair of Peter: Gregory XIII, whose original name was Ugo Boncompagni. There’s so much…
450 years ago, on May 1, 1572, the great Pope of the Catholic Reform promoted by the Council of Trent, the “Pope of the Rosary”, glorious in crushing the enemies of the Church – external, like the Ottoman Turks, and internal, such as the followers of Luther and Calvin or as the exponents of the…
Photo: Catedral de Santa María de la Sede, Seville, Spain. Three hundred years ago yesterday, on April 25, 1722, the last of the Christian Fathers of antiquity was proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pope Innocent XIII: St. Isidore of Seville. Seventeen years after his death in 636, he was recognized by the the 8th…
Art: The Blood Miracle of Saint Januarius in the Cathedral of Naples (1780) by Louis Jean Desprez (1743-1804). 1750 years ago, on April 21, 272, he who is venerated as the main patron of Naples, southern Italy, famous in the world, was born: Saint Januarius, bishop and martyr. In Pozzuoli, just west of Naples, on…
Let’s honor “the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah” (Mt 1:16). On the day of the Immaculate Conception more than 150 years ago, December 8, 1870, Blessed Pope Pius IX, with the decree Quemadmodum Deus (As almighty God) by the Sacred Congregation of Rites, solemnly declared St. Joseph…
A thousand years ago, on March 12, 1022, a great monk, a teacher of theology and spirituality that the Christian East can boast, died: St. Symeon the New Theologian. His biographer, Niceta Stethatos, who was also his fervent disciple, reports that George — this was his baptismal name — was born in 949 in Galatai,…
