It is common to hear some people propose that Our Lord was crucified as early as 30 A.D. and born as early as 4 B.C. They also claim He was not born in December and have proposed all sorts of …
Category: Holy Days & Feasts
The Holy Spirit of Pentecost and Christ the King
At the Pentecost Octave, the Church celebrates an end and a beginning. It is the close of the Paschal cycle, which celebrates the close of the Old Covenant. This is the beginning of the Time after Pentecost, celebrating the birth …
Did the Church ‘Forget’ the Holy Spirit until the ’60s?
When I was growing up, I distinctly recall hearing, more than once, presumably well-meaning teachers and preachers say something like the following: “The Church kind of forgot about the Holy Spirit for a long time, and with Vatican II, we …
To See Truly Integrated Catholic Life, Look to Gubbio’s Festa of St. Ubaldo
Integralism is a word that gets argued over a great deal among the American Catholic Twitterati. A lot of them are still having their old dispute over the limits of the Church with regard to the State, that never-ending problem …
Ascending His Throne: The Meaning of Ascensiontide
On Thursday, May 22 of this year, the faithful entered the season of “Little Advent,” the Lord’s own novena given to the apostles: Ascensiontide. Just as in winter Advent, the Church waits in joyful and fearful expectation for the Lord’s …
In the Midst of Eastertide, Lent Continues for Us
Due to the explosion of the Tambora volcano in 1815, we had a year without summer, for the atmosphere was filled with sunlight-inhibiting dust. This year we had a year without Easter, another gift from the Far East, but it …
Secularists’ Least Favorite Historical Proof of the Resurrection
One among the many irrefutable proofs of the resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ that even serious non-Christians are forced to contend with is the testimony of Flavius Josephus, first-century Jewish historian and eyewitness to the remarkable fulfilment of Our …
Christ is Risen!
And in the end of the sabbath, when it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalen and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre. And behold there was a great earthquake. For an angel …
Patrick of Ireland
Author’s note: there are many legends and stories of St. Patrick. In an attempt to view the saint from a different perspective, I offer a reflection on one of the most significant events in the life of the “Apostle to the …
The Chalking of the Doors: An Epiphany Tradition Explained
If you’re a Catholic, you’ve probably seen it: a mysterious series of letters and numbers, looking for all the world like an equation, inscribed in chalk over a doorway at your parish, or at the home of a friend. Maybe …