The Old Container and the Leaking Sieve
It is no wonder that idolatry is compared in Scripture to fornication. Desacralization too may be compared to fornication and adultery.
The 1955 Pacellian Holy Week Reform
If we must criticize, let us make sure we understand the reforms before doing so. Furthermore, let us not begin with the assumption that everything the reformers did was indefensible, terrible, and novel.
4th Sunday of Lent: Catching our breath and sneaking around
“To say that Bilbo’s breath was taken away is no description at all. There are no words left to express his staggerment, since Men changed the language that they learned of elves in the days when all the world was wonderful” (The Hobbit, Ch. 12). This is rather how I feel in approaching this magnificent…
2nd Sunday of Lent: We’re in the grinder now.
Peter denied the Lord, James fled, and only John returned to be at the foot of the Cross. Let us not get puffed up about how tough we are in view of the Enemy of the soul’s relentless grinder.
Fidelity to Liturgical Law and the Rights of the Faithful
The rights of the faithful are affirmed by the highest ecclesiastical authority. We must fight for these rights for the sake of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
1st Sunday of Lent: A fork in the road of your life
How many times do we hear today from leftists and modernists, German theologians and Jesuits activists, that “that was maybe true back then, but this is now; that teaching was culturally conditioned and doesn’t apply to us anymore!”?
Christmas Continued
Above: La Adoracion de los Reyes Magos by Peter Paul Rubens of Spanish Flanders (1577-1640). The Feast of the Epiphany is the continuation of the mystery of Christmas; but it appears on the Calendar of the Church with its own special character. Its very name, which signifies Manifestation, implies that it celebrates the apparition of God to…
Trad Perspective on Benedict XVI
“I’m sorry about Benedict.” I turned from my dog to my daughter. “Did he die?” I asked my daughter. “Yeah,” she said. “Who died?” said my six-year-old son. “Pope Benedict, the former pope.” I was taking it in. It wasn’t hitting me yet. I said to my son: “Now he goes to judgment. We pray…
The Demanding Glory of Advent’s Ember Saturday
Above: Greek icon depicting Christ with the Winnowing Fan from an Orthodox monastery in Arizona, United States. Photo by Fr. Lawrence, OP. This coming Saturday will be the third of the Advent Ember Days in the Roman Rite. (As always, the Ember Days come in threes: Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, the ancient penitential rhythm.)…
Metaphysical Beauty made Visible
Man’s purpose in life is to know, love, and serve God with all of his mind, heart, and strength. This succinct answer to the world’s most vexed question holds compelling poetic beauty. Its strong, rhythmic monosyllables are like the rap of a snare drum which steadies troops in the face of battle. Yet, one wonders,…
“Easy Virtue”: Comfort and Ease as Basic Givens of the Liturgical Reform
The sin of Peter recounted in Matthew 16 — “Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee” (v. 22) — is the archetype of papal sins against the Mass. Note that Peter’s “rebuke” hinges on the avoidance of the Cross. The…