When the feast of St. Martin of Tours comes around each year—that’s November 11th, a day he shares on the Roman calendar with St. Mennas, a great soldier, desert solitary, and martyr in Egypt—I always think about food. The reason …
Category: Liturgy

The Lifting of the Chasuble at the Elevations: Touching the Hem of Christ’s Garment
Above: Detail from a stained glass window, St. Francis of Assisi Chapel, Lincoln, NE All of us who have sufferings to bear and faith in Jesus have a desire to be healed by Him, in some way, at some level. …

Is the Mass “Just” the Mass?
Above: Bishop Athanasius Schneider in Lancaster, PA. Photo by Allison Girone. In my life, I have often encountered people who say something like the following to Catholics who love the traditional liturgy—or, for that matter, who wish to see the …

Seeing Holy Mass with Jesuit Eyes
Above: mosaic of St. John Ogilvie returning to Scotland where he was martyred by heretics in 1615. Photo by Fr. Lawrence, OP. Part I: Seeing Holy Mass with Benedictine Eyes Part II: Seeing Holy Mass with Carmelite Eyes Part III: Seeing …

Seeing Holy Mass with Franciscan Eyes
Above: painting in the museum of San Marco in Florence showing St. Clare and St. Francis in holy conversation. Photo by Fr. Lawrence, OP. Part I: Seeing Holy Mass with Benedictine Eyes Part II: Seeing Holy Mass with Carmelite Eyes …

Seeing Holy Mass with Dominican Eyes
Part I: “Seeing Holy Mass with Benedictine Eyes“ Part II: “Seeing Holy Mass with Carmelite Eyes“ The Dominicans are the towering “lights” of the Church. Think about it: Saint Albert the Great, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and Saint Catherine of Siena, …

Seeing Holy Mass with Carmelite Eyes
Above: depiction of Our Lady giving the brown scapular to the Carmelite Ss. John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, and Therese of Lisieux from the church of Santa Maria della Victoria in Rome. Photo by Fr. Lawrence, OP. Read …

Seeing Holy Mass with Benedictine Eyes
Our Lord in His generosity has given the Church many wonderful “schools of spirituality” nurtured within the great religious orders. While ultimately all of these schools are in harmony with each other (otherwise they could not be considered Catholic!), each …

A More Realistic Appraisal of the Liturgical Movement and Its Destructive Descent
On September 19, 2022, Church Life Journal published an article co-authored by John Cavadini, Mary Healy, and Thomas Weinandy—the first in a projected five-part series, “The Renewal of the Liturgy: Successes, Failures, and Contemporary Concerns.” In order to bring to …

What Shia LaBeouf Understands and Bishop Barron Does Not
The New Mass is Inauthentic If you are attuned to online Catholic discussion, you have probably seen clips at least of Bishop Robert Barron’s interview with Shia LaBeouf, the actor who became Catholic after portraying St. Pio of Pietreclina on …