The noble Latin language that nourished piety for centuries; the serenity of Gregorian plainsong; the splendor of priestly attire; and the visible emphasis on the sacrificial nature of the Mass, wherein the Lord of glory makes His offering upon the …
Category: Marriage
The Wedding: How to Be a Catholic Music Patron, at Least Once
When we hear the term “music patronage,” we think of the Medicis, the Esterhazys, the Benedict XVI Institute. We don’t think of the middle class. Yet there is a form of patronage that was once so popular and extravagant that …
On the Bride of Christ as Bride: Why the Church Has No Room for “Christian Feminism”
Like oil and water, Christianity and feminism are quite simply immiscible. When left to their own devices, the two antagonists repel one another, and when forced to coexist within a system, they stubbornly float in perpetual heterogeneous opposition. Christendom is …
The New Lectionary and the Catholic Wedding
One of the topics most hotly disputed at the synods on marriage and the family, back in those halcyon years of 2014 and 2015, was the possibility of admitting to Holy Communion Catholics who are living in what are euphemistically …
‘Have You Thought about Adopting?’ Reflections on Infertility
My wife and I took a cooking class once. We made pasta with two unmarried couples we had never met. I decided not to ask the twenty-something couple if it was their first date. Why put them on the spot? …
Adelphopoiesis: The Myth of the “Gay” Byzantine Marriage Rite
The Church is in the midst of a battle between warring ideologies in the secular and ecclesiastical courts. One combatant is a certain confederation of groups that push for the normalization of homosexuality in the Church and the redefining of …
When in Florida: The Priest Who Refused My Wedding
The top-down annihilation of a developed orthodoxy into a mad-glad tambourine session seems to have been successful for a few decades. As I grow older in the Catholic Church, I’ve gradually become aware of the various effects of this post-conciliar …
On Discerning Vocations: How to Think about “States of Life”
A university student once sent to me the following heartfelt letter. He expresses well the thoughts and feelings of many young Catholic men and women his age, who are open to a vocation from the Lord, but struggle with how …
Speakers at German Bishops’ Meeting: Polish in ‘Identity Crisis,’ Insisting on ‘Exclusion’
LifeSiteNews reported a few days ago the inspiring piece of news that in Poland, 140,000 Catholics signed a petition to their bishops asking them to protect their teaching “from German errors.” At the same time, the German bishops had their …
The Throw-Down at the Council of Jerusalem and the Union of Dogma, Praxis, and Spirituality
The unity of the Catholic Faith is such that dogma, praxis, and spirituality cannot be separated. While each of these is distinct in terms of their acts, all are the same in object – namely, Jesus Christ Himself. All three …