With the pope’s long awaited post-synodal exhortation not far away, we can be sure that the modernists will be taking their axes to the roots of the discipline of clerical celibacy. We will hear claims that clerical celibacy was introduced only in the 12th or 5th century and that it is not a discipline that…
In the first part of this series we discussed the general raising of the dignity of woman in and through Marian devotion with the coming of the Gospel. We also began to explain the “truly regal throne” first perfected by Mary in which every wife and mother has the privilege to participate. In this part,…
In the past, Western Catholics have at times tried to force their own discipline on Eastern Catholics (the name of Bishop John Ireland still haunts the conversation). We now recognize that this was a mistake, and one that is not likely to be repeated, given the correct insistence that Catholicism thrives within a diversity of…
The Church on January 6 celebrates the great feast of the Epiphany of the Lord (or Theophany, as our Byzantine brethren call it [i]): the revelation of God to the nations and peoples of the world, represented by the three wise men who, guided by divine Providence, walked from the darkness of paganism to the…
For years, a friend of mine wrestled with his vocation. Should I be a priest? Should I get married? Which one, Lord, are you calling me to? One roadblock stood in his way. Surprisingly, celibacy was not holding him back; rather, it was the Church’s teaching on the superiority of celibacy over marriage. Like my…
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 Cross present anew for the benefit of the living and the dead — to one…
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 sumptuary laws were passed to regulate it, a form open to most young people and…
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 inextricably predicated upon a foundation of patriarchal governance laid by God’s own hand, whereas feminism’s…
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 called “irregular marital situations” — that is, objectively adulterous unions. This dispute took its place…
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? The older couple talked about traveling and their dogs. I silently wondered if they had…
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 sacramental marriage. The other combatant is the traditional, orthodox wing of the Church that promotes…
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