How long ago it seems now, after six and a half grueling, mind-bending years under Pope Francis, coupled with the shock, from which one will never recover, of Pope Benedict’s abdication. It was like transitioning from a post-doctoral theology seminar to a multicultural kindergarten. But I still remember it clearly: the Eleventh Ordinary Synod of…
“Dad, guess what!” My eight-year-old son Joseph came home from a recent weekend stay with his grandparents. It was his first weekend spent away from his parents, and evidently, he had some exciting news. “Oh boy,” I thought, “what crazy codswallop did my dad teach him now?” “They sang ‘Companions on the Journey‘ at Grandpa’s…
Although active participation may have dissipated as a liturgical rallying call, it remains an unusually revealing and concise way to track how the Church has evolved over recent decades. This was a new concept in regards to liturgy, and its importance is paramount, as it is a frequently cited justification for the 20th-century liturgical reforms.…
In my last piece on this topic a few people pointed out to me a glaring omission. Here I will attempt to remedy this and briefly discuss a few crucial distinctions that we must keep in mind. Suggestion to Sin In the last piece, we discussed sources of scrupulosity in pride. While it is true…
Editor’s note: This article comes to 1P5 from an anonymous Catholic. People generally don’t enjoy being insulted. Being rejected by another person is painful, especially when it is your spiritual father. It is a natural reaction to want to reject the notion that you are the object of a sweeping, generalized insult such as being…
The Real Presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist is among the greatest mysteries of our faith. Indeed, the priest celebrating the traditional Roman Rite whispers in the midst of consecrating the Precious Blood, “Mysterium fidei.” Over the millennia, the Catholic Church has lovingly pondered this mystery, and her great…
In what seems to be growing concern about the true mission, vision, and motivation of the upcoming Pan-Amazon Synod, two Catholic bishops from the missions in the Amazon have made public statements questioning a foundation of the Vatican’s October event: the synod’s working document. How can, as one bishop put it, a synod “of this…
“Red-pilled” Catholic men these days who are thinking seriously about priesthood or religious life are wondering if it makes any sense to enter a Novus Ordo seminary or community. Could God be calling them to be “infiltrators” who usher in a more traditional future? Or should they interpret their growing love for the old Latin…
When we delve into the Word of God, it’s often those smaller details that hand us surprises. Consider the reaction of most biblical persons in an encounter with divine creatures such as angels, let alone the Creator Himself. Recognizing that they’ve encountered the supernatural, they almost invariably and immediately fall on the ground in prostration [1].…
Introduction: A Time of Confusion Although it is now frequently claimed that the traditional Latin Mass (TLM) was never abrogated (totally abolished) following the Second Vatican Council, this position is squarely at odds not only with the lived experience of several generations of Catholics, but with the rapid and near total disappearance of the TLM…
Prummer defines scrupulosity as “a state of groundless fear rather than the judgment of a sound mind” (no. 144). He identifies the signs of scruples: an excessive anxiety about previous confessions, protracted accusations of irrelevant details, stubbornness that refuses to accept the decisions of the confessor. Scruples affect a soul devoted to God and sensitive…
