A new papal motu proprio letter on the liturgy was released today. It’s called Magnum Principium, and in my opinion, it’s a ticking timebomb. But to better understand it, we must first have something to contrast it against. If you’ve ever read Pope St. Pius V’s famous apostolic constitution on liturgy, Quo Primum (1570), you know that the…
Editor’s note: This article is Part II of a series. For Part I, click here. The traditional Mass can be compared to a tournament. At the beginning of a High Mass, the priest (knight) processes in with the deacon and sub-deacon (squires) and all the acolytes, torchbearers, and other servers (pages). The priest is arrayed…
Photo credit: Paweł Kula Editor’s note: This article is Part I of a two-part series. For Part II, click here. Author’s note: This article dwells particularly on the vocation to the priestly life. For the most part, the things said about the priesthood are also applicable to the religious life in general. Also, even though about…
Editor’s Note: Pope Francis, in a recent address, claimed that the “liturgical reform [i.e. the Novus Ordo Mass] is irreversible.” Vatican specialist Sandro Magister has said that many interpreted these words “as a halt ordered by Pope Francis to the presumed reverse course signaled by Benedict XVI with the 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum.” Magister…
Dr. Heinz-Lothar Barth is a professor of Latin and Greek Philology at the University of Bonn, a 200-year-old institution boasting over 30,000 students. On the University website, the school is described as “one of Germany’s most prestigious universities and also ranked among the top hundred in the world”. Founded in 1818 as Rhein University, the school has offered programs in…
By Lisa Bergman Founder, St. Augustine Academy Press So many times people tell me, “I would love to go to the Latin Mass, but it’s just so confusing!” Or “I’ve tried going to the Latin Mass, but I feel so lost that I’m just not getting anything out of it.” I totally understand that feeling. …
Editor’s note: The following is an essay from Dr. Gintautas Vaitoska, lecturer for psychology and religion at the International Theological Institute in Trumau, Austria. He has taught at Kaunas Vytautas Magnus University and St. Joseph Seminary, Vilnius, Lithuania, and has done extensive work with pre-Cana programs, marriage counseling, and chastity education. Nonverbal communication has always been…
Editor’s note: Vivifica is a pen name for two Catholic university students studying theology. Established in the summer of 2017, Vivifica aims to revive and restore Catholic traditions through web videos, blogging, and parish missions. Each Sunday, during holy days of obligation, and during the week when we can, we celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of…
Though the rumors have been stirring for a while now, John-Henry Westen of LifeSiteNews reports today that sources in Rome are talking about a possible plan to ghettoize the Traditional Latin Mass: Sources inside the Vatican suggest that Pope Francis aims to end Pope Benedict XVI’s universal permission for priests to say the Traditional Latin…
Mass of Saint Gregory the Great by Master of Portillo (1520-1525). Far too often these days liturgical discussions pertaining to the Roman Rite start with the popular myth that the Traditional Latin Mass only dates back to the sixteenth century and the Council of Trent (1545-1563). While some make this claim simply due to a lack of catechesis,…
A Guest Essay by Willem Jacobus Cardinal Eijk Archbishop of Utrecht This chapter is taken from Eleven Cardinals Speak on Marriage and the Family ©2015 Ignatius Press. It is reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. Editor’s Note: Through the gracious assistance of a reader, we were given permission to re-print this text from the so-called “Eleven Cardinals Book”, issued…
