Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Fr Chad Ripperger, Dr Peter Kwasniewski, Msgr Alberto Turco, Dr William Mahrt, Dr Edward Schaefer, Fr Mark Bachmann OSB, Mr Nicholas Lemme… these are the speakers of the online International Gregorian Chant Conference, Sept 25 – Oct …
Category: Sacraments

Not Abandoning the Flock—Not Abandoning the Truth
The following is a real exchange of letters, with identifying details edited out. The correspondence took place about three years ago. LETTER 1 Dear Dr. Kwasniewski, A mutual friend forwarded to me the letters between you and your priest friend …

Revisiting the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Above: The Visitation by Flemish painter Willem Vrelant (d. 1481). This Saturday, July 2, is the usus antiquior feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This feast was instituted in 1389 by, in a way, two popes—Pope Urban …

No Salvation Outside Ascension Thursday
“Forty Days” After His Resurrection Falling as it does between the great feasts of Easter and Pentecost, Ascension Thursday gets short shrift from modern Christians. Although it remains an unmoved (usually) Holy Day of Obligation for Roman Catholics (and, to …

Good Shepherding from Augustine to Catherine of Siena
Above painting: St Catherine before the Pope at Avignon by Giovanni di Paolo (1403–1482), Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid. In chapter thirteen of his Gospel, St. Matthew recounts a famous parable of the Lord: The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a …

The Removal of Tabernacles and the Desacrificialization of the Mass
Photo: Saint-François de Molitor, Paris, France. Why was the tabernacle removed from the high altar or kept away from the center of so many churches during the past fifty years? There are many reasons one could give for this decentering …

The Annunciation and the Subtle Use of Gospels in the Old Roman Rite
Painting: Maurice Denis, “Le mystère catholique,” (1889) After a number of years experiencing the annual cycle of readings in the traditional Latin Mass, I grew aware of the manner in which it approaches Gospels in general, which is freer and …

Trads: We Need the Irish Fighting Spirit!
To Catholics in the Anglosphere – especially in Ireland and the United States – today’s feast day is something of a mark of the faith. As a Michigander I’m blessed to see the grocery stores in my area start selling …

Christian Militancy in the Prayer of the Church
The following talk was given at a Call to Holiness event at Assumption Grotto in Detroit on Sunday, March 6, 2022. Please note that the sound quality in the video improves at the 2’15” mark, at which time the lapel …

The Sacrificial Nature of the Mass in the Usus Antiquior
The claim is often made that the traditional Roman Rite brings out more clearly than the Novus Ordo does that the Mass is a true and proper sacrifice—the unbloody re-presentation of the bloody sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. As …