The French Revolution and its daughter movements defined the social question of the 19th century, which, as I have noted elsewhere, the Magisterium from Pius VI to Pius XII answered with authority and clarity. But, as Pope Benedict observed in …
Category: Theology
Vatican II Cannot Be Separated from Its ‘Spirit’
We have heard it all before. “The Second Vatican Council was not the problem; the problem was the ‘Spirit of Vatican II.’ The documents themselves are not that bad. Modernists hijacked the confusion after the Council, Traditionalists who bash Vatican …
Scripture & Tradition: Low Sunday
Epistle: 1 John 5:4-10 Gospel: John 20:19-31 Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we who have completed the Easter holy days, may, through Thy imparting, retain these effects in our ways and our life. – From the Collect for …
Scripture & Tradition: Easter Sunday
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 Gospel: Mark 16:1-7 O God, who on this day, through Thine only-begotten Son, hast conquered death, and thrown open to us the gate of everlasting life, give effect by Thine aid to our desires, which Thou …
Scripture & Tradition: Palm Sunday
Epistle: Philippians 2:5-11 Gospel: Matthew 26:36-75; 27:1-66 Almighty and everlasting God, by whose ordinance our Savior took flesh and suffered crucifixion to give mankind a pattern of humility, grant us this boon, that, with the lesson of His endurance before …
How I Found True Contrition at the Site of My Sins
Sunday was my thirteenth day in coronavirus quarantine. I must confess that although I have done some liturgical sewing and have spent more time than usual exercising, cooking, and praying, most of this precious downtime has slipped by without anything …
Scripture & Tradition: Passion Sunday
Epistle: Hebrews 9:11-15 Gospel: John 8:46-59 Look down in mercy, we beseech Thee, O Lord, upon Thy family; by Thy governance may we be outwardly protected in body; by Thy favor may we be inwardly strengthened in heart and mind. …
Spiritual Porneia and the “Lump” Destroyed
In the article “Porneia and Communion in the Hand” that was recently posted on 1P5, I explored the connections among porneia, the abuse crisis in the modern Church, and the immodesty toward our Lord’s Eucharistic body. Scripture speaks just as …
The Last Kiss before the Battle
We press our lips against the foreheads of our loved ones, we tell them just how beloved they are, and we suit up for war. The world, the flesh, the devil, our own fallen nature, the wounds of Original Sin …
Scripture & Tradition: Fourth Sunday in Lent
Epistle: Galatians 4:22-31 Gospel: John 6:1-15 Grant, we beseech Thee, O almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds justly deserve to be punished, by the comfort of Thy grace may mercifully be relieved. – From the Collect for …