Photo: a play ride resembling the demon “Thadagai” at a children’s theme park in southern India (public domain). Read the last chapter before this one Table of Contents Start reading from chapter 1 Chapter 16 Malthus my boy, If you are wondering why I am spying on you, well, then it seems you still…
Photo: Emperor Karl visiting the residents of Cortina D’Ampezzo, c. 1917. He was known by all during the war (especially his troops) to visit and comfort his people in their suffering. Editor’s note: as we announced a few weeks ago on the centenary of Blessed Emperor Karl’s birthday into heaven, we have chosen this great…
Art: The Blood Miracle of Saint Januarius in the Cathedral of Naples (1780) by Louis Jean Desprez (1743-1804). 1750 years ago, on April 21, 272, he who is venerated as the main patron of Naples, southern Italy, famous in the world, was born: Saint Januarius, bishop and martyr. In Pozzuoli, just west of Naples, on…
Photo: the blessing of the water for Baptism at Easter Vigil. By Allison Girone. “This is my body, which is given for you . . . This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Lk 22:19-20). Of ecstasy—that is, standing outside oneself or going out of oneself—Our Lord…
Happy Easter! My hopeful prayer is that you experience, in this Easter Season, true joy in a personal encounter with the Risen Lord. The Church’s firehose of imagery and traditions and sacred liturgy has been blasting fully at our little drinking cups. Holy Week and the Sacred Triduum can overwhelm as we reach the apex…
Our Divine Lord, hanging on the Cross in the sight of the assembled multitudes, insulted, scorned, and blasphemed by His enemies, turns to His Eternal Father, and beseeches Him to forgive them, for they know not what they do. Consider — 1. The charity with which Jesus prays. After a prolonged period of silence, our…
Painting: Christ Crucified (1632) by Diego Velázquez. Pauline mortification part one, part two/three. A fourth reason obliging us to mortification or abnegation is the necessity of imitating Jesus crucified. He Himself tells us: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily” (Lk. 9:23). St. Paul adds: For…
Read the last chapter before this one Table of Contents Start reading from chapter 1 Chapter 15 Malthus my boy, I just received your message, and I thought it wise to send you a quick note. My mouth has not watered this excessively in quite a while. You see, a fish rots from…
Above: woodcut of Constantinople by Giovanni Andreas Vavassore, circa 1535. Editor’s note: see part 1 in this series: “Eastern Orthodoxy and the Pathology Against Charity.” The Fourth Crusade is perhaps the greatest wound of blood between Catholics and Eastern Orthodox. In the year 1204 crusaders came and sacked Constantinople, the greatest Eastern Orthodox city…
I was in the car with my friend on the way to Vespers at the Russian Orthodox church. I remember it vividly for some reason; driving down the streets of the old Slavic immigrant neighborhood on the westside of my city (which encompasses also the Ukrainian Catholic parish and the Polish Catholic parish). This would…
Photo: consecration of Russia by Pope Francis, March 25, 2022. By Diane Montagna. Perhaps this will be seen as one of those negative Traditional Catholic spiels. Perhaps I am a pessimist at heart. For everyone it seems is on board with the conversion prayer for Russia, including the SSPX. Perhaps however I am only a…
