By Dom Prosper Guéranger The Feast of the Epiphany is the continuation of the mystery of Christmas; but it appears on the Calendar of the Church with its own special character. Its very name, which signifies Manifestation, implies that it celebrates the apparition of God to his creatures. For several centuries, the Nativity of our Lord was…
On December 18, 2021, the Vatican released the text of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments’ “Responsa Ad Dubia on certain provisions of the Apostolic Letter Traditionis Custodes [TC] issued ‘motu proprio’ by the Supreme Pontiff Francis, to the Presidents of the Conferences of Bishops.” The Responses were prefaced by…
To justify his repeal of Pope Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum, Pope Francis charged that many Latin Mass communities were regarding themselves as superior to the Church. Francis’ letter accompanying the motu proprio is clear: …[E]ver more plain in the words and attitudes of many is the choice of celebrations according to the liturgical books prior to…
In the history of the crusading movement we can observe certain factors which contributed to success or failure, whether in the early crusades of the so-called “Byzantine Empire,” or in the Reconquista, the Eastern Crusades and the Northern Crusades of Western Christendom.[1] One of these factors is rootedness about which I spoke last week. The…
Flash back to simpler, happier times. I refer to a time long past, when neighbor talked with neighbor – never discussing letters from the Greek alphabet. A time long past when people breathed air freely – unless the neighbor had a love for garlic. A time long past when it wasn’t illegal for someone like…
What are we doing here? The top of a new calendar year, and the Octave of the Nativity, invite some self-reflection for this column. This column is work: both work to write and work to read. Let’s start with that. The word “liturgy,” broken down into its Greek components (leitourgia), is about “work” (ergon) and…
For many Catholics, the Year of St. Joseph has been a light in our darkest hour. Between political and civil unrest, attacks on the clergy, and never-ending variants and lockdowns forcing us all to relearn the Greek alphabet, the conclusion of the Year of St. Joseph is bittersweet. Our Lord never said following Him would…
Dear OnePeterFive donors, supporters and readers, The enemies of Christ rely on us to have short memories. In the era of smart phones, pieces of technology do all the thinking for us – to delight of the oligarchs and heretics. The only way they can win is by convincing us to forget the great…
Like a decades-old fruitcake or that pink bunny suit from Aunt Clara, the Left’s heavy-handed overreaction to the Omicron variant is the Christmas present that nobody wanted. But that hasn’t stopped the authoritarians from giving it to us anyway, despite early indications that this variant is not as dangerous as its predecessors. Several states have…
Chicago is known for its magnificent late 19th and early 20th century Catholic churches, many built with donations from poor immigrants toiling in the city’s steel mills and factories. Considering the enormous sacrifices that were made to build up Catholicism in Chicago, the question may be asked: what has the Archdiocese done with the talents it has…
I always think about the days right after Christmas: the feast of the first martyr, St. Stephen, stoned to death by the Jews; the feast of St. John the Apostle, who, though he did not die a martyr, was submerged in a cauldron of boiling oil and miraculously delivered from it; the feast of the…
