The term “Magisterium” is a relatively new term that became prevalent in the past few generations of Church history. Before this, there was a distinction made within the Church Militant between the Ecclesia Docens (“Teaching Church”) and the Ecclesia Discens (“Learning Church”). The Baltimore Catechism: How may the members of the Church on earth be…
Last week, I was invited to be a guest on Joseph Sciambra’s new show, Finding Our Father. The topic was Catholic Cults and Homosexuality in the Church, with a specific focus on my experiences spent with the most notorious of these cults — the Legionaries of Christ — founded and run for decades by one…
Many traditionalists hear the word “ecumenism” and associate it with things like the silly Assisi meetings and the never-ending, unproductive “dialogue” that bishops have with non-Catholics. It’s something you might hear about in a traditional Catholic media article talking about Pope Francis, but it never has any real effect on you or your life. This…
I have lately witnessed some of the strongest Catholics I know shaken deeply by the visage of a society driving headlong into unnecessary strife and madness, and I would be lying if I did not number myself among them. This has pushed many toward conversations about the so-called “Benedict Option” and what types of withdrawal…
While California officials applaud public protests involving tens of thousands of not exactly COVID-mindful individuals, the same officials have informed “houses of worship” that due to the risk of spreading the virus their members are banned from singing or chanting. With masks? Without masks? With no-contact thermometer checkpoints in place or without? Are we still…
“We now see movements to remove statues and names given to monuments and schools of southern figures — Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and others,” observed one of the last few real Jesuits a few years before his death. “What we are witnessing in these actions is the rejection of the honorable and…
When Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ instituted the Holy Mass as a perpetual sacrifice of His Body and His Blood for the remission of our sins (Mt. 26:26–28; Mk. 14:22–24; Lk. 22:19–20; 1 Cor. 10:16–18; etc.), it is clear that He intended in a special way that the New Testament Sacrifice of the Holy…
UPDATE – July 9, 2020: The United States Navy has issued a new, clarified policy statement on the question of service members attending indoor religious services, which states that nothing about their guidance “should be construed to restrict attendance at places of worship where attendees are able to appropriately apply COVID-19 transmission mitigation measures, specifically social…
Editor’s note: This article was first published on June 29, 2015 under a pen name. We’re running it again, now under the name of its author, because its content remains evergreen, and our readers (and editors) are well served by contemplating it anew. The text has been slightly edited. Further reflections on the same theme…
On July 7, 1860, 160 years ago, in Kaliště, a village on the border with Moravia, then part of the Austrian Empire, was born to a family of Jewish merchants of German origins the composer and conductor with whom the symphony experienced triumph and crisis: Gustav Mahler (1860–1911). Jewish by birth and in 1897 baptized,…
Back in 1994, my inquiry into the claims of the Catholic Church took a decisive turn. I transitioned from reading books in the safety of my own home to visiting actual parishes and signing up for RCIA. At this point, I found myself bombarded with kitsch. I didn’t know enough about the Mass itself to…
