There are many instances of Eucharistic typology in Scripture that can give us insight into the question of whether God favors receiving Communion in the hand or on the tongue. This question is profoundly connected with questions of modesty, chastity, and humility, giving us a new perspective on the connection between liturgical reform and the…
This morning I had to make a long round trip drive out of town, and I wanted to listen to something edifying to pass the time. What I ultimately decided on was the audio-only podcast edition of Episode 38 of Rules for Retrogrades: “Divorce – the Ultimate Attack on the Family with Leila Miller.” For those…
Those looking for an incredible upcoming musical experience that is also safe and edifying for the entire family should look here. Now I give you the background story of how this vital collaboration came about. Conversations I have had in recent years with fellow artists and musicians have often come back to a single topic:…
Two hundred and ten years ago, on March 2, 1810, Vincenzo Gioacchino Pecci, who would remain in the memory of the Church as the great pope of the “social question,” was born in Carpineto Romano, south of Rome — Leo XIII (1810–1903). The wisdom and foresight of this supreme pontiff was well underlined by Benedict…
Editor’s Note: The following text, text issued today by Bishop Athanasius Schneider and first published at LifeSiteNews, addresses some key questions and controversies that have surrounded the papacy and have caused division among faithful Catholics in the midst of the current pontificate and the ongoing crisis in the Church. Most notably, he examines the question…
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10 Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11 O God, who dost purify Thy Church by the yearly observance of forty days; grant to Thy household that what we strive to obtain from Thee by self denial, we may secure by good works. – From the Collect for the First Sunday in Lent As literature, the…
Our world has never needed a father more than now. Our shepherds are not merely absent to their spiritual children, but also often part of the pack of wolves devouring souls. Many young people are tragically confused about their sexual identity. Parents have no idea how to be sacrificial spouses. Fortunately, we have no need…
Some years back, my mother gave me an unusual Christmas present: a book entitled The Greek Fathers: Their Lives and Writings by the late Fr. Adrian Fortescue. I say unusual, because I don’t think she had ever given me a book as a gift before, nor did I have any idea why she gave me this…
It’s on special days like today that I notice most sharply the vast difference between the LEX ORANDI of the old and the new liturgies. I have prepared a chart comparing the blessing of ashes in the Tridentine rite with its parallel in the Novus Ordo. (Click Image to Enlarge. Or download PDF version here.)…
Two hundred fifty years ago, on February 26, 1770, “following a gangrene that developed in one foot,” the one who at the end of his career was called the “first violin-player in Europe” and “master of the nations” died in Padua (P. Petrobelli, Giuseppe Tartini — Le fonti biografiche, Universal Edition 1968, p. 13-14): Italian…
This past Sunday, I had the privilege of attending a conference talk on Heaven by Father Isaac Mary Relyea, part of a Lenten mission series on the Four Last Things hosted by The Fatima Center. In the car on the way there, I joked about how my fiancé and I needed Father Isaac to give…
