Author’s Preface: The following article pertains to the ongoing campaign against traditional contemplative life unleashed by Pope Francis. I had drafted my article in full prior to the fortuitous appearance of two other articles on Madre Maravillas, namely, Mary Cuff’s “The Beauty of Austerity” (Crisis Magazine, January 8, 2022) and Sr. Gabriela Hick’s “St. Maravillas:…
I never did get my father to see his two grandsons serve the old Mass – I’d harbored a vague notion that seeing them up there amidst the “smells and bells” might help bring him back into the fold. When they assisted at his requiem this past October, it was the first time they were…
Read chapter I here. *** Malthus my boy, I have received the dossier on your specimens, and although it was tardy and should have been handed in sooner—do not let that happen again—it is informative enough for now. Alas, the father does not as of yet have a habit of utilizing sexualized imagery for…
It appears that the prologue to my series on sedevacantism caused quite a stir, rankling and even riling up a boatload of belligerent BadTrads. A bunch of sour grapes if you ask me, and they failed on multiple fronts, not least of which was their fantastical lack of foresight – not to mention their apparent…
We made a firm move into Epiphanytide, the few weeks before pre-Lent’s Septuagesima Sunday. There is a strong magnetic attraction back to Epiphany on this 2nd Sunday after that great feast. Epiphany, really always on 6 January, was once endowed with its own Octave, regrettably abolished in 1955. The former Octave Day, always 13 January…
The Flight 93 Situation Back in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, Michael Anton of the Claremont Review of Books, writing under a pseudonym, penned an article comparing the situation of that election to the situation faced by the passengers of Flight 93 on 9/11. In his own words, the calculation was thus: Storm…
Mary Against the Marxists, part IV Read part I: The Communist Bayonet. Read part II: Poland Against All Odds. Read part III: The Miracle on the Vistula After the victory, Piłsudski became a national legend and received glory for his work. The state began honoring soldiers in the battle with medals. Piłsudski himself twice…
I popped into my parish church today. I haven’t been there in quite some time; nearly a decade in fact. The church has a specific meaning to me; it’s where my family are buried, it’s where I was baptized and received the sacraments. Above the door stands a stone commemorating my great, great, great grandfather…
Mary Against the Marxists, part III Read part I: The Communist Bayonet. Read part II: Poland Against All Odds. The First Divine Intervention Saturday, August 14th, 1920: At 3:30am the Bolsheviks initiated a violent attack at the army of students who quickly retreated backwards to the village of Ossów to use the homes as cover.…
I was disabused of the idea that time-hallowed, sacrifice-based Tradition is adverse to the authentically human experience a long time ago. Early on 24 December 2012, I found myself in a remote area. Spotty cell service. No internet. Then, out of nowhere, one text came through: “Firefighters shot. Monroe County, NY.” I spent the next…
In a recent conversation with a former practitioner of the occult, I was able, by God’s Providence, to make a connection and see a demonstration of the way in which Satan seeks to do the opposite of what Our Lord does, of how Satan seeks to invert all that is good, to twist and to…
