A sub-category of News.
The title of this essay comes from a 2021 Christmas movie, the kind that run in places like the Hallmark Channel. But I think it better fits the American bishops’ approach to holy days of obligation. Regular readers know that I have criticized detachment of holy days from their historical context (e.g., Ascension Thursday becoming…
Armistice Day is kept in honor of the ending of World War I which concluded on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. In 1954, the United States amended the holiday to include a remembrance of all the living and the dead of the nation’s veterans. And the name was subsequently…
Not too long ago, I had a conversation with a Catholic friend over the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fighting in Gaza and its bombing in Lebanon—the IDF had not yet invaded the latter. While we both agreed that Israel, like any other sovereign nation-state, must defend itself against its aggressor, he vehemently sustained that the…
Everyone expected massive demonstrations after the election, no matter who won. It didn’t happen. I suspect no one is disappointed. But I am disappointed that there was no dancing in the streets. Is that considered uncivil for elections? All elections, or just this one? When an athletic team wins a national championship, typically fans of…
Photo by Allison Girone. Editor’s note: we continue our weekly serialisation of Dr. Edward Schaefer’s new book A Simple Man’s Case for Tradition. This book is an excellent introduction to Traditionalism and provides an easy way for Trads to introduce the movement to fellow Catholics who are seeking deeper answers to today’s questions. Proceeds from…
Seventeen centuries ago today, on November 9th, 324, the dedication of the Lateran Basilica, hailed as omnium ecclesiarum Urbis et Orbis mater et caput (mother and head of all the churches of Rome and the world), and serving as the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, was celebrated. This basilica was the first to be…
It remains anyone’s guess as to whether sainted pontiffs of the past would have descended into the mire of the Twitterverse or other social media. What’s quite certain, however, is that they would never have employed such tools for the dissemination of false or ambiguous teaching—something which, alas, is repeatedly done by the current bishop…
From the first moment of his conversion, rivetingly recounted in the pages of his Confessions, Augustine rooted himself in Christ, determined to cleave to his person and the redemption wrought by the sacrifice of his life. Not as mere idea, distant and remote, toward which he would now and again direct his attention. Such rarefied…
The 4th-5th century Donatists of ancient Christian North Africa wanted a church of the pure only. Donatists and their kind were the followers and of (inter alii) the rigorous heretical schismatic Donatus Magnus. During Diocletian’s persecution (303 onward) priests and bishops under threat sometimes of death had caved in and had handed over sacred texts…
Above: The Refectory by Theophile Gide. “Religious life is a continual exercise of mortification, by which we die daily to ourselves and live only for God” (St. John Bosco). While we may occasionally think of the spiritual warriors who continually raise their hearts and minds in prayer within the cloister, we often overlook the voluntary…
