A sub-category of News.
Two people, presenting themselves as a couple, approach a priest and ask for a blessing before the congregation in church. Let us think this matter through. Back in 1989, when I was a young professor at what was then still a Baptist school, one of my students asked me to write him a recommendation. He…
Shortly after the horrible news came out of the Vatican about blessing “same-sex couples,” I went on an already scheduled retreat for Christmas. Thanks be to God, I was able to unplug totally from work, news, and anything beyond the four walls of my home, my parish and my community. It was an experience of…
With the New Year comes another opportunity to go deeper into the Church’s Liturgy. While those who are new to Tradition often are amazed at the additional saint days in the Church’s sanctoral cycle and are surprised with all the forgotten seasons (e.g., Septuagesima), even Traditionalists can go deeper each and every year. Praying the…
I suspect I am not the only one who is bewildered by the options available to voters in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election. It seems likely that next year’s election will see both Donald Trump and Joe Biden seeking a return to the White House. How is it possible that the richest, smartest,…
Suppose you’d been asked by Cardinal Manuel Fernandez, Prefect for the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith, to assist him in putting together an official statement on the possibility of blessing same-sex couples. He’s all in, of course, but would like it if you climbed on board as well. And never mind why he’s asked…
The first day of a new year is time to take store of where our life is and where our mission will be. We often review the year past and consider resolutions of the year ahead. Perhaps the healthiest practice is to reflect on what we know will attempt to steal our peace so we…
St. Philip Neri (+1595) was praying one night, as he often did, in the Catacombs of St. Sebastian. A ball of light came down from above and entered his mouth. He was so overwhelmed by the love of God that he cried out, “Enough, Lord! I cannot take anymore” and passed out. When he awoke,…
Of the seven letters sent by Ignatius on his way to Rome—where death and triumph in equal measure await him—surely the most intimate and impassioned is the one written and dispatched to the church of Rome herself. It is an intensely personal account, having little if anything to say about either shoring up the Office…
In the first part of this essay, I traced the outline of the life and career of Fyodor Dostoevsky, and I detailed how he pursued his struggle with modern ideas through the creation of his novels—in particular, how he created characters seemingly trapped by powerful but false beliefs that doomed them. In this second installment,…
Above: Jacques Maritain added his name to a long list of non-Catholics who attempted to save the Latin Mass. Last month I launched a new book, The Latin Mass and the Intellectuals: Petitions to Save the Ancient Mass from 1966 to 2007. Many, if by no means all, readers will have heard of the “Agatha…
