A sub-category of News.
When I was in Catholic graduate studies, our instructors would alert us to incoming papal encyclicals. Excitement would build, delectatory anticipation of what Pope John Paul might say. When it was finally promulgated, it would be all the buzz during class breaks, as we sieved out insights about suffering, women, the elderly, and always, always…
Above: West front of the Washington Mansion at Mount Vernon. Monday, February 17, 2025 is to-day’s legal celebration of Washington’s Birthday – or Presidents’ Day, as many have come to call it. Of course, our first president was actually born on February 22, which – when I was a boy – was the day on…
One of the most fascinating aspects of politics in the late-19th century was the deeply ideological nature of discourse. Average citizens had opinions not just on hot-button social issues and perhaps loose convictions on the size of government, but they had opinions on complex topics like monetary policy as well. Monetary policy is a term…
I confess, as a conservative-minded Catholic, that I read the news of Pope Francis’ most recent missive with a healthy dose of annoyance. Why does this pope, who had little but silence or scorn for American politics over the last 10 years, choose to take formal action now, with this President, over this issue? And…
The Manichees had always been eager to enlist a bright young fellow like Augustine to help spread the word. And for a period of nine years, first in Carthage, then later in Rome, he remained one of their star pupils, a brilliant aspirant in the cause of Mani, with whom he shared the same view…
Pre-Lent is here. With the traditional calendar of the Roman Rite, in the Vetus Ordo, you cannot be surprised by Lent sneaking up on you. You have no excuse. Start thinking about your Lenten discipline now. There are three Pre-Lent Sundays, Septuagesima Sunday, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima, which in Latin respectively mean “Seventieth, Sixtieth, Fiftieth”. These…
Above: the Roman theatre at Athens. In describing his conversion to Catholicism via the usus antiquior, actor Shia LaBeouf remarked “it feels like they’re not selling me a car … It feels like it’s not being done to sell me on anything.” I believe the traditional Mass is compelling because it is decidedly – one…
This week, President Donald Trump took proactive steps to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia, actions that give me cautious optimism. Of course, his bold initiative has led the warmongers and TDS-sufferers to scream, “He’s a Russian agent!” However, Trump’s moves break through decades of neocon-inspired anti-Russian propaganda to strive for a lasting peace in…
The Mass is not a dirge. But we tend to sing the common prayers as if we were at a funeral. Leading into the Gospel Acclamation, “Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia” can be stretched and slowed out of all shape. “Allllllleluuuuia, allllllleluuuuuia, alllllllleluuuuuia.” Put it in your mind that the layman on the altar has cast the…
On this day in 1969, Paul VI slapped Roman and Eastern Catholics in the face with his motu proprio Mysterii Paschalis. With all of the wisdom and foresight of a bureaucrat, Paul VI explained why the “suppression of reference to a certain number of saints who are not universally known” is required as part of…
