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Ash Wednesday is the one day of the year when we can see if the strangers we meet in street and store are Catholic—at least we can see who went to Mass to get their Lent started. While the black ashes clearly mark the brows of the baptized, it isn’t clear to most of those…
The sacred season of Lent, called the Great Fast by our eastern Catholic brethren, was instituted by the Apostles themselves as Dom Gueranger writes: Lent, founded upon the three pillars of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving is the primary season of penance in the year and must be observed with the greatest strictness for the love…
Above: in 1979, Mont Saint Michel was listed as a “World Heritage Site” by Unesco, receiving over 2.5 million visitors a year. The origin of Mont Saint Michel dates back to the year 708. Michael the Archangel appeared in a vision to Saint Aubert, bishop of Avranches, and asked him to build a sanctuary in…
Two years ago, I wrote an essay, “C’mon, Ring Those Bells!,” in response to the decision of an Italian bishop to limit how much churches could ring bells due to complaints about “noise pollution.” I argued that bells are aural sacramentals: they make present a reminder of God through our ears. That piece was among…
Last week the Pew Research Center released a new survey on religion in America; their first major study of this type since 2014. Upon the survey’s publication, I could almost hear a collective groan from Catholics, since we’ve come to approach such polls with a sense of dread. The question isn’t, “Will it be bad?”…
Sometimes I dream of writing a book explaining Christianity for complete outsiders. I would write it without using any of the traditional jargon that can be a stumbling block to understanding a message that is meant to be for all. It would also help insiders who have been brought up on a jargon that has…
For all his towering theological acumen, Joseph Ratzinger was a very practical man. When asked by a Bavarian journalist in 1991 whether it was the Holy Spirit who chooses the pope, the then-Cardinal Ratzinger gave a down-to-earth answer: If electors heed the Spirit’s voice in such a way during any particular conclave, they will weigh…
With Quinquagesima Sunday we are at the threshold of the season of Lent. Holy Mother Church has been preparing us for spiritual combat through these preparatory Sundays. When you follow the Vetus Ordo of the Roman Rite, Lent can never take you by surprise. As part of our arming for battle, this Sunday asks us…
Lent approaches and forty days of spiritual warfare in the desert await. An ancient legend of a holy warrior – once known throughout Christendom but now largely lost to the mists of time – may give us a reminder of what is expected from men in preparation for the Paschal feast. Warwick is an historic…
A deist, it may fairly be said, is someone who hasn’t yet found the time to become an atheist. But he will, make no mistake, and along the way he will almost certainly fall into agnosticism. It is the easiest and most obvious default position for the intellectually indolent. I mean, if nobody really knows…
