Jul

2

What is Development of Doctrine?

July 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment

An explanation of authentic doctrinal development.

We hear a lot about doctrinal development. All too often, it is in the context of articulating some novelty that something is called a “development of doctrine.” Read more

Jun

25

The Contradiction of Core

June 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment

And immediately as he had made an end of speaking, the earth broke asunder under their feet:85 And they went down alive into hell . . . and they perished from among the people. — Num. 16:31,33

The book of Numbers records the details of a rebellion violently suppressed by God Himself. Read more

Jun

18

La Reconquistadora - The Virgin Mary and the Virtue of Fortitude

June 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment

For the better part of eight hundred years, Catholic Spain fought to liberate herself from Islamic occupation. The Reconquista, or Reconquest, as this war of liberation was called, began to make great strides in the second half of the eleventh century. Read more

Jun

11

A Better Testament

June 11, 2009 | 3 Comments

“But now [Christ] hath obtained a better ministry, by how much also he is a mediator of a better testament which is established on better promises.” (Heb. 8:6)

The terms “supersessionism” and “replacement theology” are used by Jews and heterodox Christians alike to signify the traditional teaching that the Old Covenant is no longer in effect, but has been surpassed by a superior Covenant, the New Testament in Christ’s Precious Blood. Read more

Jun

4

They Prove Too Much

June 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Recently, while researching an article, I had a bizarre experience. The thing shocked me into an interesting realization which, in turn, led me to write another article, namely, this one. Read more

May

29

Father Z on the ‘Feeneyites’

May 29, 2009 | 1 Comment

Recently brought to my attention is this posting by Father John Zuhlsdorf (“Father Z”). In it, the popular Wanderer writer and Internet peritus presents some thoughts on relations between the SSPX and the Holy See. While some may consider that Father Z is glossing over the real issues and addressing only superficialities, I would have to agree with him — at least on the issue of practical paths to canonical normalcy for traditionalist groups.

The theological disagreements, without being papered over, can be discussed calmly where and when the “atmosphere” and “climate” has changed. Read more

May

28

Apocalypse Now, a Hollywood Meditation

May 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Imagine that you are thrust into the most captivating film plot about the end of the world. Reality as it is portrayed in the most special-effects-ridden movie Hollywood can make, complete with a Hans Zimmer musical score, suddenly and inescapably absorbs you. Good and evil are in a war for ultimate dominion, and you — yes, you! — are decidedly hand picked to join the incongruous rag-tag army that will save humanity from the Ultimate Evil. Read more

May

28

The Ark of the New Covenant

May 28, 2009 | 1 Comment

In his Epistle to the Hebrews, St. Paul calls Our Lord the “high Priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle” (9:11). Greater than the Israelite priests — those who “serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things” —Christ Our Lord has “obtained a better ministry, by how much also he is a mediator of a better testament which is established on better promises” (8:5-6). To St. Paul — and to all other Catholics — the Old Law was both finished and surpassed by the New Law of the Gospel. Read more

May

6

Left Behind

May 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Left Behind is a popular series of books written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, Evangelical Protestants brilliantly capitalizing on their “pre-trib” version of the “rapture theory.” This article is not about those books, but about the Catholic custom of venerating relics.

“Then why name the article that way?” you may ask. There are three reasons for doing so. The first is based on strategy: to get Protestants who like those books to read an article in a Catholic magazine. The second is based on etymology, and that explanation will come in the next paragraph. The third is a doctrinal reason and is related to the plot of the original Left Behind book. It will not be given until the end of the article. Read more

May

6

The Epistle of Straw

May 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment

“St. James’ Epistle is really an epistle of straw, for it has nothing of the nature of the Gospel about it.” — Martin Luther

That Martin Luther called the Epistle of St. James “an epistle of straw” is a well-known fact. Those just learning it should not be surprised when they read it, though. After all, in making up his new religion, Luther’s ultimate recourse was to his own intellect. About the nicest thing we can say of such a criterion for truth is that it was not given a divine promise of inerrancy. Read more

May

4

The Practice of Mental Prayer

May 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Editors Introduction: This is the transcription of a talk that I gave at the 2003 Saint Joseph Forum Conference. The talk is available from The Saint Augustine Institute. Read more

May

4

The Devil’s Doctrine

May 4, 2009 | 1 Comment

There is a doctrine so diabolical, so sinister and wicked that it deserves, in this author’s opinion, a unique claim to the name “The Devil’s Doctrine.” This teaching is sheer poison to the soul which embraces it. Like a spiritual AIDS, it kills the soul’s built-in immune system, the conscience, and it convicts the sinner in his sins and errors almost without hope of conversion. It either throws the sinner into a bottomless despair for his sins, or (more often today) it forces him into another sin against the virtue of hope: the deadly sin of presumption. The doctrine is none other than the familiar Calvinist one of “perseverance of the saints,” commonly expressed by that snidely presented query: “Are you saved, brother”? Read more

May

4

The Church of History

May 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Of all the “churches” calling themselves “Christian,” can any one of them irrefutably claim to be the Church founded by Jesus Christ? Does any conform to the clear, precise terms by which this Church of Christ is described in Holy Scripture: “the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim.3:15); or the “One Body” of which St. Paul repeatedly speaks (Rom.12:4-5; 1 Cor.10:17; 1 Cor.12:12-20; etc.); or the “Kingdom of Heaven” of the synoptic Gospels, and the “Kingdom of God” of Saint John’s? Read more

May

4

In Defense of Christmas

May 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Today’s skeptics, who seem to reject something traditional just because it’s traditional, cannot sit still during the holy season of Christmas without mocking the notion that Christ would have been born on December 25th.  If it were just the unbelievers who engaged in this mockery, it would be expected, since unbelievers, by their very nature, are not expected to believe. Read more

May

4

Praying to Saints

May 4, 2009 | 3 Comments

I’ll never forget sitting at a table outside a café in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, while a Pentecostal street preacher screamed his odd form of Christianity at the passing college students. He had the sort of rhythmic drive that Black Baptist and Pentecostal preachers cultivate, based on repeating one line over again, (e.g., Jesse Jackson’s “I am somebody”) then saying a couple of other lines, and finally repeating the “lead line.” Read more

May

4

The Church, The Mystical Body

May 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment

(from a talk I gave at the 1997 St. Benedict Center Conference)

I will begin this talk with a basic question, but a question I’m afraid most of us don’t think enough about: What was the purpose of the Incarnation? Strange question, is it not, since what we are talking about is not only the focal point of all human history, but the central mystery of our Faith? Let a Father and Doctor of the Church answer it: St. Athanasius tells us that God became man so that we might become deified, that is, made gods.

Read more

May

4

The Second Eve

May 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment

“Death by Eve, life by Mary” — Saint Jerome (Epistle 22)

The standard Protestant attacks on Catholic devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary are generally based on the same false premise. The notion is that devotion to the Blessed Mother has nothing to do with Jesus. Read more

May

4

It’s All or Nothing — Dealing with Two Common Objections Against the Faith

May 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment

A Note of Introduction: In its first part, this article employs the use of some fundamental concepts of logic, the art and science of correct reasoning. As an aid to the reader, there is a miniscule glossary of philosophical terms at the end of this article entitled: “A Little Logic.” Read more

Apr

25

Our Patriarch Abraham and the Continuity of Religion

April 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Picture this. A conversation is going on at the coffee machine at work. It’s about, of all things, religion. After several people offer their opinions about religion in general, one of the caffeinated interlocutors offers this for his hearers: “There is only one True Religion from the beginning of the world and it’s mine.” The man is a Catholic. We can well imagine that the conversation will either heat up intensely, or end very quickly while the coffee-breakers disband, looking incredulously at “that weirdo.”

However harshly our protagonist’s words may fall on modern ears, they express the truth. Read more

Apr

25

Blessed Brother André of Saint Joseph

April 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment

In the city of Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada, on a rise of earth known as Mount Royal, there stands a religious edifice of staggering proportions. It is three hundred and sixty-one feet high, taller than either Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York or the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Its girth is so massive that it could hold within itself any one of most of the world’s great shrines, including Saint Anne de Beaupré and Saint Paul of London. The cross atop its domed roof can be seen for miles around, guiding the millions of pilgrims who come there each year. It is the Oratory of Saint Joseph, a worthy tribute to him who is the head of the Holy Family and the Patron of the Universal Church.  Read more

Apr

25

American Wonderworker: The Life and Miracles of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos

April 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Note: This article was originally published in December of 1998. Father Seelos was beatified Sunday, April 9, 2000. Deo Gratias! For books about the Blessed, go here.

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, Pray for us!

* * *

October in New Orleans. The Crescent City is getting its first annual breath of relief from the seemingly endless summer. Though the calendar says fall has started, September is still really summer in this city on the Mississippi. It’s 1867, and the relief is more welcome this year than most, for the Gulf-coast summer has brought something besides sunny, sweltering days and steamy, sticky nights.

Read more

Apr

24

Lex Orandi Lex Credendi

April 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment

This ancient Latin axiom is quoted so often, I thought a little explanation of it on our web site would be helpful. A paraphrase of a longer patristic expression, the phrase means, “the law of praying is the law of believing.”

The Father of the Church who gave us the axiom is St. Prosper of Aquitaine. He coined it in his controversy with the semi-Pelagians, who held that God’s grace was necessary neither for one’s first movement towards conversion nor for final perseverance. Read more

Apr

21

My Letter to a Protestant Objector

April 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment

(Edited from an actual reply recently sent from Saint Benedict Center.)

To my online readers: I am sharing this “for what it’s worth” to you. I never got a response from the lady to whom it was sent. Maybe you could join me in praying for her.

Dear Mrs. [Name Withheld],

Christ Jesus be praised! First, let me commend you for having the courage of your convictions regarding your beliefs. Read more

Jan

15

Saint Joseph: An Image of the Blessed Trinity

January 15, 2009 | 2 Comments

As I write this, it is the Feast of the Holy Family, the first Sunday after the Epiphany. On this day, the Church celebrates Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the human holy trinity that perfectly images the divine Holy Trinity. In the Godhead there is a family of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; on earth, there is its most faithful mirror: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Read more