Oct

23

Hope in God, not the World; Spe Salvi

October 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment

(Originally published December 06th, 2007)
The Holy Father’s latest encyclical, Spe Salvi, was published on Friday, the Feast of Saint Andrew. Releasing it as he did just before Advent, the Pope Benedict seems to be consciously presenting us with an Advent theme. This is appropriate enough, for Advent is the season of hope par excellence. Some [...]

Oct

15

Concerning Palantíri and Blogses: Technology without Grace

October 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment

A recent news story from the Los Angeles Times tells of a multi-level tragedy that reveals once again the the depravity of fallen human nature in its technologically-enhanced destructive ugliness. In brief, a teenage girl who was subject to depression was befriended by a sixteen-year-old boy online. After the six-week Internet friendship had developed to [...]

Oct

1

Saint Josaphat, Apostle of Eastern Catholic Unity

October 1, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Some years ago, Brother Francis wrote an article combining the history of today’s saint with that of Saint Andrew Bobola: Two Patrons for True Ecumenism. Towards the end of that article is an excerpt from Abbot Guéranger’s Liturgical Year. These brief prophetical utterances are worth pondering in our days, when the Moslem menace is such [...]

Sep

17

Grace and the “Problem” of Man’s Desire for God

September 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment

This problem is important in establishing the relationship of nature to grace because it offers something of a “test case” by which we can illustrate certain fundamental truths of the Catholic Faith. These truths regard man’s natural powers and the elevation of those powers by grace that he may achieve his final end, the Beatific [...]

Sep

10

Russian Ecumenical Walkout, Aborted Babies not Martyrs

September 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Rosary Rally a Success. We had about 120 people at our Rally in Keene on Saturday. For two hours, we prayed the Rosary, sang hymns, and gave witness to Our Lady’s Fatima Message. Two fourteen-foot banners, our Third Order’s Pilgrim Virgin, and lots of hand-held signs made for a highly visible display of faith and [...]

Sep

5

The Shire, not the Borg

September 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Recently, on two separate occasions, I discussed our apostolate with a couple of members of the media. One had something of a grasp of our community’s purpose. The other was far less aware and seemed swayed by some of the more ridiculous criticisms leveled against us. The contrasting lines of questioning from each was a [...]

Aug

28

Summorum Pontificum: the Battle Begins

August 28, 2009 | 2 Comments

Now that Summorum Pontificum has gone into effect, there are some interesting battle-lines being drawn. One of the most perceptive comments I’ve yet seen regarding the Holy Father’s motu proprio comes from Mr. Edwin Faust, who likened it to the Battle of Milvian Bridge and the Edict of Milan. That victory and that law did [...]

Aug

13

Apostle of the Infinite: The Life of Saint Vincent Pallotti

August 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Nineteenth century Rome was not the uneventful place one may imagine. Rome of the 1800s saw Mazzini, Garibaldi, and their Masonic cohorts dare to assault the Vicar of Christ and send him into exile. It saw fickle mobs capable of murdering priests and desecrating Churches, and heard such slogans as “Death to the Jesuits!” and [...]

Aug

6

The General Relationship between the Virtues and the Gifts of the Holy Ghost

August 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment

The gifts of the Holy Ghost resemble the infused virtues in a number of ways. Both are operative habits which have God as their efficient cause and the perfection of man as their final cause. Both reside in the human faculties and have right behavior as their material object.

Jul

30

Mary Ever Virgin

July 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment

“The friends of Christ do not tolerate hearing that the Mother of God ever ceased to be a virgin.” -St. Basil the Great
Introduction
“The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son [...]

Jul

16

Friends Forever: St. Augustine, Friendship, and Catholic Evangelism (272K PDF file)

July 16, 2009 | 2 Comments

Friends Forever: St. Augustine, Friendship, and Catholic Evangelism

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.”

Jun

25

The Contradiction of Core

June 25, 2009 | 2 Comments

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.

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.

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 [...]

Jun

4

They Prove Too Much

June 4, 2009 | 2 Comments

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.