Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Today is election day in the United States. If you’re an American citizen, and you’re eligible to vote, get out there and do your civic duty! I for one am looking forward to the blare of campaign advertising settling down to a whimper of recrimination and regret. Let the 2016 races begin! (Oh, and happy St. Leonard‘s day!)
» Read moreSeventeen centuries ago on this very night, the Roman Emperor Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus Augustus, in peril of his crown and his life, had a dream. Constantine was fighting a civil war against his rival, the Emperor Maxentius. Constantine had marched his army of 40,000 men over the Alps and across Italy. Maxentius, who had already defeated two other rivals, […]
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Today is the feast of Saint Edward the Confessor, the last Anglo-Saxon King of England. But I’m not going to talk about him today. On this day in 1307 – on the 63rd birthday of their Grand Master Jacques de Molay – hundreds of Knights Templar in France were simultaneously arrested by agents of King Phillip IV. I’m not going […]
» Read morePope Benedict XVI has proclaimed a “Year of Faith” to run from today, 11 October 2012, through to 24 November 2013. Pastoral guidelines have been published that call for prayer, celebrations, pilgrimages, catechetical events, missions, and new forms of evangelization. The Pope calls us to profess the faith, celebrate the faith, and witness to the faith. Faith grows when it […]
» Read moreLast year on this great feast day, I discussed the Battle of Lepanto, which gave rise to the feast, and the Rosary, which is its heart. This year, when I am now a parishioner of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, I can do no better than to present G.K. Chesterton’s great poem on the events. Lepanto White founts falling […]
» Read moreWhat kind of life could the child possibly look forward to? He was born with a cleft palate, cerebral palsy, and spina bifida. In these progressive days, the child very well might have been aborted after the doctor showed the mother her first detailed fetal ultrasound. But the child had the great fortune to be born in 1013, a much […]
» Read moreToday is the feast of the deacon martyr, Saint Lawrence. There are so many stories about him, that it’s hard to sum him up briefly. In the confused days after the martyrdom of Pope Sixtus, the administration of the Roman churches fell to the Deacon, Lawrence. He was captured by the Imperial authorities, but he bargained for his release. The […]
» Read moreA post-Protestant friend of mine has a particular fondness for that great Doctor of the Church, Saint Irenæus of Lyons, whose feast day is today. He occasionally quotes from the saint’s great work, Adversus Hæreses (Against Heresies), and he is particularly fond of the saying “the proper glory of God is man fully alive.” He refers to the saint as […]
» Read moreJust a very brief note, because I’m home ill. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has announced a “Fortnight for Freedom”, which begins tomorrow. The project is part of the bishops’ call to penance and prayer to restore religious freedom and conscience protections in the United States. And who couldn’t love their use of the word “fortnight”? They’ve posted some […]
» Read moreWhen Pope Saint Pius V issued the Papal Bull “Quo Primum” in 1570, Christendom was in chaos. The happy diversity of rites that had persisted through the middle ages had come home to roost in the disjointed response to the Lutheran reforms that, driven by ego and ignorance on both sides, had spun out of control into heresy and reformation. […]
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“Because of our traditions, every one of us knows who he is and what God expects him to do.” (Fiddler on the Roof) Like the Hebrews stretching back to the age of Moses, the Church is upheld by two great pillars: Scripture and Tradition. After the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), large chunks of the Church embraced a whole lot of […]
» Read moreOn April 25, 1467 a mysterious icon of Virgin and Child appeared in a small unfinished and roofless church in the town of Genazzano, near Rome. As the story goes, the entire town had turned out for the annual feast of Saint Mark the Evangelist. At about four o’clock in the afternoon, a multitude of witnesses saw a mysterious cloud […]
» Read moreOn this day in 1204, one of the worst atrocities against Christendom was perpetrated by … Christians. I refer, of course, to the sack of Constantinople. This atrocity was committed to satisfy Venetian commercial interests, who were owed a great deal of money by the Crusaders for transportation. In so doing, they destroyed one of the great bulwarks against the […]
» Read moreVia the inestimable Fr. Z comes a Communiqué from the SSPX asking for prayers: Communiqué from the General House of the Society of Saint Pius X Since the meeting on March 16, 2012, with Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, has […]
» Read moreThis afternoon at Mass, the priest took the rather unusual step of preaching the Pope’s homily from his Mass in Cuba. He said that although it was intended as a call to arms for those suffering under the Cuban-Castro-Communist regime, it might just as well be a wake-up call to us here in the United States. Here’s the part he […]
» Read moreThe Holy Father continues to woo the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). Monsignor Nicola Bux, a consultor to the CDF and confidant of the Pope, has written an open letter to Bishop Bernard Fellay, the Superior of the SSPX, and to the Society’s priests. It seems to have the Pope’s intentions behind it. This can only be described as […]
» Read moreIt’s no secret, I suppose, that I’m something of an anglophile. So please forgive this foray into Great Britain. This year, Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Diamond Jubilee – 60 years on the British throne. Today, her Majesty addressed parliament, saying in part, As today, it was my privilege to address you during my Silver and Golden Jubilees. Many of […]
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