The true religion is not a book. It is a communion — a mystical body — by which man is united to God and therefore made holy, beginning in this life a relationship that is meant to continue for all … Continue reading
Category: «Ad Rem» A Fortnightly Email Message from the Prior
«Ad Rem» is our Prior’s fortnightly email message offering news and commentary regarding the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Crusade of St. Benedict Center, and issues affecting the universal Church. Each number offers brief, ad rem (“to the point”) commentary on timely or otherwise important matters. Click here to subscribe to our email list and receive the «Ad Rem» each time it’s published.
Pardon the Provocation, but ‘Merry Christmas!’
Dear Friends and Benefactors, A Christmas letter is conventionally an opportunity to express gratitude for the past, good cheer for the present, and hope for the future. This is a good convention, for these are three very Christian things. In … Continue reading
The Great Preparation
The Mystery of the Immaculate Conception is not something on the borderlands of the Christian religion; rather, it stands front and center in the true Faith. This is because the Immaculate Herself is so wrapped up in the divine decree … Continue reading
The Real Gospel of Life
The moral teachings of the Church are of a piece with her teachings on faith. Christ’s supernatural revelation to the Church, along with the natural law also entrusted to her, constitute a “seamless garment”1 of truth about God, man, and … Continue reading
Monologue with a Madman
Some months back, I received a telephone call from a sedevacantist madman who challenged me to a debate on whether Pope Benedict XVI is the pope. This individual should know that debates are not the way we do our apostolate. … Continue reading
Smashing the Hand that Feeds You
The Rorate Caeli web site posted this picture of a smashed statue of the Virgin of Lourdes. The statue lies in the Via Merulana, the lovely street that connects the Lateran Basilica to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, with … Continue reading
Right and Freedom: Our Conference in Summary
The Saint Benedict Center Conference, on October seventh and eighth, drew a diverse multitude from as far away as Florida, Idaho, and California to the Center’s New-England campus. The theme of the conference was “Right and Freedom: Catholic Considerations on … Continue reading
The Freedom and Exaltation of Holy Mother Church
Monsignor Charles Pope has penned a concise summary of recent anti-Catholic and anti-natural law actions of the nanny state: If You Find A Good Fight, Get In It! A similar clarion call for political action can be found on the … Continue reading
The Trinity and the Efficacy of Marian Consecration
On June 13, 1929, Sister Lucy of Fatima, while yet a Dorothean Sister, was privileged with a vision of the Most Holy Trinity. The vision happened in the convent chapel in Tuy, Spain. The Blessed Trinity appeared, with the Virgin … Continue reading
‘Freemen Established Under Grace’
At the end of the Rule of St. Augustine, the Doctor of Grace — who was also a monk and father of monks — enjoins his disciples to observe its precepts “not like slaves under the law, but like freemen … Continue reading
The Gentle Air and the Hurricane
The book is written like a novel, but it is not one. It purports to be true history, written in the genre of a novel. Each chapter is a series of tableaux that form a miniature biography of a single family member. If the author set out to undo notions of the drab and colorless Middle Ages, his laudable goal was met with considerable success. For here we find ourselves in the world of chivalry and religious fervor, with personalities as colorful as their knightly heraldry and stained-glass windows. Continue reading
Normalcy as Evangelism
We live in a hypereroticised culture. And it’s getting worse. Examples abound, but from the last fortnight or so of news, we can cite the controversy of a ten-year-old model posing provocatively in Vogue magazine, just like a “grown up,” … Continue reading
Victory! And a Building Project
Readers may recall that Saint Benedict Center had been embroiled in litigation surrounding our chapel project that we so enthusiastically announced over six years ago. Yes, I said “had been.” The litigation is over, and we won. Now we have … Continue reading
Meditations on Freedom
At our conference in October, the speakers will be considering the theme, “Right and Freedom: Catholic Considerations on Misused Concepts.” As we are in the thick of summer, when many people “free” themselves to go on family vacations, I offer … Continue reading
Belated Thoughts on Father’s Day
Those of us who gave up biological fatherhood to embrace the counsel of celibate chastity did so fully cognizant that we were giving up a good — and a great good — of standing in the place of God the … Continue reading
