One of the things moving from Los Angeles to Austria has taught me is the preciousness of Spring. That may sound a bit odd, but the truth is that in Southern California the lack of a snowy winter and the … Continue reading
Category: Catholic Living
Msgr. Arthur Burton Calkins, RIP
Respected Mariologist, Official of the Holy See, and parish priest, Monsignor Arthur Burton Calkins, died on February 3 of this year. Here are two sources for additional information: Reverend Msgr. Arthur Burton Calkins: April 18, 1945 ~ February 5 [sic], … Continue reading
A Few Sudoku Life Lessons
The rules for Sudoku are deceptively simple. There is a grid with certain numbers already given to you. You must fill in the remaining boxes with the numbers 1-9 without using any digit twice in the same row, column, or … Continue reading
Dealing with Betrayal
Honesty is such a lonely word Everyone is so untrue Honesty is hardly ever heard And mostly what I need from you —Billy Joel IF there is a single word that sums up the world in which we live, it … Continue reading
Surviving the Wasteland
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, In the bleak midwinter, long ago. —Christina Rossetti The above words and Gustav Holst’s … Continue reading
The Death of the Old Year
Full knee-deep lies the winter snow, And the winter winds are wearily sighing: Toll ye the church bell sad and slow, And tread softly and speak low, For the old year lies a-dying. Old year you must not die; You … Continue reading
The Christmas Proclamation from the Roman Martyrology
Here is my reading of the Roman Martyrology for Christmas, recorded in 2019 and graciously posted by Steve Cunningham to his Sensus Fidelium YouTube channel. The reading is only a little over a minute. To see the full text, with … Continue reading
The Politics of Christmas
Once again, December is upon us, and so once again, the Christmas Wars. Once upon a time, in Fr. Feeney’s day, these were described by him thusly: “I do not know what Christmas in the United States is going to … Continue reading
Month of the Holy Souls
Although in the buildup to Halloween one may get tired of hearing from various sources that “the veil between the worlds is very thin this time of year,” in a certain sense it definitely feels that way in the Autumn. … Continue reading
Picturing Traditionalism with National Geographic
This morning, the helpful bots at Google alerted me to a news item involving the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I was at first surprised to discover that the news source was National Geographic. Then I was pleasantly … Continue reading
Our Sisters at the Midwest-Appalachia CLM Conference
Sisters Maria Philomena and Maria Rosaria were both presenters at this past weekend’s first annual Midwest-Appalachia Catholic Land Movement Conference. The event was hosted at Edelweiss House in Greensburg, Indiana, and featured numerous other presenters. Sister Maria Rosaria’s presentation was … Continue reading
Farewell Summer!
August is the last month of Summer, and I must admit that I have always had a love/hate relationship with the hottest season. When I was a boy, it meant liberation from school, and that was always welcome. Latterly, it … Continue reading
Triumph and the Quandary of American Conservatism
In the past few weeks, some very kind individual put all ten years’ worth of Triumph magazine online. For many reasons, this is an incredible breakthrough. In the decade of its existence (1966-1976), Triumph put out excellent work from some … Continue reading
July Pilgrimages
Once Independence Day comes and goes, July stretches forward into seeming infinity. If you have the time and the money, it is a perfect month to take a road trip and see something of the United States, Canada, or whatever … Continue reading
Bless God at All Times!
The following is the speech I gave at IHM School’s graduation yesterday. Readers should know that our school in rural southern New Hampshire is very small. We had one graduates this year (we had three last year!). HERE we are once more in the month of … Continue reading