Here in rural New England, we are blessed to be surrounded this time of year with something I did not grow up with in Louisiana: fall color. The varied hues of reds, oranges, and yellows, dazzle the eye, while the … 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.
Time and Salvation
Eternal salvation is the single most urgent matter facing humanity. Whether or not we live the life of grace here and of beatitude hereafter does objectively matter more than any other concern we face either corporately or individually. Anyone with … Continue reading
The Church: a Supernatural Organism, Not a Mere Human Institution
It is not a popular thing to say that there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church. When Catholics who uncompromisingly believe this doctrine actually profess it, the contrary reactions can be very acerbic, which is one of many reasons … Continue reading
Saint Thomas on ‘the Division of Grace’
Saint Ignatius Loyola was, before becoming a saint, a man of practical affairs, being a career soldier and aristocrat. I say “before becoming a saint” using the narrow, strict notion of the word saint, that of being someone excellently holy, … Continue reading
Causality and the Biblical Economy of Salvation
When God created all things in the beginning, He did so for a purpose worthy of Himself: His own glory. It may surprise readers to learn that this is actually a dogma of the faith and that anyone who denies … Continue reading
Life, Causality, and the Catholic-Protestant Divide
What do the definition of life and the philosophical concept of “secondary causality” have to do with hot-button issues that separate Catholics and Protestants? A lot, I believe, and what follows here is an introduction to a concept that can … Continue reading
Optimism and Pessimism as Inadequate Categories
“You’re so ‘glass half-empty’!” Have you ever heard that one? It usually comes up in a conversation after one party has made a particularly “negative” comment. At times, the accusation precipitates an argument on the merits of optimism over pessimism … Continue reading
The Sons of Heli and a Lutheran from New Jersey
A Lutheran from New Jersey called me last week. His question for me, which is of no consequence to these lines, led us to a discussion of the problem of evil in the Church of Jesus Christ. You see, this … Continue reading
On Loving and Hating in June: the Sacred Heart vs. Depraved ‘Pride’
June is the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the last few years, a collective of public relations consultants and groomers have also named it “Pride Month.” If you have not heard — in which case you have … Continue reading
‘Extra Ecclesiam’ and the Hierarchy of Virtue: Reply to an Objection
Someone recently told me: you’re right about no salvation outside the Church, but that’s not the most important thing. Love is. The novelty of the objection interested me because it was not a denial of extra ecclesiam nulla salus, nor … Continue reading
The Powers Latent in Your Families
Next week, I will be in Louisiana, participating in an event organized by Mike Church, “The Fellowship of The Clans” Crusader Congress. I was given a curious talk title to address: “Harnessing the Power of Family over State.” Rather than … Continue reading
Fortes in Fide (Again)
The true religion is not reducible to a bumper sticker or “meme,” but there is a venerable tradition, rooted in the Old Testament wisdom literature, of packaging hefty drafts of divine truth in small shots. These proverbs or aphorisms have … Continue reading
Your Passiontide Micronarrative
On the very first page of his mammoth, magisterial two-volume tome, The Three Ages of the Interior Life, Père Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. (1877-1964), states a fundamental truth concerning man’s inner life as it is constituted by nature. Then, as one … Continue reading
Concerning the March 25, 2022, Consecration of Russia
Update: Just as I was posting this on our site, this news came to my attention: Pope Francis now says he will consecrate ‘humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine’ to the Immaculate Heart. I do not see the need to edit … Continue reading
Hitting the High Notes in Lent and in Life
Musicians, actors, and other performers can be very clever at employing mental exercises to improve their performance. When I was a teenager, my older brother, Charles, told me that he had been directed by one of his teachers to read … Continue reading
