March 27 and March 30 brought us news of the deaths of two early members of Saint Benedict Center, Abbot Gabriel, O.S.B., and Sister Maria Cordata, M.I.C.M. Coming just before and during Holy Week, when the events of our Lord’s … 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.
The Agony of the Resurrection
Every year around Holy Week, the publishers of America’s popular reading material let loose a volley of blasphemies against our Lord’s Resurrection. Citing one or another perfidious “noted scholar,” the glossy-covered journals that accost us at the checkout counter vie … Continue reading →
What Distinguishes Spiritual Childhood from Natural Childhood
To remain little is to recognize one’s nothingness, to expect everything from God, as a little child expects everything from his father; it is to be disturbed about nothing, not to earn a fortune.
Even among poor people, as long as the child is quite small, they give him what he needs; but as soon as he has grown up, his father no longer wishes to feed him and says to him: “Work now, you can be self-supporting.” Well, so as never to hear that, I have not wished to grow up. Continue reading →
The Principal Virtues of the Child of God
We continue what be began in our last number, a three-part study of spiritual childhood by Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. (1877-1964). St. Teresa of the Child Jesus reminds us that the principal virtues of the child of God are those … Continue reading →
The Innate Qualities of the Child
Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. (1877-1964) was one of the greatest theologians of modern times. He was a staunch anti-modernist, who engaged and exposed the twerpy upstarts responsible for the neo-modernist Nouvelle Théologie (“New Theology”). Much more than a controversialist, the … Continue reading →
On Cults and Man Worship, Some Fighting Words
In “Christology for Joe,” an article that answers questions from a thoughtful young man, I made some observations about the way the English language has been Protestantized. In this number of the Ad Rem, I excerpt from that article the … Continue reading →
Philosophy in Our School of Thought
Speaking of the work of Saint Benedict Center and the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Brother Francis often said, “We are three things at once: a crusade, a religious order, and a school of thought.” Usually, he would embellish this utterance with little summaries of each of the three. By crusade, he meant our two-fold apostolate for the conversion of America and the restoration of doctrinal sanity, beginning with that very fundamental dogma, extra ecclesiam nulla salus. (We put the definite article and a capital C here: The Crusade.) By religious order, he meant our Congregation’s First and Second Orders… Continue reading →
Tobias and the Priest’s Mother
Father Michael Jarecki is our chaplain. At ninety-two years of age, he is not yet quite as long-lived as Brother Francis (who died at ninety six), but he’s close. I fear that his recent hospitalization is a sign that he … Continue reading →
True Church Unity, Its Meaning and Importance
We are in the midst of the Chair of Unity Octave. This is a good time for some considerations on what constitutes true Church unity and why it is so important. The fundamental truth concerning Christian unity seems, in these … Continue reading →
Saint André of Mount Royal, a Timely Canonization
Around here, the news of December 19 was received with great joy. I refer to the publication of the decree, approved by His Holiness, Benedict XVI, clearing the way for the canonization of Blessed Brother André. Because this news is … Continue reading →
At St. Peter’s Basilica, Mass in the Classical Rite
Brother Maximilian Maria and I are recently returned from Rome. I’ve decided that, poco a poco, I will post some columns on the site showcasing some of the wonderful Roman churches we saw. First though, I would like to give one little snapshot among hundreds of mental photographs from our fortnight in the Eternal City. It is a picture of the encouragement we felt in the presence of young clerics and a few seminarians.
But it would be precipitous to portray this image without first supplying a background. So, let’s go to St. Peter’s… Continue reading →
The Dogma and the Culture
Our late October conference just behind us, I would now like to consider its theme in light of our doctrinal Crusade. The coalescence is a wholesome one; “two great tastes that taste great together,” so to speak. Our conference speakers … Continue reading →
Anglicans? Say Rather They Are Catholics!
Here come the Anglicans! And it’s a good thing. When England was evangelized, it was explicitly and directly a papal project, the inspiration of Pope Saint Gregory the Great, who sent his fellow Italian, Saint Augustine, to do the job. … Continue reading →
The Conference, the Pilgrimage, and All That
This Ad Rem is something of a collection of notes on recent and upcoming events. The Conference. The first thing is our annual conference, which is fast approaching (October 30-31). Our speakers will explore the theme, “Toward an Integral Catholic … Continue reading →
The Funeral of Brother Francis, in Thoughts and Pictures
The obsequies of our beloved Brother Francis were an appropriate finale to his long and fruitful life in this tearful vale. This Ad Rem is a series of more-or-less random reflections on Brother’s wake and funeral, followed by a photo … Continue reading →