Imagine having an aerial view of the Apostles just after the Ascension. The Eleven, accompanied by other disciples, were looking up to heaven, seeing nothing in the spring skies of Judea but a faint speck: the cloud upon which their … 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 Mystery of the Moral Virtues
In modern theology, biblical criticism, and other sacred sciences, articles are often entitled, “The Problem of X,” or “The X Problem,” as in “The Problem of Free Will” or “The Synoptic Problem.” Modern folk have the bad habit of looking … Continue reading →
Doomed to Repeat It
British historian Arnold Toynbee once lamented that some of his fellows considered history to be “just one damned thing after another.” He thought that history is more than a conglomeration of isolated events; it is a thing governed by discernible … Continue reading →
Permission Not Necessary: Cardinal Hoyos Clarifies Motu Proprio
This is big news. It appears that the Holy See is fed up with resistance to the Motu Proprio. Below is reproduced an article from Catholic World News on the subject: Vatican, Mar. 28, 2008 (CWNews.com) – In an interview … Continue reading →
Evangelical Catholicism, Another Christian Arab Killed
John Allen says that “‘evangelical Catholicism’ constitutes a mega-trend in Catholic life.” But what is he talking about? [W]hat I’m trying to describe is the most powerful current at the policy-setting level of the church, as well as a dynamic … Continue reading →
Bishop Athanasius Schneider on Communion in the Hand, Our Conference
Have you seen the video of Bishop Athanasius Schneider on Communion in the Hand? This ten minute interview, a “must-see,†concerns His Excellency’s book, Dominus Est: Meditations of a Bishop from Central Asia on the Sacred Eucharist, which boasts a … Continue reading →
Where Have the Real Men Gone?
I had occasion recently to be on a college campus. Approaching my appointed destination, I was greeted by a crowd of demonstrators, who happened to be protesting against the event I was attending (that event is a story for another … Continue reading →
Catholic Truth and the Salvation of Souls are at Stake
“I believe the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews owes those of us in the dialogue some explanation of how the theologies behind the two prayers can stand together, and whether Cardinal Kasper’s often-quoted statement that Jews should … Continue reading →
The Good Friday Prayer for the Jews
Let us pray, and also for the Jews: May our God and Lord enlighten their hearts, so that they may acknowledge Jesus Christ, saviour of all men. Let us kneel… Almighty and Everlasting God, who desirest that all men be … Continue reading →
Avery Cardinal Dulles and Salvation
It is no secret that Father Avery Dulles, S.J., the Jesuit theologian created Cardinal in 2001, was, before his entrance into the Society of Jesus in 1946, a founder of the original Saint Benedict Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Wikipedia … Continue reading →
Ecumenical Monologue
Yesterday, the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, the community finished the Chair of Unity Octave. We prayed the beautiful prayers found in a traditional prayer book for the eight days of prayer for Church unity. This is a … Continue reading →
Ecumenical Dialogue
A couple of days ago, I saw this headline on the Spero News site: “East-West reconciliation on Filioque?” As I am interested in the doctrinal and pastoral ramifications implicit in such a question, I clicked on it and read. I … Continue reading →
Epiphany Octave
The Feast of the Epiphany, which the Church celebrated yesterday, formerly had an octave. Although the octave was suppressed in the 1962 Rite, even the rubrics promulgated in that year still recognize the “ghost” of the octave, inasmuch as certain … Continue reading →
Christmas, the Antichrist, and Catholic Triumphalism
For almost 2,000 years, the Church has been defending Christmas against a concerted, diabolical attack. No, it’s not another wacko conspiracy theory; it’s a fact. Since the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us, the truth that God was … Continue reading →
Christmas and the Catholic Thing
The Roman statesman Cato the Elder (234-149 BC) gave us the pithy Latin proverb rem tene verba sequentur, “grasp the thing and the words will follow.” The lesson is this: once you sufficiently grasp the concept you wish to speak … Continue reading →