At some point it became fashionable to portray Saint Francis of Assisi with birds all over him. Yes, he did preach to birds, as his disciple, Saint Anthony, preached to fish. I have seen many ancient paintings of Il Poverello, … 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.
We Need Grace!
Here we find ourselves past the midway mark of Lent, and we may have to renew our sense of purpose in this holy endeavor. One of the best ways to do this might be to focus not on our own … Continue reading
The Carthusian Tattoo and the Papal Conclave
Within the last week, I renewed my acquaintance with an Australian journalist I met a couple of years ago. She is a convert from Anglicanism who has taken very nicely to the traditional Mass and the integral Catholic culture that … Continue reading
Let Us Do Penance
There is a venerable tradition in the Church, going back at least to the time of Saint Jerome (+420), of referring to Penance as the “second plank.” The sacrament of Penance is here meant, and this explains the capitalization. This … Continue reading
Patriarchy and the Defenseless
On January 25, 500,000 pro-lifers marched on the Mall in Washington D.C. in defense of unborn human life. Four days before that, the most progressivist, pro-abortion, homosexualist president in American history gave his second inaugural address. In that address, Mr. … Continue reading
Expressing Your Love for Your Heavenly Mother
(This Ad Rem is not authored by me, Brother André Marie, but by Sister Maria Philomena, who has been assigned the gargantuan duty of coordinating the interior design of IHM Chapel. Besides planning with the design and construction professionals, she … Continue reading
The Grace of the Epiphany
Epiphany, January 6, is the “Christmas of the Gentiles,” a feast which popularly outranks Christmas in certain Catholic nations and predated it on the Church’s calendar. (Liturgically, in fact, it outranked Christmas until its octave was sadly dropped in 1955). … Continue reading
My Christmas Letter
Venite Adoremus! The subject of this letter is veils. No, I do not mean the kind of veils that ladies wear in church, although there is a comparison to be made in that regard. (That ladies are to wear veils … Continue reading
Fear, Holy and Unholy
Advent may not seem the time for considering fear. But if we are thinking with the mind of the Church as expressed in her liturgy, we look forward to two “advents” of Jesus: His coming in mercy, which is mystically … Continue reading
The Sermon on the Mount
In my high school religion class, we have recently been covering the Sermon on the Mount. To prepare myself for the classes I was going to give, I reread the Sermon and reviewed some notes on it from years ago. … Continue reading
More on How to Fight
[Part I] The arts and sciences that lie behind all combat — be it Asian martial arts, boxing, team sports, or the life-and-death combat of warcraft — are habits. These are things acquired by study and/or repetition. Now, science requires … Continue reading
Father Michael A. Jarecki, in Memoriam
At 5:00 P.M., October 22, Rev. Michael Alexander Jarecki went to his reward, aged 95. Father Jarecki was a priest of the Ogdensburg, N.Y., Diocese, an ardent Apostle of Our Lady of Fatima, a longtime chaplain to Saint Benedict Center, … Continue reading
How to Fight
Some Catholics are of the erroneous opinion that the Christian life does not entail fighting (even spiritually), and that all fighting of whatever sort is harmful. Others become consumed by the idea of combat and make it the whole, or … Continue reading
Homages to a Heroine (On Saint Cecilia)
Since times of old, heroes have been praised in song, verse, and the plastic arts. Monuments in stone, paint, and word praise the deeds of such men as Odysseus, Achilles, and Aeneas. Holy Writ narrates the valor of the Judges, … Continue reading
The Love of Masculinity
Being only slightly older than a Biblical generation, this author hardly has a right to muse on how things were “back in my day.” Which is all the more reason for me to express alarm when I observe that certain … Continue reading
