On this vigil of the Our Lord’s Nativity, my thoughts are on two perfect women. The promise of another installment on Father Arnold Damen is not forgotten. It is being kept, but the piece I began to write grew to … 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.
Father Arnold Damen, Chicago’s Jesuit Apostle
Enjoying a varied reputation as pioneering parish priest, educational trail-blazer, inspiring mission preacher, formidable religious controversialist, and, oh yes, a ghost that haunts historical buildings on Chicago’s Near West Side, Father Arnold Damen, S.J., is an important figure in American … Continue reading
Cardinal Biffi versus ‘A Mysterious Cabal of Maniacs’
Not afraid to call a spade a spade, and deeply grounded in the Scriptures and the fathers of the Church, the scrappy and erudite Cardinal Giacomo Biffi has done it again. When his last book was published, we wrote Cardinal … Continue reading
Be an Apostle, and How
In Ad Rem 89, I promised some thoughts on winning converts. Specifically, I said I would answer this question: “How do you tell someone he needs to convert without sounding rude or judgmental, or just turning him off?” Now I … Continue reading
Rome’s Purgatory Museum: A November Pilgrimage
(Last time, I promised to follow up Ad Rem 89 with some concrete advice. This will come, God willing, but first something more timely for November.) Fingerprints burned into a prayer book. A clearly visible charred hand print on a … Continue reading
Don’t Be an Anti-Apostle
Laudetur Iesus Christus! It can happen to anyone. You’re having a conversation; it ventures onto religious topics; you state some of the truth-claims of the Catholic Church. Then, unexpectedly, your interlocutor connects the dots and asks an alarmingly direct question. … Continue reading
Two Words, Almost
A priest I knew, who went to seminary in Rome, told me about an old professor that would introduce some thoughts with the words: “due parole…,” which means “two words” in Italian. The joke was that this old priest would … Continue reading
Quit Whining!
The Thirteenth Annual Pilgrimage for Restoration is history. As usual, the 70-mile walk from The Lake of the Blessed Sacrament (a.k.a. “Lake George”) to the Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville, NY, was as grace-filled as it was … Continue reading
Saint Thérèse for President
Certainly now, we are not promoting an unlikely write-in campaign; neither do we think the Little Flower would accept if nominated or serve if elected. No, this is pure opportunism, in the best meaning of that term. In an election … Continue reading
Conscience and the Nanny State
Visiting a nearby college recently, I picked up the campus newspaper to see what the students are reading nowadays. The front-page headline proclaimed that the dean of the college opposes lowering the legal drinking age from 21 back to 18. … Continue reading
The Great Stereopticon
Reproduced below are about two pages of the thinking of Richard Weaver, the philosopher whose work we recommended in our third installment of the recent series on American culture. The subject of Weaver’s text: “the great stereopticon.” Borrowing the name … Continue reading
An Alternative American Culture III
Having stated the errors we hope to avoid and the goals we hope to accomplish, I would like to point out some good American traditions and cultural achievements upon which we hope to build. The categories I have chosen are … Continue reading
An Alternative American Culture II
In this issue, we continue the thoughts we began in «Ad Rem» N° 81. Originally, I thought I could put down some worthwhile considerations on this topic in two editions of the Ad Rem, but I find that there is … Continue reading
An Alternative American Culture I
Mental pictures can help in illustrating an important point. The reader will excuse me, I hope, if I begin with a mental picture that is not the most pleasant.
The Power of Catholic Example
Our conference now recently behind us, we breathe a brief sigh of relief before IHM School’s annual Festival, followed by the new school year, and, for me, the commencement of some travel plans on behalf of our community’s apostolate. The … Continue reading
