November 1st has meant All Saints Day to us for centuries, but Byzantine Rite Catholics are hoping that it will become the feast day of Metropolitan Andrew Sheptytsky, a priest of their rite, whose life was spent seeking unity between … Continue reading
Introduction: At the beginning of Holy Week in 1868, haunting dreams began to trouble Don Bosco, and they “went on for several miserable nights.” “These dreams so exhausted me,” he stated, “that in the morning I felt more done in … Continue reading
Defenses against two common objections to the Holy Rosary, written, we hope, with a little humor. “Vain Repetition” — The Big Canard This is probably the objection Protestants have to the Rosary, that “vain repetition” is condemned by God. … Continue reading
PROBABLY THE most unlikely — and yet most significant — patroness for this day and age would be Blessed Margaret of Castello. If her parents had lived today and the doctors had been able to anticipate with accuracy the little … Continue reading
IN PREVIOUS ISSUES we have told the stories of the first and third ecumenical councils. In what follows, Brother Michael tells the story of the fourth Ecumenical Council, that of Chalcedon (pronounced Kal- sē’- dun). This of necessity brings in, … Continue reading
The lovable personality of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini and her holy zeal are beautifully reflected in her letters, of which, thank God, there are an abundance. And no wonder, when we consider the long journeys she undertook in her life … Continue reading
Saint Thomas Aquinas once was asked from what books he had garnered his extraordinary theological wisdom. Pointing to a crucifix, the holy Doctor of the Church replied, “This is my book!” We see in this beautiful example how the wisdom … Continue reading
A century ago, a very remarkable miracle took place in this country, that just now seems to be making the headlines. The people who witnessed it were very excited and jubilant indeed, but surprisingly little mention is made of it … Continue reading
Rationalists, for whom the supernatural order is a mere fantasy, contend that the Catholic concept of grace alienates man from his nature. The opposite error was advanced by certain modern Catholic theologians who broke with tradition and made grace virtually … Continue reading
The great nineteenth-century composer, Frédéric François Chopin (1810-1849), was born in the wake of that horrid reign of “enlightened” barbarity, the French Revolution — the age when Masonic philosophers boasted that Reason had finally triumphed over “the Galilean,” Jesus Christ … Continue reading
IT WAS THE YEAR 1815. The evil times were far from being over. But all in all this was a good year. Napoleon had fallen. Oppressive anti-Church laws were lifted in Italy. The exiled Pope Pius VII was able to return … Continue reading
In the study of Christology, St. Thomas’ use of Aristotelian natural science helps to avoid two extremes: 1) the neo-modernist “Christology from below” with its Nestorian and Arian tendencies and 2) the Monophysitism implicit in any theology which denigrates our … Continue reading
It is a wonderful sign that the study of serious mystical theology is gaining momentum in Catholic circles. We have much cause for joy in the revival of the deep, fortifying works of spiritual masters such as St. John of … Continue reading
In 1985 the US bishops received a confidential report on sexual abuse by clerics, warning them that there was “simply too much at stake for the Church” for the hierarchy to ignore the issue. (From the Introduction to The Faithful … Continue reading
You may not have noticed it, but this is an election year. For a moment, though, we would do well to look beyond electioneering to the true hope of the Republic. This is not to dismiss politics — the way … Continue reading
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