Today is the feast of the Miraculous Medal. As I only recently visited the Church of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte, where the most well-known Miraculous Medal miracle took place, I would like to tell the story of that miracle (but not … Continue reading
Category: Columns
The Paradoxical Origin of the Word “Dunce”
Of all the words, exclamations, and clichés that grew out of anti-catholic bigotry, it is the word “dunce” that is the most ridiculous misnomer. It is derived from the name of one of the greatest scholastic thinkers of the Middles … Continue reading
American Towns Named After Protestant “Saints”
Everyone knows that Protestants do not venerate saints. Nevertheless, sometimes they canonize their own by naming places after some local denizen that they feel deserves the title. At least five cities in the U.S.A. testify to the rather strange anomaly: … Continue reading
Our Lady of America and the Obama Nation
Brian Kelly has written on this site about Our Lady of America and her apparitions to the holy religious in Ohio, Sister Mary Ephrem (Mildred Neuzil). These apparitions are approved by the Church, as the recent canonical study of the … Continue reading
The Gift of Bread
Last Sunday, the Gospel was from the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, transferred on this year’s liturgical calendar to this time just before Advent. Saint Matthew provides us with the vivid image of Our Lord as Teacher, using richly textured parables, … Continue reading
After Three Hundred Years England Gets a Cardinal: The Great Nicholas Wiseman
Anxious to restore the English hierarchy at the earliest opportune time, Blessed Pius IX, in 1850, created Bishop Nicholas Patrick Wiseman Cardinal (1802-1865), appointing him to head the Church in England as Archbishop of the newly created See of Westminster.
Abortion Opposed From Heaven
When Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi appeared on Meet the Press a few weeks ago, she was asked about her consistent approval of abortion. Repeating her frequently stated stand, she insisted that she is “an ardent, practicing Catholic” and … Continue reading
An Interview with Myself
Today, the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul, there is an interview with me published on the Renew America web site. Brian Mershon, a traditional Catholic journalist interviewed me several months ago, and this … Continue reading
Remember: The Holy Souls Need Your Prayers
Every evening we come before our Blessed Mother, bringing her a collection of our day’s efforts. She gracefully produces a gift of value and, in November, we are emboldened to ask if any of it could be applied to the … Continue reading
The Boston Pilot’s Great Fenian Editor John Boyle O’Reilly
One of the earliest and most popular editors of the Catholic newspaper, The Boston Pilot, was an escaped “convict.” John Boyle O’Reilly (1844-90) was unjustly sentenced in 1867, by the English, to twenty-three years of penal servitude in Australia for … Continue reading
Blue is for Purity
In Catholic religious art the color blue, not white, is symbolic of purity. The white wedding gown originated in the nineteenth century in imitation of Queen Victoria who wore white for her wedding to Prince Albert. The blue that brides … Continue reading
The Capuchin Cemetery: (Catholic) Faces of Death
I’m back from this two-week trip to Rome, but I haven’t gotten the Eternal City out of my mind. Not by a long shot. Thus, this entry, which has a ghoulish picture in it. I think it’s an appropriate meditation … Continue reading
Boston College Sinks to New Levels of Depravity
The following is a press release from the Catholic Action League, condemning a deal between Boston College and Victoria’s Secret: The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today criticized Jesuit administered Boston College for entering into a business relationship with Victoria’s … Continue reading
What Was the First Diocese Established in North America?
The first diocese established in North America was not Mexico City or Quebec but Greenland. Viking Leif Erikson, son of Erik the Red, brought along Catholic missionaries when he sailed to Greenland from Norway in the year 1000.
Saunter: A Word With an Interesting History
The word “saunter,” which means to “wander about,” is derived from Saint Terre (Holy Land). The connection is this: After the age of the catacombs, with the ascent of Constantine and Theodosius to the imperial Roman throne, Christians were free … Continue reading
