This past weekend, I was a presenter at the third annual “Crusader Knights Congress” put on by Mike Church and sponsored by the Crusade Channel and LifeSite. Here is the text of that talk. * * * * * * … Continue reading
Category: Spiritual Life
A ‘Carmelite Defense’ of Father Feeney’s Crusade
The purpose of this article is not to show that Carmelite saints believed in the dogma outside the Church there is no salvation in the same sense that Father Leonard Feeney believed it. That would be too easy, and this … Continue reading
Penitential Joy, Joyful Penance!
This Lent finds me in rather a saddened frame of mind — perhaps appropriate to the season. Bishop David O’Connell, an auxiliary bishop of my home diocese, Los Angeles, has just been shot dead. Two online friends whom I have … Continue reading
A House of Mirrors
Dear Reader, have you ever been to an amusement park and wandered into a house of mirrors? The various formations of the mirrors produce entertaining reflections, such as a very tall and unusually skinny “you”, or a squat and fat … Continue reading
The Tropology and Anagogy of Our Social Life
Continuing as promised where I left off last Ad Rem, I pick up here on the second half of the four senses of Scripture as they apply to our religious life together, and as they may be applied, mutatis mutandis, … Continue reading
Supernaturalizing Our Social Interactions
What follows is a series of meditations that represent a concrete application of some wisdom I gratefully learned to a topic of both practical and theoretical importance for me and my fellow Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, namely, … Continue reading
True Devotion to Mary and Trinitarian Prayer
One fortnight ago in this space, I took up the question, “Must I Pray Only to Mary?” I promised then that I would return to develop further “the idea that, because Marian Consecration is fundamentally Christological and Trinitarian in nature, … Continue reading
Must I Pray Only to Mary?
A woman once came to speak to me about some difficulties she was having. At some point in the conversation, it came out that she could not pray to God the Father, but insisted on addressing all her prayers only … Continue reading
A Short Meditation on the Religious as a ‘Living Sacrifice’
“I BESEECH you therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your reasonable service.” (Rom. 12:1) In this passage, Saint Paul employs specifically liturgical language. For “sacrifice,” the Latin … Continue reading
Concerning Strength and Weakness
At first blush, it may appear vain or proud for a Catholic to desire “strength.” After all, the Apostle tells us that, “the weak things of the world hath God chosen, that he may confound the strong” (I Cor. 1:27b). … Continue reading
The Power of Forgiveness and the Beautiful Conversion of a Jew
Some recent research on the subject of aeviternity led me to Life Everlasting, by the celebrated Dominican, Père Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange. Tangential to his main purpose in distinguishing time, aeviternity, and eternity, the learned friar tells of the conversion of a … Continue reading
But the Church Really Is ‘Just a Building’
For some strange reason, in numerous conversations I have had with Protestants, the same statement has been made over and over by the other party while discussing the nature of the Church: “The Church is not a building!” The observation … Continue reading
What’s in That Prayer? The Collect for the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost
Here is the oration that the Church prays in the Mass and Office for the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost: Absólve, quǽsumus, Dómine, tuórum delícta populórum: ut a peccatórum néxibus, quæ pro nostra fraglitáte contráximus, tua benignitáte liberémur. Here is my … Continue reading
On Leaves and Martyrs and the Glory of God
Here in rural New England, we are blessed to be surrounded this time of year with something I did not grow up with in Louisiana: fall color. The varied hues of reds, oranges, and yellows, dazzle the eye, while the … Continue reading
What’s in That Prayer? The Collect for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Here is the oration that the Church prays in the Mass and Office for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost: Largíre, quǽsumus, Dómine, fidélibus tuis indulgéntiam placátus et pacem: ut páriter ab ómnibus mundéntur offénsis, et secúra tibi mente desérviant. Here … Continue reading
