The twelve days of Christmas take us from the Nativity to the Epiphany. The first to adore the Christ Child were His Mother and Saint Joseph. After them and with them, although unseen, were the angels: Let all the angels … Continue reading
Category: Theology
Circumcision: An Acceptable Practice?
The first of January is the Octave Day of Christmas. In the traditional Roman rite, it is the Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord. Among other gems, this feast gives us the sublimely beautiful Benedictus antiphon, Mirabile mysterium, which … Continue reading
The Five Dubia of the Four Cardinals
For the convenience of our readership, I am posting here the five dubia submitted to Pope Francis by Cardinals Walter Brandmüller, Raymond L. Burke, Carlo Caffarra, and Joachim Meisner (courtesy of Thomas McKenna). Note: dubia is the plural of dubium, so … Continue reading
The Last Supper and the Eucharistic ‘Sacrifice’
This is a good summary of the Biblical proof that Christ offered an unbloody sacrifice on Holy Thursday. Catholic Answers, Carlo Broussard: It is an infallible teaching of the Catholic Church that the Eucharist is a sacrifice—in particular, the one sacrifice of … Continue reading
Purgatory
A Commentary On Father Schouppe’s Purgatory Explained Alas! We do not sufficiently remember our dear departed, their memory seems to perish with the sound of the funeral bells. Saint Francis de Sales Have pity on me, have pity on me, … Continue reading
Why Read the Old Testament?
The question is not a silly one. We Christians live in the New Dispensation now. We have what Saint Paul calls “a better testament which is established on better promises” (Heb. 8:6). The old Scriptures pointed to a reality that … Continue reading
Ten Truths That We Should Know About Purgatory
Note especially number 9 EpicPew, Shaun McAfee: We can all learn bit more about purgatory. Far from being the much-maligned second-chance hell or hell-lite that critics make it out to be, purgatory actually well reflects the beauty of the Church’s teaching. Here … Continue reading
From Indifferentism to Apostasy
Indifferentism is the condemned heresy that advances the possibility of salvation in any religion. Apostasy (according to Father Hardon) is the “complete abandonment of the Christian religion and not merely a denial of some article of the creed.” There is … Continue reading
True or False Pope, the Complete Interview on YouTube
YouTube videos of Parts I and II of my Reconquest interview with Mr. John Salza are embedded below. John Salza is an attorney and Catholic apologist, who co-authored, with Mr. Robert Siscoe, a new book on the subject under discussion, True … Continue reading
Was God Mean in the Old Testament? YouTube Video.
The YouTube video below is the entirety of Reconquest 19: “KILL THEM ALL! (on the ‘Dark Passages’ of the Bible). Guest: Dr. Nathan Schmiedickie”. I also wrote an Ad Rem on the same subject. Not every episode will make its … Continue reading
Tradition with a Capital “T”
In the next Reconquest, we consider the Catholic concept of Tradition, both in the general sense (embracing both Holy Scripture and Oral or Apostolic Tradition), and in the more specific sense of those Apostolic Traditions that were not written down. We … Continue reading
What is a ‘Type’?
Every once in a while, I refer to a “type” or “typology” is something I write or speak on. What follows is a brief explanation of what that is, excerpted from a longer piece I wrote. A very important device in … Continue reading
St. Vincent of Lerins: Quod Ubique, Semper, et Ab Omnibus
This great fifth century fighter of heresy gave a formula for determining what Catholics must believe in the event of a rampant heresy. We must believe that which has everywhere been believed in the Church, always been believed, and by … Continue reading
More Old-Testament Violence, and Bluegrass
My Ad Rem on the subject of the “dark passages” of the Bible went a bit long. This piece represents a small coda with further thoughts on the issue, being a collection of “odds and ends” presented in no special order. … Continue reading
God is Here
There is a Latin rhyme that goes like this: Ora et labora, Deus adest sine mora. In English, we can translate it this way, keeping the rhyme: “Work and pray; God is here without delay.” Ora et labora is well … Continue reading
