If the question strikes the reader as strange, it should. But it should do so for only one reason, namely, because it implies that nasty modern habit of opposing things that are in no way opposed. It is a false … Continue reading
Category: Theology
The Five Wounds and Five Joys of the Modern Church
First he was found faultless in his five senses, and then failed never the knight in his five fingers, and all his trust in the field was in the five wounds that Christ caught on the cross, as the creed … Continue reading
Imaging the Holy Ghost
The Holy Ghost is sometimes called the “neglected” or “forgotten” Person of the Trinity. It is easy to see why He would be. The First Person is easy to image as a benevolent Father with all the familiar signs of … Continue reading
The ‘Good Fruits’ of Medjugorje
The Holy Father has recently made statements about Medjugorje that have got people talking. Now, these negative statements by the Holy Father have another side to them, as he also made remarks about the possible legitimacy of the earliest messages … Continue reading
Near Occasions of Sanctity
On a dreary New Hampshire winter afternoon, as I was preparing myself for a philosophy discussion on the subject of Ontology by attentively taking in a recorded lecture by Brother Francis, I was given one of those moments of joy … Continue reading
The Causes of Justification
This is from Chapter Seven of the Council of Trent’s Decree on Justification, January 13, 1547 (the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord). The passage is posted here as a quick reference, as we will link to it soon … Continue reading
Let the Dead Bury Their Dead
And a certain scribe came and said to him: Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou shalt go. And Jesus saith to him: The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests: but the son of man hath … Continue reading
The Twelve Days of Christmas
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
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
