Commentary
My thoughts as Pope Francis nears his death—or doesn’t
If our papa needs help, our goal must be to help him. Not out of any partisanship, any “party spirit,” this faction vs. that faction. But out of “the reality of my baptismal promises.”
Speculating about the Pope’s health
After a few days of those anodyne Vatican bulletins, reports in the mainstream media began to say that the Pope’s condition was worsening. Actually I think it would be more accurate to say that after his first two or three days in the hospital, the Pope’s condition was pretty much the same, but the few details leaking out of the Gemelli complex were revealing that his illness had been, from the outset, more serious than the Vatican wanted to admit.
Our politics must arise from a counter-cultural Christianity
These observations are incontestable. Without them, the only possibility is moral and political chaos. Therefore, the first step is to get people to acknowledge that an objective standard of human behavior is essential to human flourishing, and that without advertence to such a standard there is no possibility for controlling the misguided excesses which so frequently undermine the common good.
191—How the Church Invented Musical Notation—Christopher Page
The Christian West and Its Singers: The First Thousand Years, by the great English musicologist Christopher Page, covers the development of Christian liturgical music from its origins as an elaboration of the role of the lector to its flourishing in the monastic and cathedral singing schools of France, as Roman chant was spread across Europe. One of the most important developments was the gradual development of a system of notation in the late first millennium.
The ‘ordo amoris’ and the bottom line
St. John Henry Newman explained the concept with his characteristic elegance, where he describes the love of family and friends— of those in the first concentric circle, if you will— “as the source of more extended Christian love.”
St. John Henry Newman—The Oxford Sermons | 2. The Influence of Natural and Revealed Religion Respectively
"The philosopher aspires towards a divine principle; the Christian, towards a Divine Agent."
Free Liturgical Year Volume 3 Released: LENT
Our liturgical year ebooks include all the liturgical day information for each season just as it appears on CatholicCulture.org. These offer a rich set of resources for families to use in living the liturgical year in the domestic church. Resources include biographies of the saints to match each feast day, histories of the various celebrations and devotions, descriptions of customs from around the world, prayers, activities and recipes.
When Catholics praise single parenthood
Prior to the sexual revolution, there was always a stigma on having a child out of wedlock and on the behavior that leads to it. Every child is a gift from God, but parents who deprive their child of a loving family do not deserve the congratulations due to spouses who follow God’s ordinance to be fruitful and multiply in honorable wedlock. If we want fewer abortions and fewer suffering children, we will need to return to the social guardrails of old, including a healthy social pressure.
Recommended aids to improve your prayer life in Lent
Periodically I try to recommend a few worthwhile books for devotional use during Lent, concentrating on what might have been newly released by trusted Catholic publishers.
The Marx Brothers w/ James Matthew Wilson
Poet and philosopher James Matthew Wilson joins the podcast to discuss two films by the Marx Brothers (Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera). Wilson also reads one of his poems featuring allusions to the Marx Brothers, and talks about the letters written between Groucho Marx and T.S. Eliot.
The Crown of Human Perfection
God did not allow sin to obliterate His handiwork. We remain images of God, even in our fallen state.
Happy Ordo Amoris Day
Happy Valentine's Day! Or Sts. Cyril and Methodius Day! Or, this year, let's just declare it Ordo Amoris Day. Here's why.
A Valentine’s-Day challenge to young single Catholic men
When I heard today’s Gospel reading, because it was Valentine’s Day, I thought of the young men who, it seems, need a miracle to loosen their tongues so that they can pop the question.
The Pope’s disastrous letter on immigration
In his letter Pope Francis is on very firm ground when he states the Church’s unshakable commitment to human dignity. No one— in the Catholic Church or in the Trump administration— should have objected to that principle. But the Pope’s distorted application of the principle now makes it easier to dismiss even that sound first principle.
5.4 St. Gregory of Narek: Patron Saint of Armenia
In the first episode on St. Gregory of Narek (c. 945-1003), Dr. Papandrea introduces one of the newest additions to the list of Doctors of the Church. Gregory was an Armenian monk, scholar, poet, and saint, who was praised by Pope St. John Paul II.
Trump’s antics and the highest human value
Obviously it is better to accept what has been wrought through bad political leadership in the past and proceed now to implement a solidly prudential immigration policy with adequate controls. That’s not a simple task, but it is clearly simpler—and far less harmful to those involved—than the mass deportation of millions of desperate immigrants who have already arrived.
Best Practices of the Church
Only Mary is without sin. We are not. His Holiness Pope Peter denied Jesus three times. His Excellency Archbishop Matthew the Evangelist was among the hated tax collectors. His Eminence Judas Cardinal Iscariot betrayed Jesus. The sins of the twelve would keep parish gossips busy.
A remarkable resurgence of Catholic education and formation
Granted that these superior institutions educate only a very small minority of those who go to ostensibly “Catholic” colleges or seek education “in the Jesuit tradition” (a sobriquet increasingly trotted out to mask a lack of Catholicity), they are an important sign of vitality in American Catholicism. But what I find most interesting at this moment is the extension of this authentically Catholic intelligence into vocational training on the one hand, and serious scientific endeavor on the other.
Book Review: Saints Around the World
Honest Review of Meg Kilmer-Hunter's book Saints Around the World and the 5 volume collection Saints Around the World for Little Ones. Highly recommended for children ages 6-12.
St. John Henry Newman—The Oxford Sermons | 1. The Philosophical Temper, First Enjoined by the Gospels
"The philosopher might speculate, but the theologian must submit to learn."
WHO should pay to help migrants?
The focus of the current debate is on what our federal government should do. A debate on what we should do, through our own private efforts, would be a much healthier discussion.
The Conundrum of Parish Involvement
Pastors rightfully seek ways to involve the lay faithful in as many aspects of parish life as possible. It’s a simple calculus: the more the faithful engage in various parish events, the more they come to love their parish. They will then support more events, make the parish seem alive and attractive to others, and, most importantly, their efforts will push them to grow deeper in their own faith.
Should Biden be excommunicated for joining the Masons?
So where does that leave Joe Biden, who has continued to profess his Catholic faith, attend Mass, and receive Communion regularly? He is forbidden to receive Communion. But then he was already forbidden to receive Communion!
190—Fulton Sheen, Convert Maker—Cheryl C.D. Hughes
A new biography of Ven. Fulton Sheen gives special attention to his high-profile converts, but reveals many other interesting facets of his life as well. Author Cheryl Hughes joins to discuss Sheen’s at times shockingly direct evangelization methods, his outstanding television presence, his lifelong struggle with vanity and ambition, and the mistreatment he suffered from his rival, Cardinal Spellman.
“I am a human being”: The Elephant Man (1980), w/ Andrew Petiprin
Andrew Petiprin joins James and Thomas to discuss the late David Lynch's most uplifting film, The Elephant Man. The film is based on the real Victorian-era life of Joseph Merrick, a man who suffered terrible abuse because of his extreme deformities, yet whose human dignity was ultimately recognized and allowed to flourish by those who rescued him and cared for him with Christian compassion.
Should I add great Catholic essays to CatholicCulture.org’s library?
Though she may be often remembered now for the support she gave to a troubled Francis Thompson, author of the very well-known poem “The Hound of Heaven”, Alice Meynell was a fine poet and essayist in her own right.
True God and True man: The Practical Paradox
Jesus – true God-- leads us to the Father: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” (Jn.14:6) Jesus – true man – humanizes reverence with His divine love as true God.
My grandmother, the emergent Catholic right, and why Massimo misses it
"I was not wrong," writes Wolfgang of his 1990s plunge into Catholic conservatism. "I was early." The goals those 1990s Catholic groups sought to achieve may now be accomplished—with far greater effectiveness—by today's Catholic conservatism.
St. Vincent Ferrer—On the Purification of Mary
“This present feast is one of the greater of the whole year... Because there are three grades of sanctity which we celebrate in this feast.”
The Church: Always spiritual, sometimes corporal, never political
The plain truth is that we have heard far more from the Catholic Church over the last fifty years about which prudential governmental policies to support than about which version of Catholic faith and morals to support. Or at least this has been predominately true throughout the West. We have even sometimes heard more about the right choice among political candidates than about the right choice between Satan and Christ.
Vance vs. the bishops on immigration, Part III
Whereas the outgoing Biden administration avoided open confrontation with the Catholic hierarchy, the new crew came into the White House spoiling for a fight.
Dreamt of learning Latin? Here’s how you’ll finally do it
An encomium to the amazing Latin textbook Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata. Thomas Mirus explains the natural method of language learning used by Hans Ørberg, argues for its superiority to the commonly used "grammar-translation" method, and offers suggestions for how to use this textbook if you're studying on your own.
Vance vs. the bishops on immigration, Part II
Reasonable Americans should readily understand why churches, especially, should be treated as “sensitive locations” or “protected areas,” not subject to government incursions.
5.3 St. Bede: The Father of English History
In this second episode on St. Bede the Venerable (c. 673–735 AD), Dr. Papandrea talks about the literary legacy of this Doctor of the Church. Bede is not only considered the “father of English history,” but also the “father of English education.” Although he is now most famous for his Ecclesiastical History of England, his contribution to the Church is actually much greater than that.
Vance vs. the bishops on immigration, Part I
The USCCB declares that current immigration policies are “non-responsive to our country's need for labor.” Are the bishops really ready to align themselves with the cold-hearted business moguls who see mass immigration as a convenient source of cheap labor— of workers who will perform menial jobs for wages that native Americans would not accept?
IVF and the cross of not being able to conceive a child
There are many couples who are both open to and desirous of children who find themselves frustrated by an inability to conceive. This can be a heavy cross; it can also lead to a sense of having been judged unworthy by God, which is not the case at all. Having genuinely desired children, and having been frustrated in that desire, such couples can be secure in the assurance that Our Lord and Savior has willed for them a different form of fruitfulness that they must continue to discern in prayer.
The Hypocrisy of Modern Warfare
Statesmen and diplomats invoke international law and condemn ethnic cleansing and genocide. But men of faith are not embarrassed to invoke God’s laws.
Trump Inauguration and March for Life
Trump knocked it out of the park at his inauguration, wowed us at the March for Life, and has been "flooding the zone" ever since. Might he also back away from the campaign compromises that disheartened pro-lifers?
The problem with pluralism: Politics unguided by truth
While everyone should be able to apprehend the natural law, in actual human experience a broad recognition of the natural law has proven to be impossible in practice without the assistance of grace. We are now in the last stages of dissolution of awareness of the natural law in the once-Christian West, and the result is that the chief conflict among citizens is precisely a conflict between those who recognize and abide by the natural law and those who do not.
St. Francis de Sales—Introduction to the Devout Life | Full
Be sure that wherever our lot is cast we may and must aim at the perfect life.
No, the ERA is not part of the Constitution. But why not?
Ask yourself: Who is the most influential woman in American political history? There is only one intelligent answer to that question. So why don’t young American women even know her name?
If bishops want to be heard on immigration…
If bishops want to be heard on the topic of immigration, they need to exercise rigorous moral focus, honesty about the crisis we face, unskewed rhetoric, and a genuine effort to find common ground with those they hope to influence.
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