John B. Manos
Who is Laughing Now? R.I.P. Rev. Richard P. McBrien
Years and years ago, I remember listening to Bill Marra and Fr. Micelli talk on the Catholic shows they did, and frequently they’d discuss Fr. McBrien and nearly every time the topic of his work came up, they’d compare the past of Notre Dame to what it had become. I miss those kinds of guys, with…
Forget New Years: It’s still Christmas!
I’m always amazed at how effectively our society can put Christmas behind everyone before it’s even really started! Christmas began last week — it is still the octave of Christmas now, today. We live in an upside-down world, though: they thought Christmas started the day after thanksgiving, and ended last week. That was advent. Today is Christmas! It’s an…
Merry Christmas from the Bellarmine Forum!
May the birth of Jesus bring great blessings and grace to you and yours! Sing with the Angels and the shepherds today, “Gloria!” Enjoy this homily of St. John Chrysostom on the Nativity: BEHOLD a new and wondrous mystery. My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a…
Christmas Novena Begins Today
Today, the feast of St. Andrew, begins the Christmas Novena. Said fifteen times each day until Christmas day, it is held in pious legend to deliver what is asked. Sometimes, it’s called “Prayer to obtain favors” for that reason. This version of the novena prayer received an Imprimatur from Michael Augustine, Archbishop of New York on…
What? Moscow helps Paris fund Notre Dame Christmas tree?
Yesterday, Russia Today released a story that is probably lost on Americans, most of whom have only dim faint lines of history. Catholics, however, particularly anyone with a mild knowledge of Fatima, are keenly aware of Russia’s role in the 20th century. Back in the 1700’s, France and Russia got into a knock-down drag out…
Magazine: Choosing Life…or Death? Fall 2014, Vol. IV No. 3
What you don’t know can kill you! ‘Tis a troubling time we live in. Humans are called vegetables and vegetables, trees, and even rocks have rights. A person can get in legal trouble for not watering or otherwise taking care of vegetation on his property, but a human in a medically invented “permanent vegetative state”…
What the Catechism said on voting 100 years ago
Today is the mid-term election in the United States. At stake are state governorships and the representative positions. I’m sure many readers are painfully aware of the debates and nonsense of politics. There’s often a lot of debate over the role of Catholics in elections, and particularly what to do when you are faced with bad choices, no…
Make some friends in high places. Poor Souls: Who will pray for you?
While there is a bit of calendar hijinks that happen due to the way Sundays translate some feasts to adjacent days, but at the same time feasts on other days are made optional (such as All Saints’ Day yesterday), it can be confusing as to when you ought to pray for the Poor Souls in…
St. John Paul II and a Caution against the Age of Fraud
Fifty or a hundred years from now, the sociologists that write books to describe our time will have only one term to discuss today: fraud. It’s everywhere, and people think nothing of it. I think that’s because they don’t realize that the ancient Greeks long before the time of Christ, determined that there would be a time…
