Regular Contributions
Our Lady of Fatima and Two Humble Priests
Having learned of Pope Francis’s desire to entrust his Pontificate to Our Lady of Fatima, I decided to settle down to the famous Fatima documentary from the mid-1980s narrated by Ricardo Montelban. Besides enjoying the suave and debonair devout Catholic and proprietor of TV’s Fantasy Island, something struck me in this documentary about Our Lady’s message to…
A Book That Tells the Tales of Immigrants, Traditions, and the Help of the Blessed Mother
Using antique statues of the Blessed Mother as windows into the eras of their creation, Nancy Murray has written a compelling history of the beautiful, historic city of St Augustine. The delicate, classically crafted Nuestra Señora de La Leche y Buen Parto (Our Lady of the Milk and Happy Delivery) midwifed the city’s founding under…
What Really Killed the Catholic Church in America
Appearing on a heavily trafficked blog today is an article by Fr. Dwight Longenecker titled What’s Killing American Catholicism. In it, Father Longenecker says two things worthy of note: Ethnic Parishes destroyed America (!). Literally, he says “The first problem is cultural Catholicism”. I am flabbergasted and nearly speechless at the ignorance of this statement….
Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, Chicago Bombings, Labor Riots, and Terror of Demons
What does St. Joseph have to do with May Day? How is Chicago tied into this feast? Is this feast still needed today or has the need go away? Find out why May Day is really St. Joseph day!!
Quo vadis, Cardinal Dolan?
Of the prelates of the Church that I think I might most enjoy having a drink with, His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan would be the one. His affability and Irish charm would no doubt be the life of the party. We would probably laugh uproariously over some jokes, enjoy some good conversation, and he would…
More Catholic X-Files: St. Hubert or St. Eustace on Jagermeister logo? — Hubert’s Hound is the Bloodhound
Scratching our head at more x-files. Jagermeister says their logo is from St. Hubert. That’s mostly right, but it’s really St. Eustace (I think, or maybe both). Don’t worry, though, St. Hubert has plenty of x-files and one heck of a consolation prize.
The End of the Soldier
Chesterton famously commented, “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” In this pithy statement, Chesterton encapsulates the end or purpose of a soldier. We saw this honored with the posthumous awarding of the Congressional Medal of Honor to Army Chaplain…
The X-Files of the Church: Slaying Dragons, Resurrection from the dead, and George
Today is the feast of Saint George, who has a pedigree that will make your head spin with fascination and wonder. He isn’t known as a “wonder worker” per se, but he is attributed in various historical accounts as: slaying a dragon; having resurrected from the dead after having been slain for his conversion; coming…
Restructuring The Church Into Their Own Image: RENEW Bible Studies
REPRINTThis article originally appeared in the Wanderer Forum Foundation’s Quarterly in 1992. We find that the analysis herein is worth revisting today: When Mr. Morriss spoke of “restructuring” the Church then, do you see it around you today? What about his treatment of bible studies — was he right? Have you encountered this today? This…
Francis, Ignatius, and Reform
The first indication that the Church had a new Successor of St. Peter came to the Jesuit community at the Gregorian University during its weekly community Mass. As the main celebrant Fr. Javier López was preparing the gifts, a cell phone rang among the concelebrants and within a few seconds the bells of Rome could…