“Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire”
—Sacred Traditio, Sacred Liturgy, Sacred Space, Sacred Scripture. “Try to wrap your head around…” — Culture critic, Florence, Italy
Category: Sacred Tradition
Benedict XVI by Joseph Pearce
I do not consider Pope Benedict XVI to have been perfect. Which pope in history was? Even Pius XII allowed the infamous Teilhard de Chardin to remain a priest and teacher in the Church. Why he did so I will never know. And he ordained or consecrated many of the leading luminaries who went on… Read More Benedict XVI by Joseph Pearce
The Faustian Face of Modern Science
Understanding the Epistemological Foundations of Scientific Totalitarianism. by Phillip D. Collins. Scientific totalitarianism is certainly not a new topic in the halls of political science and history. Given its bloody legacy of democide (i.e., state-sanctioned genocide, mass murder, and politicide) and its prolific spread throughout the world, scientific totalitarianism remains a preoccupying sociopolitical phenomenon of… Read More The Faustian Face of Modern Science
The Secret ‘Priest Holes’ of England
“…The Christmas season represented rich pickings for the priest hunters [in Elizabethan England]. As one of the great celebrations of the Catholic Church, it was disapproved of by some Protestant reformers. More than that, it was a great opportunity to flush out Catholic priests – all of whom had been outlawed by the state during… Read More The Secret ‘Priest Holes’ of England
Biblical Interpretation in Crisis — Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, 1988
Biblical Interpretation in Crisis. On the Question of the Foundations: and Approaches of Exegesis Today by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, 1988 In Wladimir Solowjew’s History of the Antichrist, the eschatological enemy of the Redeemer recommended himself to believers, among other things, by the fact that he had earned his doctorate in theology at Tübingen and had… Read More Biblical Interpretation in Crisis — Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, 1988
Journalists contradict Overbeek ‘Cover up’ Story
Bishops decry Media Assault on St. John Paul II. CNA Staff Newsroom, Dec 7, 2022 / 08:00 Journalists investigating secular and Catholic Church sources in Poland have called into question allegations by a Dutch writer that St. John Paul II “covered up” sexual abuse while still a bishop in Poland. On Dec. 2, Ekke Overbeek,… Read More Journalists contradict Overbeek ‘Cover up’ Story
The Most Important Biblical-Catholic Apologist Today
See many more of Mr. Horn’s episodes on his playlists at YouTube. “After his conversion to the Catholic faith, Trent Horn earned master’s degrees in the fields of theology, philosophy, and bioethics. He serves as a staff apologist for Catholic Answers, where he specializes in teaching Catholics to graciously and persuasively engage those who disagree… Read More The Most Important Biblical-Catholic Apologist Today
The Gates of Hell — (Formal Heresies within and without) — Do Not Prevail
“Master, do you not care that we perish?” — Mark iv. 38. “… we bear in mind what was promised about the holy church and him who said that the gates of hell will not prevail against it (by these we understand the death-dealing tongues of heretics); we also bear in mind what was prophesied… Read More The Gates of Hell — (Formal Heresies within and without) — Do Not Prevail
A Note to the Always Interesting Dr. Larry Chapp on Hell
…he seems to express a kind of anxiety or apprehension here about the obvious problem of the magisterium as he “comes out of the closet” and reveals himself to be an eschatological “universalist”. Dear Dr. Chapp: A point towards the clarification of thought from a layman and obvious non-theologian: Despite making many interesting —even profound—… Read More A Note to the Always Interesting Dr. Larry Chapp on Hell
Revisiting the 2018 Dreher / Douthat Interview: the Great Gamble of Francis.
Updated. New York Times columnist Ross Douthat’s new book, To Change The Church: Pope Francis And The Future of Catholicism … is an urgent, compelling work of popular religious journalism. Douthat reads the signs of these anxious times with acute clarity and far-seeing vision. This book is must reading for every Christian who cares about the fate of… Read More Revisiting the 2018 Dreher / Douthat Interview: the Great Gamble of Francis.
St. Padre Pio and the Mass.
“Concerning the value of the Mass, Padre Pio said: “If men only appreciated the value of a holy Mass they would need traffic officers at church doors every day to keep the crowds in order.” Padre Pio was asked what his Mass meant to him. He responded: “It is a sacred participation in the passion of Jesus.… Read More St. Padre Pio and the Mass.
Did Archbishop Vigano Overreach Regarding the Mass of Paul VI?
Fr. Brian Harrison, a well-known theologian who has long been conversant with traditionalist polemics thinks so, and he stated his reasons publicly in the pages of The Wanderer back in January. Archbishop Viganò Vs. The Novus Ordo By Fr. Brian W. Harrison, OSThe WandererJan. 27, 2022 Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, former papal Nuncio to the… Read More Did Archbishop Vigano Overreach Regarding the Mass of Paul VI?
Cardinal Müller challenges Pope Francis
Updated … “Müller is becoming a voice of reason within the Church and one many may start to rally around“ The Catholic Herald.September 29, 2022. In an interview with Infovaticana, German prelate, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, the former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has warned that Pope Francis has no authority to change… Read More Cardinal Müller challenges Pope Francis
Catholic Social Teaching and Liberation Theology
In 2008 Nikolas Kozloff wrote in the New York Times, “During the 1980s and 1990s Benedict, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, acted as John Paul II’s doctrinal czar. At the time, John Paul was in the midst of a fierce battle to silence prominent Church liberals. “This conception of Christ as a political figure, a revolutionary,… Read More Catholic Social Teaching and Liberation Theology
God is a “Man of War”. The Problem of Violence in Scripture
Note: SH. Today it is States alone which consider the punishment of [political and ever-evolving moral] “sins” to be their exclusive prerogative. And these States employ the shocking punishments most liberally day after day. Countless millions have died. But there exists One who is far above and infinitely mightier than creaturely states (Exo. 3:14-17) Who… Read More God is a “Man of War”. The Problem of Violence in Scripture
How St. Augustine “Invented” Sex
He rescued Adam and Eve from obscurity, devised the doctrine of original sin—and the rest is sexual history. By Stephen Greenblatt.The New Yorker.June 12, 2017. Note: the italics in the above title of this essay were not in the original but have been supplied here. SH. One day in 370 C.E., a sixteen-year-old boy and… Read More How St. Augustine “Invented” Sex
I Am Therefore I Think
Is A Personal God Improbable? Or is it we who are improbable?Atheism has traditionally scoffed at belief in a God who is Personal or SupraPersonal. I’ve always found their position to be a counterintuitive curiosity. One of the reasons why is that I find myself, a personal being, to exist. I am here. You are… Read More I Am Therefore I Think
John Paul II on the Only Name Under Heaven
“Only the God of Jesus Christ is the living God [Jn. 14:16]. As has also been stated in the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum (no. 3), the first God mentioned above—the God of the philosophers—is the fruit of human thought, of human speculation, and capable of saying something valid about God . In… Read More John Paul II on the Only Name Under Heaven
Jordan Peterson on Meaning
I admire much that Jordan Peterson has done and said. Very much. But I cannot accept his thought entirely regarding the question of Meaning in our lives and times, which he and others have publicly discussed, and which many admire. To the contrary, it is Jesus Christ, “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb. 13:8),… Read More Jordan Peterson on Meaning
The New Oxford Review Exchange on Whether Vatican II Was Necessary
It Ain’t Broke, But Let’s Fix It Anyhow June 2004, NOR We picked up a Catholic magazine, and on the cover was one big headline, and it was a striking one: “Was Vatican II a Mistake?” In the background to the headline were a litany of post-Vatican II disasters: “practicing homosexuals in the priesthood,” “pro-abortion… Read More The New Oxford Review Exchange on Whether Vatican II Was Necessary
Lord Marchmain’s Long Hate
In Evelyn Waugh’s stunning classic, Brideshead Revisited, there is a scene which presses on my mind these days as I ponder so many forces gathering against a Church weakened greatly by the sins of her own children, both clerical and lay. All of us. It is the time when Sebastian, Lord Alex Marchmain’s idiosyncratic, drunkard, but… Read More Lord Marchmain’s Long Hate
Reason and The Law of Non-Contradiction.
” a thing cannot be and not be at the same time”— St. Thomas (Summa Contra Gentiles, Book 1, chap. 84) “…reason’s first principle is the principle of contradiction. He who denies this principle affirms a self-destructive sentence. To deny this principle is to annihilate language, is to destroy all substance, all distinction between things, all… Read More Reason and The Law of Non-Contradiction.
Our Blessed Mother, Mary, in the Order of Grace
Fundamentalist Protestant incomprehension of the Catholic doctrine regarding Mary as the Mother of God is largely and essentially an incomprehension of the Incarnation itself, whereby the Word, who is God, was made flesh (John 1:1; 14). It is rooted in a failure to contemplate, with the Catholic Church, the stupendous implications of this wondrous mystery.… Read More Our Blessed Mother, Mary, in the Order of Grace
Tradition and the Living Magisterium.
“The living magisterium makes extensive use of documents of the past, but it does so while judging and interpreting, gladly finding in them its present thought, but likewise, when needful, distinguishing its present thought from what is traditional only in appearance. “It is revealed truth always living in the mind of the Church, or, if it is preferred, the… Read More Tradition and the Living Magisterium.
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