Tuesday of Holy Week: Traditional Commentary and Chant
Jesus Goes Up to Jerusalem - James Tissot "To-day, again, our Saviour sets out in the morning for Jerusalem. His intention is to repair to the temple, and continue his yesterday's teachings. It is...
View ArticleWednesday of Holy Week: Traditional Commentary and Chant
The Chief Priests Take Counsel Together Spy Wednesday "The Chief Priests and the Ancients of the people, are met to-day, in one of the rooms adjoining the Temple, for the purpose of deliberating on...
View ArticleThursday of Holy Week: Traditional Commentary and Chant
Man with the Jar of Water "In a particular way, make Holy Thursday a day of profound thanksgiving for the Sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and the Holy Priesthood, which Our Lord instituted at the...
View ArticleWhat is Art? Brâncuși's Bird in Space and the Evolving Definition of Art
Bird in Space, Constantin Brâncuși, 1926 I came across this interesting story about a 1920s trial that contributed to the acceptance of non-representational art in American society when I was...
View ArticleSt. Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church
Relief at the High Altar of the Church of Santa Caterina in Magnaopoli in Rome, by Melchiorre Cafà In the traditional calendar, April 30 is the feast of the great St. Catherine of Siena, who was...
View ArticleLove and Marriage, Babies and Missals, Jeff and Cynthia Ostrowski
This article was originally published at Regina Magazine in 2014. Since the article is no longer available in Regina's online archives, I'm posting the article here as I submitted it before editing,...
View ArticleWhen Emily Dickinson Heard Jenny Lind Sing, and Another Surprising Literary...
P.T. Barnum publicity posterWhen I read the excerpt from "The Writer's Almanac" for September 1, 2020 included below, I was a bit startled to realize that Emily Dickinson heard the “Swedish...
View ArticleA Liqueur, a Color, and a Hermit Order’s Major Source of Income
Chartreuse is a luxury liqueur produced by the Carthusians, a strict contemplative order of hermits founded by Saint Bruno, whose feast is today, October 6. Chartreuse Verte, a shimmering green...
View ArticleJackie Coogan, The Kid, Uncle Fester, Bad Boy, Much-Married, Catholic
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACKIE COOGAN, BORN OCTOBER 26, 1914 Have you ever heard about or seen The Kid, Charlie Chaplin's silent comedy-drama? If so, you might be surprised as I was to learn that Jackie Coogan,...
View ArticleThe Miracle and the Hope: Cardinal Kung's Requiem and Burial
Five Wounds Portuguese National Church before a Requiem Mass Many think it was providential that Ignatius Cardinal Kung of Shanghai got his wish to have a traditional Requiem Mass in spite of how it...
View ArticleIf the Church is the Answer, What is the Question?
When I was fifteen years old in 1960, I read Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, and Albert Camus' L'Etranger. Then when I started at Brandeis University in 1963 a few weeks before I turned 18, I...
View ArticleSanta Is Not Good for Raising Young Catholics
"Tell Santa what you want for Christmas!" Hasn't anyone besides me ever noticed that this admonition is not good training for young Christians? On the other hand, it is great training for young...
View ArticleO Antiphon for December 17: O Sapientia, O Wisdom
The O antiphon for Dec. 17 begins by addressing our Savior who is about to be born as a Man as O Sapientia, O Wisdom. It then describes what God’s wisdom accomplishes, and it ends with a petition,...
View ArticleO Antiphon for December 18: O Adonai, O Sovereign Lord
The O antiphon for Dec. 18 begins by addressing our Savior, who is about to be born as a man, as O Adonai (O Sovereign Lord), describes Our Lord's appearances to Moses, and it ends with the petition,...
View ArticleO antiphon for Dec. 19th: O Radix Jesse, O Root of Jesse
The O antiphon for Dec. 19th begins by addressing our Savior, who is about to be born as a man, as O Radix Jesse, O Root of Jesse. The antiphon then describes what the name symbolizes, and it ends with...
View ArticleO Antiphon for December 20: O Clavis David, O Key of David
The O antiphon for December 20th begins by addressing our Savior as O Clavis David, O Key of David. It goes on to describe the symbolism of the Key of David, and it ends with the petition, "come and...
View ArticleO Antiphon for December 21: O Oriens, O Dayspring from On High
It is especially fitting that we pray this antiphon today, on the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. This title of Christ, Oriens, means daybreak, dawn, sunrise,...
View ArticleO Antiphon for December 22: O Rex Gentium, O King of the Nations
Christ the Judge (1447), by Fra Angelico. At the Duomo of Orvieto, ItalyThe O antiphon for Dec. 22nd begins by addressing our Savior with the Messianic name, O Rex Gentium. The antiphon then describes...
View ArticleO Antiphon For December 23: O Emmanuel, O God with Us
The Prophet Isaiah, by Michelangelo, Sistine ChapelOn December 23, the last of the Great O antiphons of Advent is sung at Vespers (Evening Prayer). By the next evening on December 24, the time of...
View ArticleRECENT CATHOLIC CONVERT SHIA LEBOUEF CREDITS TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS WITH...
Major news this past week, especially among Catholic press, has been the conversion to Catholicism of scandal-ridden actor Shia LaBoeuf. Internet sources say LaBoeuf had already become a Christian in...
View ArticleA Look Back at the Bay Area Visit of Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop...
His Excellency Bishop Athanasius Schneider has been referred to in the National Catholic Register as “one of the leading voices of fidelity, continuity, and tradition in the Church today.” In some...
View ArticleArchbishop Cordileone Answers Questions about Mass of the Americas, a...
The following interview was conducted with Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone via email by Sophia Feingold as background for a feature article published by National Catholic Register September 22, 2022,...
View ArticleChrist the King: Victorious Ruler of All—or Cosmic Jesus?
Pope Pius XI instituted The Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King in response to growing secularism in society. "By Our Apostolic Authority We institute the Feast of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus...
View ArticleNative American Devotion at Mission Carmel Ruins
What Robert Louis Stevenson Saw on the Feast of St. Charles Borromeo November 4, 1879“I have never seen faces more vividly lit up with joy than the faces of those Indian singers. It was to them not...
View ArticleMiracles Still Happen: How One Man Asked for Prayers from Beyond the Grave...
How This Man Learned from Mary How to Deliver Souls from PurgatorySince the end of November, the month dedicated to the poor souls in Purgatory, is coming up in a few days, I want to get this timely...
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