The Caring Curmudgeon

J. R. R. Tolkein, Oxford professor and author of the (pre-cinematic) Lord of the Rings trilogy, was among those Catholics deeply rooted in the traditions of their faith, who lived to see those customs violently uprooted in the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council. Years ago I was delighted to hear his grandson tell of

Saints Among Us

How many of those walking among us here and now will one day be revered as saints? I suspect we would all do well to reflect more deeply on this question, and its implications for our lives, personally and culturally. I mut confess to giving the matter much less thought than it deserves. Still, there

The Grandeur of Unity

Men put the grandeur of the idea of unity in the means; God, in the end; the result is that this idea of grandeur leads us to a thousand petty things. To force all men to march with the same step, toward the same purpose, that is a human idea. To introduce an infinite variety

The Lesson of the Latin Mass

The central lesson of the Church’s ancient liturgy is the absolute dependence of man upon God. What Adam denied in one garden, and Christ affirmed in another, we contemplate and embrace in our own bodily and spiritual union with the sacrifice that makes possible our rebirth into fellowship with our Creator. Though changes have (rarely)

Passing the Guardians By

A man identifying himself as “Francis” recently appealed to the bishops of the world, addressing them as Guardians of Tradition (Traditionis Custodes). The Tradition of which he speaks includes a liturgy lovingly designed, century by century, to manifest as tangibly as possible the death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord. In guarding this treasure of

Leading the Blind

The term incapacity would seem to imply a defect. And yet it is the infinite perfection of our God that renders him incapable of evil—which is itself nothing but a defect. This divine incapacity extends to the realm of human affairs in a particular and noteworthy manner. Since “there is no power but from God”

Mother and Son

Stabat Mater is a medieval poem, originally designed for private devotion, and eventually incorporated into the liturgy of Holy Week. This amazing site provides a line-by-line examination of the Latin text, with various possible English renditions. The version most familiar to Anglophones, “At the cross her station keeping, stood the mournful mother weeping,” provides easy

Let the Clouds Rain the Just!

RORATE cœli, désuper, et nubes pluant justum: aperiátur terra, et gérminet Salvatórem. Cœli enárrant glóriam Dei: et opera mánuum ejus annúntiat firmamentum. Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just: let the earth be opened and bud forth a Savior. The heavens show forth the glory of God: and