Communion for the Bride and Groom Alone

Last week I attended a nuptial Mass in the Extraordinary Form in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It was a gorgeous liturgy in a beautiful historic church and every bit as splendid as one might imagine.

Felix Sit Dies Anniversarius Decimus Octavus!

Today is June 29, the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the 18th anniversary of the founding of the Unam Sanctam Catholicam blog. 

Bishops See Reverent Novus Ordo as a Gateway Drug

Not yet three months into his administration of the Archdiocese of Detroit and the new Archbishop Edward Weisenburger has already called for the eviceration 10 TLM parishes and drafted an instruction against traditional elements in the Novus Ordo with a decree reminiscent of Charlotte Bishop Michael Martin's horrific document. There is some uncertainty as to whether this document was meant to be released or was leaked; the archdiocese moved swiftly to scrub access to the document from the internet shortly after Rorate Caeli broke the story. At any rate, one notable aspect of the document, entitled Traditionis Custodes Implementation Norms, concerns not the TLM but the ad orientem posture at the Novus Ordo. As Martin sought to do in Charlotte, Weisenburger wishes to ban Mass ad orientem throughout the archdiocese:

Latin and the Contextual Understanding of Ritual

Happy Feast of Pentecost to one and all! On this holy day upon which we commemorate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to the Church, may the same Spirit dwell richly in your hearts, that through His goodness you may abound in the fruits of grace and every good work. Amen.

The Neurotic Liturgical Vision of Bishop Martin

Bishop Michael Martin's recently leaked draft document "Go in Peace Glorifying the Lord by Your Life" is probably the pettiest, nastiest, most malicious episcopal letter I have ever read. The level of micromanaging displayed in this 7,700 word screed beggars belief. The letter—which runs twenty printed pages—sets a new bar for pedantry with its obsessive attempts to regulate every minute aspect of the liturgy in the Diocese of Charlotte, right down to what prayers a priest says privately while vesting alone in the sacristy. It is a stunning display of small-mindedness by a prelate of exceptional hubris, who announces that he is going to "set his own preferences aside" before he ruthlessly imposes them on his clergy, who lauds "the rich tradition that has been handed down to us" before systematically destroying it with the zeal of a Jacobin, who claims to "encourage unity in worship" while proposing liturgical norms guaranteed to plunge his diocese into chaos. Its dissonance reaches Orwellian levels of double speak.

About the Vatican Communications...

On May 16, a 36 minute YouTube video was uploaded to the YouTube account "Pan African Dreams" containing a fabricated AI generated speech from Pope Leo XIV ostensibly to the President of Burkina Faso. The video was built from actual footage of Leo addressing journalists on May 12. The video used a "morphing" technique, whereby the lips of the pontiff are made to match the AI generated words.

Groundless Leonine Prognostications

 

Remember back after the 2013 conclave when papolaters were predicting something called the "Francis Effect"? The Francis Effect was supposed to be a worldwide Catholic renewal brought about in the wake of Jorge Bergoglio's accession to the chair of Peter. All sorts of nonsense was predicted: a boom in vocations, lapsed Catholics returning to the faith, global missionary successes, mass conversions—all flowing from the luminous example proferred by His Humbleness.

What Universi Dominici Gregis Does—And Doesn't—Prohibit

It is very disappointing that many Catholics are apparently disposing themselves to doubt the validity of the upcoming conclave before it has even begun. These doubts seem to be driven by an overly legalistic readings of John Paul II's Universi dominici gregis, the late pontiff's 1996 Apostolic Constitution on choosing the successor of St. Peter.

Pope Francis Did This Right...

When Pope Benedict XVI resigned in 2013, I was alarmed that papal resignations would become normatve from there on out—that future popes would simply expected to resign, such that a pope actually dying in office would become a relic of a bygone age. The life tenure of a pope is, ultimately, reminiscent of the historically monarchical nature of the papal ministry. The pope  holds the place of the Prince of the Apostles and is himself a monarch over Vatican City. 

Taking My Non-Binary Friend to Tenebrae

Happy Easter, brethren. Christ is risen! May the grace of the risen Lord shine brightly in your life that, in Him, you may enjoy the blessings of His mercy and attain unto life everlasting. Amen.

On Good Friday I attended the Tenebrae service. Instead of going by myself this year, I decided to be evangelistic and invite a non-Catholic friend. I reached out to someone I know who, on paper, would hardly seem interested in such things. I hit up a female acquaintance of mine who is not only non-Catholic, but is openly bi-sexual, practicing polyamorous, non-binary, identifies as they/them, and is deeply ensconsed in what I would call the "blue hair" community. Definitely not the sort of character who would seem interested in the traditional Catholic liturgy. And yet, in my years of knowing her, I had come to recognize her as a very thoughtful person with a deep apprecation for music and a respect for contemplative spirituality, even if outside her own personal experience. I'd say she was in that "spiritual but not religious" category and might be interested in what the Tenebrae had to offer. I messaged her and explained what the Tenebrae was and she responded with enthusiasm and agreed to come along.

Never Describe Heaven to a Child This Way

The Faith can be challenging to explain to kids, especially its more abstract points. Since children do not develop abstract thinking skills until around age 12, it is sometimes a struggle to find explanations that are age appropriate but also theologically sound. We often resort to analogy to make the point for us. The late Fr. Robert J. Fox, for example, had a great analogy for explaining mortal and venial sin that I used with my own children growing up: Fr. Fox would describe the soul as a tomato plant in the garden, then explain that mortal sin was akin to chopping the plant down and killing it, while venial sin was like little insects that gnaw on the stem, leaving the tomato plant intact but weakening the stem, making it more likely to fall. These sorts of analogies are incredibly handy for imparting the Faith to children in a way that helps them understand the substance of a teaching even if the abstract principles are still beyond their grasp. 

Book Review: Is African Catholicism a Vatican II Success Story?

As a student of history, there have been many occasions where something I assumed was historical fact turned out to be mere narrative with no grounding in reality. For example, like many Americans, I grew up believing that the Boston Tea Party happened because the colonists were angry about a British tax on tea. I later discovered that the reality was quite different; the Boston Tea Party occurred in protest over the British government's plan to subsidize the operations of the East India Tea Company and grant it a monopoly in the colonies, the purpose being to make British tea cheaper than the tea the Boston merchant class were smuggling up from the Indies. The Tea Party was thus not a protest against expensive tea, but an act of protectionism against cheap tea. The story I'd grew up with about protesting a British tea tax was just a popular narrative—and a completely backwards one at that.

The Unconditional Obligation of Forgiveness

If there is one thing that the Gospel makes abundantly clear, it is our obligation to forgive others. Christ warns us plainly in the Sermon on the Mount, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matt. 6:14-15), and "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven" (Luke 6:37). Christians are to be people who, in the spirit of Christ, "turn the other cheek" (Matt. 5:39), remembering that Christ, even as He was being crucified, called out, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

Is "Willing the Good of Another" Really the Best Definition of Love?

"To love is to will the good of another." This quote of St. Thomas Aquinas is often invoked as a definition of love. I tend to see it tossed around in online discussions and I am really starting to hate how this quotation is used, because it has become plain to me that most people utilize it in a way that I do not believe Aquinas intended. Generally happens is someone will be having a conversation about some relationship problem, discussing their feelings or challenges in the relationship when someone will try to dismiss that person's emotions by reminding them that "to love is to will the good of another," generally meaning "Your emotions don't matter because love isn't a feeling; love is something you do, so stuff your emotional concerns and just keep doing loving actions regardless of how you feel."

You Can't Pass on Faith...But You Can Pass on Tradition

It is common to speak of "handing on the faith" to one's children, "raising our children in the faith," and analagous comments which denote transplanting the Catholic religion from ourselves into our kids.