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.

Praise His Goodness in 2025

Another twelve months has come and gone, another year in the valley of tears. Though it is cliche to say, I will never cease to marvel at the swiftness with which the days pass. "Time, like an ever-flowing stream, bears all its sons away." It was, however, an incredibly fruitful year for myself and for this blog, with several new professional relationships forged, new projects embarked upon, and a prolific amount of material written that I am very proud of.

Between the Unam Sanctam Catholicam blog and website, I published 62 essays in 2024. I've also been publishing a monthly history column at Catholic Exchange (which is more normie friendly) and have recently become a fairly regular contributor to Catholic Family News, a relationship I am deeply grateful for. Last year also saw the publication of the first three installaments in series of essays at New Liturgical Movement delving into (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). Further installments in the series will be coming in 2025. 

While I am happy with everything I've produced this year, below are some of my favorite articles from the USC treasury. These are from both the blog and website:

• The Four Griefs of Wisdom
• The Lord Weighs the Heart
• Segregated Catholic Schools in New Orleans
• Why I'm Not Orthodox
• Two Deaths and Two Masses: The Healing Power of the Requiem (guest post)
• The Pax Tablet
• Gratitude: It is Good for Us to Be Here 
• My English Tour
• Liturgical Handwarmers
• Supporting the Church in Anglo-Saxon England
• Our Barren Garden of Symbols
• Walking to Church
• "Sunday Christ" Images
• Crises of Faith: Letting Go to Hold On
• Make Your Devotion Attractive
• The Justinian Code and the Emergence of Clerical Marriage in Byzantium
• Sister Blandina vs. the Public School
• The Context of Cajetan's Comments on Praying for a Pope's Death
• The Real Apparitions are the Friends You Made Along the Way

I also want to mention the tremendous success the Unam Sanctam Catholicam YouTube channel had in 2024. The last twelve months saw the channel double in size, with 2,300 new subscribers and over 10,000 hours of viewing with 4,566 subs to date. The USC Facebook page continues to grow steadily as well, with around 13,100 followers. 

Another major enterprise in 2024 was the successful publication of The Latin Mass and the Youth, which was first announced on this blog back in the spring. The Latin Mass and the Youth is a collection of 42 essays by young Catholics ages 12 to 24 explaining what the Traditional Latin Mass means to them.

I should also mention The St. John Ogilvie Prayerbook, which is a compilation of prayers, rituals, rites, seasons and events that reflect a Celtic and Catholic spiritual vision. With an original introduction by His Excellency Athanasius Schneider, this is a great resource for Catholics who want to reconnect with the authentic Gaelic tradition. It's a really beautiful book—344 pages on 39 gsm "Bible”

like thin paper, with soft imitation leather, ribbon, and gold foiling. The best part is, if you use the code UNAM at the link above, you can get it for 15% off : )

Thank you kindly to everyone who has supported this blog or interacted with any of my content. It means a lot to me. Special thanks are due to Greg DiPippo, Peter Kwasniewski, Matt Gaspers, Konstantin Staebler, Murray Rundus, Brian McCall, Reyers Brusoe, Athanasius Schneider, Joe Johnson, Alex Barbas, Chris Lewis, Joseph Lipa, Michael Schrauzer, and all the other friends, supporters, and patrons of this blog and website. 

Let us praise His goodness in 2025!

Gratitude: "It Is Good for Us to Be Here"

If you've never watched the lectures of Dr. Iain MacGilchrist on YouTube, do yourself a favor and look him up. I first came across his work in an interview he did with Jordan Peterson, which you can view here (if you have two hours and can deal with Peterson's rabbit-hole brain farts he periodically interjects). Dr. MacGilchrist is a neuroscientist who one of the foremost authorities on brain lateralization (i.e., the hemispheric nature of the brain, the tendency for some neural processes to be specialized to one side of the brain or the other). 

Stripper Prefers the Traditional Latin Mass

Back in October, I caught up with an old buddy of mine from high school that I haven't seen since before the pandemic. We grabbed a movie, went to dinner, and drove around our old hometown reminiscing and talking about how the place had changed. My friend is Catholic but...well, his faith has been hot and cold through most of his life—periods of intense zeal punctuated by episodes of falling away and years of non-practice; emotional reconversions and pledges to "get serious about the faith," followed by another inevitable fall, occasioned either by some serious sin or just sheer laziness.

Responding to the Predictable Schlock About the "Mayan Rite"

The big news this week is the Vatican approval of what is being referred to as the "Mayan rite" of the Mass. Traditionalists reacted with dismay, while the usual suspects were quick to leap into action with their "nothing to see here" takes. Where Peter Is, for example, published a piece entitled "Traditionalist Lies: Addressing Malicious 'Mayan Rite' Rumors" (Nov. 17, 2024) fawning over the new adaptations and accusing Traditionalists of "lying" about the new rite.

The 1552 Institution of Anglican Communion in the Hand

I am still working through Nicholas Orme's magnum opus Going to Church in Medieval England (which I intend on doing a review on in the near future once I wrap it up) and I am nearing the end of the book where he talks about how the changes of the Tudor era altered the churchgoing experience of the English. In Orme's description of Cranmer's communion service of 1552, something caught my eye. In explaining the details of early Anglican communion and the conceptual framework behind it, Orme says:

Our Barren Garden of Symbols

It is becoming increasingly clear to me how vehemently our modern culture loaths symbolism. Our society is so ridiculously analytical, so bull-headedly rationalistic, that we can have no patience for the subtle communication of the economy of symbolism. That's not to say we don't like visual representations; we love those, but only if they are rationalized, corporatized, and utilitarian. We are a society obsessed with logos and mascots but cannot abide signs and symbols. 

Happy Feast of Christ the King

Hey everyone! Blessed Feast of Christ the King in the traditional calendar. I hope you all are well. I've been very busy and have had less time to write than I would like, so I don't have much new for you this Sunday. I do have several essays in the works though, which I hope to be getting out shortly.

Walking to Church

One thing that’s so nice about Europe is the walking culture. Because the vast majority of European cities emerged before the invention of the automobile, they are built to a human scale, with the expectation that the average person will be able to get around town by simply walking from Point A to Point B.

Crises of Faith: Letting Go to Hold On

A lot of Catholics ask me for advice on how to process what is unfolding these days. Events are really challenging people's paradigms of how they understand the Church, the papacy, and even the faith itself. They want desperately to understand how everything fits together—how can we process what we've witnessed within the framework of our beliefs? This causes people considerable anxiety, even agony; sometimes it consumes their spiritual lives entirely. They feel profound unease at not being able to account for every jot and tittle within their understanding.