Walter Hilton's Three Degrees of Contemplation

Discussing the spiritual life in terms of degrees or stages has always been popular in Christianity. Whether we consider St. Bernard's twelve degrees of humility, the mystical ascent of St. John of the Cross, or the three conversions spoken of by Garrigou-Lagrange, something about the way we wind our way towards God lends itself to consideration as a process with discernible stages, each with its own unique characteristics and experiences. While the particular stages are as varied as the spiritual writers who discuss them, there seems to be a unanimity that spiritual progress is incremental, "here a little there a little," (cf. Is. 28:10), like ascending rungs on a latter.

Gen Z and the Traditional Latin Mass

Earlier this month I participated in a round table discussion on the Veritatis Vox YouTube channel, run by Matt Gaspers. The topic of discussion was the legacy of Vatican II on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the Council's close this year. It was a very solid discussion, very balanced, and lots of great insights from all the participants. Here is the link if anyone wants to check it out.

Towards the end of the discussion, we got to talking about the engagement of Gen Z with Catholic Traditionalism. It is generally agreed that interest in Catholic tradition is surging among younger Catholics. This is due in part to the expansion of traditionalism within the Church in particular, as well aso Gen Z trending more conservative in general. The demographics of TLM attendees continue to skew younger. At an Extraordinary Form liturgy I recently attended at the St. Joseph Shrine in Detroit (ICKSP), probably 70% of those in attendance were Gen Z. 

Guest Post: The Lord is Not in the Wind

The following is a guest post by Mr. Rob Marco. Rob is a friend and some time contributor to this blog. You can find his articles on One Peter Five, Crisis, and in his book, Wisdom and Folly: Essays on Faith, Life, and Eveyrthing in Between.