“Waiting for the Barbarians,” Constantine Cavafy’s poem about civilizational collapse, describes a geriatric Rome so desiccated and demoralized that it is almost entirely without hope. It has roused itself on one failing elbow to grasp at a last chance for regeneration—the barbarian hordes rumored to be approaching, doubtless to sack and burn, but perhaps also … Read more
“I will adjust my graces to the spirit of the Rule [of your religious order], and I want you to give it priority over everything else.” ∼ revelation of Christ to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690) is well known as the nun whose revelations helped popularize devotion to the Sacred Heart … Read more
Man’s inborn religious instinct tells him that there is more than the sensible world; indeed, it “never feels natural to accept only natural things,” as Chesterton said. But about the afterlife we have more than just an intuitive inkling. Throughout history there have been manifestations — some vague, others more concrete — to support this … Read more
Last week I made melancholy tribute to the shrinking cadre of men who heed the call to serve Christ’s Church as priests, and tried to think of ways we can offer them human support while they go about God’s business. Whenever I think about the question of calling, I’m reminded of my own brush … Read more
“You’re a married priest? I didn’t know we had married priests. I think the Church should let all her priests marry.” Words like these have greeted me frequently since my ordination to the priesthood in 1983, with dispensation from the rule of celibacy. I always assure those who favor optional celibacy that both my … Read more
Yesterday was the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a traditional feast that goes back centuries. As a private devotion, it was commonplace by the sixteenth century and grew even more popular after a series of visions experienced by French visitation nun, Mary Margaret of Alacoque. Pope Pius IX made the devotion a feast … Read more
Because my parents’ marriage failed early, I spent my childhood with my great-aunt Mamie Schlumbrecht and her husband, Albert, on a five-acre chicken farm outside Abita Springs, Louisiana. Abita, which is about 35 miles north of New Orleans in St. Tammany Parish, is now a chic town — the famous home of an excellent microbrewed … Read more