Paulist Fathers: Disassembling the Catholic Faith For Decades
Because dissemblers like the Paulist Fathers have been busy at their work, most Catholics today have only the leanest idea of what being a Catholic means.
Easter: Launching the Revolution of the Cross
Easter is the unleashing of the Revolution of the Cross. It should be unsettling, like an earthquake. Wondrous, as the explosion of galaxies. Penetrating, as the sound of a thousand marching armies.
The Preferential Option for the Poor Sinner
Our Lord does not see rich or poor, privileged or unfortunate, low class or high. He sees only fallen men and women whom He loves.
A Berlin Wall—Again
It must seem to the decent Catholics attached to the Traditional Mass that a kind of Berlin Wall is closing in upon them.
All You Need Is Love?
This past half-century or so has seen the word love dragged through the mud. Once a queen; now a harlot.
A Radical Proposal for the USCCB’s Eucharistic Revival
Four simple changes to how we receive Communion will do far more to create a Eucharistic revival than any multi-million dollar program.
Vatican II at 60: Stop the Cheerleading
With all due respect to the Second Vatican Council, it does not meet the demands of a secular world. For that we need a virile, unequivocal, and full-throated Catholicism.
WARNING: The Music at Mass May Be Harmful to Your Soul
When Catholics in a typical parish are served lounge music instead of sacred music, their souls suffer a kind of dry rot. They experience not the “fear and trembling” of Calvary but only the wispy breezes of the musical theater.
In Praise of the (Former) Society of Jesus
The Jesuits used to be God’s Marines. They have become God’s embarrassment.
The Navel-Gazing of Synodal “Listening”
The Church’s divine mission is to give humanity a contemplative gaze into the Most Holy Trinity, not to embrace the secular causes du jour or sterile programs of self-realization.
The Ecstasy and Terror of Holy Thursday
On this Holy Thursday night there can be no peace. For a treachery of cosmic magnitude has been perpetrated. The Son of Man has been betrayed with a kiss. Where there is sin, peace becomes a stranger.
Three Cheers for Smokers
The continued stigmatization of cigarette smokers signals the Leftist lunacy of passionate focus upon trivialities while entirely oblivious to matters of titanic moral consequence.
Christ the King: An Embarrassing Feast for a “Reimagined Church”
Slight squeamishness settles about the minds of a certain kind of Catholic this Sunday. “Reimagined Catholics,” that is: Catholics more at home with America magazine and the National Catholic Reporter than The Baltimore Catechism and the unredacted Lives of the Saints. You know, those Catholics quite comfortable with Mr. Biden warmly received at our altar … Read more
Down the Rabbit Hole of Synodality
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that is all.” (Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland) … Read more
9/11/01: Hell in Manhattan
(Note: This previously unpublished article was written on September 14, 2001, from the office of Fr. John A. Perricone at St. Agnes Rectory in Manhattan, some two miles away from Ground Zero. Much of the horror of that day has faded. Even more so, its urgent lessons. Much of America seems to have moved on … Read more
Post Traditionis Custodes: Musings on a Setback, Not a Defeat
Now that the dust has settled from Traditonis Custodes (somewhat), it might be a good time to recall Eliot’s Christianity and Culture, where, he perceptively remarked, “Victories are never permanent, and neither are defeats.” Though an unreconstructed Anglican, he possessed a sensus Catholicus, which shone through in sentences like that. It is an insight we should … Read more
The Holy Spirit Makes Men of Steel
Upon entering St. Peter’s Basilica, facing the visitor, like some sunburst, is the Great Altar. It is spaced majestically beneath Bernini’s massive baldachin, held up by four thick, twisted columns, identical to the ones in Solomon’s Temple—clearly a sign that the typological figures of the Old Testament had come to fulfillment in the immolation of … Read more
The Tightening Noose of Diversity Ideology
Attention to one’s duties to state in life prevents normal Catholics from keeping track of the latest depredations of cancel culture. That is as it should be. Staring at the societal collapse only leaves one’s soul depleted, while engendering a sterile rage. Reliable sources such as this one should be sufficient in fulfilling one’s obligation … Read more
Resisting a Counterfeit Easter
To celebrate Easter properly, we should probably recall Luca Signorelli’s 1499 masterpiece The Sermon and Deeds of the Anti-Christ. It now hangs in the Chapel of San Brizio in Orvieto. Upon first glance, it appears that Christ stands in the foreground. Then the observer realizes that it is not Christ at all. It is an … Read more
North Dakota Lawmakers Declare War on the Church
Chills ran down the spines of Catholics on January 12 when North Dakota lawmakers announced their intention to amend the state’s Century Code relating to mandatory reporting. Under the current law, “a member of the clergy…is not required to report [knowledge or suspicion of child abuse] if the knowledge or suspicion is derived from information … Read more