The amice is the neck and shoulder sweat-guard that is the first item put on by a Roman Catholic priest while vesting for Holy Mass.  The priest touches the amice to his head as a blessing as he prays:  Place upon me, O Lord, the helmet of salvation, that I may overcome the assaults of the devil.  I say that prayer in Latin before every Mass, which is: Impóne, Dómine, cápiti meo gáleam salútis, ad expugnándos diabólicos incúrsus.  After the amice touches the priest's head, he wraps it around his shoulders and ties it across his torso.  Besides being a blessing and a sweat-guard, the amice also covers the cassock (or [...]

This morning my good friend's mother went to her eternal reward.  Earlier this week, I had the privilege of praying the old rite prayers of the Commendation of the Soul.  (I didn't know the above picture was being taken at the time.)  The old rite prayers after the mysteries of holy Extreme Unction and after the Apostolic Pardon are extremely powerful.  Here's an example of the many prayers we prayed and I assure you it's worth reading these examples:  

As most of you know, I went to a normal diocesan seminary.  One of those seminarians was later ordained for a midwest diocese.  On his Facebook profile, he once put up an interesting conversation he had with an older priest.  He asked the older priest if young priests would save the Church.  The old priest said "No, young priests will not save the Church.  Jesus Christ will save His Church."  Of course, the post had hundreds and hundreds of likes. I wanted to "like" it too because it shows that Christ is in charge of His Church.  I also wanted to "like" it because it reminds us priests to be [...]

Recently, I was praying my Roman Breviary while walking a beautiful autumn evening around the Highline canal trail, just south of Denver.  I was born in the city-limits of Denver.  I grew up in the city-limits of Denver, and ever since I was 12 years old, I loved maps and riding my bike around the Highline Canal.   Now, 30 years later, I find myself still on the same trails.  This autumn, as I walked the above trail praying the old Divine Office, I thought a lot of what has happened in twelve years since my ordination as a Catholic priest.  As I walked and thought, I remembered an event that [...]

Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.—Mt 19:21. In my VLX series (Video Lectio Divina, an online Bible Study) we recently covered the above line from St. Matthew chapter 19.  In it, the rich young man is proud that he has kept the commandments of God.  But Jesus then challenges him to go further:  To sell everything he possesses, give it to the poor, and then follow Jesus.  Any of my listeners [...]

What is it like not to be in parish ministry anymore? Many of my enemies online say that my hermit-life is just a farce. In some sense, they are correct. When I was still in parish ministry five years ago, bouncing around, looking state-to-state where I could continue to help with the TLM, becoming "a hermit" was the last thing I could apply for under pressure like this: On the 20th of June 2017, a friend I hadn't seen since high-school bought me lunch at a Thai restaurant at the DTC. While eating, my phone rang.  Now, I usually don't answer my phone when I'm talking in real life to [...]

Recently, a French priest wrote me from Europe and asked me about the title of my blog, "Padre Peregrino."  I admitted that "Father Pilgrim" sounds ridiculous in English, but it seems to work better in the romance languages and other languages.  He wrote me about the title of my blog: "It seems to me that it corresponds well to the present circumstances, where we realize that we must move from the 'classic' type of parish to a less ordinary type, at least for a European of origin and education, of 'mission.'" I replied, "You understood correctly that 'Padre Peregrino' was an accidental term. I was kicked out of five Novus Ordo parishes [...]

I want to thank all my donors for your tremendous kindness to my way of life of prayer, study, podcasting, pro-life work and evangelization.  One advantage to having many "small donors" instead of "big donors" is this:  I am beholden to no one except Christ as I speak and write as best as I can on issues of reform of Church and State.  When someone comes to the point that they don't like what I say or write, they simply leave my support team, and it doesn't affect me too much. I wish them all the best!  I truly have no hard feelings at all.  I would rather have the [...]

The above picture is Dr. Peter McCullough MD and myself at the recent LifeSite News Gala in Florida, August 2022.   Dr. McCullough is a Texas-based cardiologist has stood courageously against the dangerous COVID vaccines on both Tucker Carlson and the Joe Rogan show. Recently, someone posted the above FB post of mine back to my FB profile comments to remind me of what a ridiculous prediction I made about the COVID vaccine one year ago this week.  The person who posted that against me must not be looking at medical news too much, because I'm hardly ashamed of that FB post last year.  The sad and sobering fact is [...]

Leaving a dinner with a few families in Fort Collins, CO around 11pm one Saturday evening in the summer, I got a text from another friend that he needed a sacrament. I asked if he and I could meet halfway in Thornton just before midnight at the parking lot of a coffee shop. (See above picture.) Funny thing is: A priest had heard my confession in my car earlier that day in Fort Collins and we kept our phones outside the car. Probably any sacraments done should be without phones around.  The government can hack phones even in airplane mode. If you think this is a conspiracy theory, just try [...]