VLX 149: Mt 26:14-25. “Thirty Pieces of Silver.”
How to Attend Holy Mass Like the Saints: https://vimeo.com/283322245 Gospel today: Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him....Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover... When it was evening, he reclined at table with [...]
Fatima Discussion with Dr. Taylor Marshall
This month of May, we discuss the most important miracle since the Resurrection. https://www.youtube.com/live/FrqLdr3U7xg?si=tSRiQpPGz3wnCfX3
Forgiveness Makes You Invincible
And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on His right and one on His left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide His garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at Him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”—Lk 23:33-35. We often [rightly] associate Christ's forgiveness of His enemies with the above chapter from St. Luke. As Christ is undergoing the most exquisite torture of the Roman Empire, He maintains the composure to say "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Clearly, the Apostles had not received that gift, probably due to their own lack of cooperation [...]
“Catholics Shall Have No Weapons.”
Featured image The Battle of Le Mans, p/c In the Vendee. Most of you know about the Resistance of the Vendée, a group of fervent Catholics who valiantly fought with weapons against the leaders of the French Revolution. This is partly because the French Revolution was killing priests and nuns, as well as doing other unspeakable atrocities. From a human point of view, the Vendée lost the war. But traditional Catholics will always honor them as martyrs for the faith. Later, the French Revolution became the precursor to every communist revolution from Cuba to Cambodia. As I have written before, I estimate that communism killed 14x the amount of people as the Nazis. All dictators require the disarmament of its own citizens before executing the troublemakers. The site Firearms Owners Against Crime lists some of the genocidal results of 20th [...]
Ascension Thursday Sermon 2024
We buried John-Paul, a ten-year old, just two days ago. Today, I reference the loss of their son at a private Mass at their home on Ascension Thursday.
Is Homeschooling the Ideal?
Since however the younger generations must be trained in the arts and sciences for the advantage and prosperity of civil society, and since the family of itself is unequal to this task, it was necessary to create that social institution, the school. But let it be borne in mind that this institution owes its existence to the initiative of the family and of the Church, long before it was undertaken by the State. Hence considered in its historical origin, the school is by its very nature an institution subsidiary and complementary to the family and to the Church. It follows logically and necessarily that it must not be in opposition to, but in positive accord with those other two elements, and form with them a perfect moral union, constituting one sanctuary of education, as it were, with the family and [...]
The Second Commandment by St. Alphonsus Liguori
Many good Catholics today have now become acutely aware of sexual sins (the Sixth and Ninth Commandment) as well as the First Commandment (partly due to public violations of this like the worship of the Pachamama statue near the Vatican a few years ago.) In light of this, I believe that the most underrated of all Commandments is the Second Commandment. Keep in mind that the Ten Commandments given on Sinai come in order of importance. Thus, the misuse of the Holy Name of Jesus is one of the worst sins one can commit. We look to the doctor of the Church, St. Alphonsus Liguori, to consider the weight of blasphemy in God's eyes: Sermon LIII Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost. – On Blasphemy, by St. Alphonsus Liguori “When, therefore, you shall see the abomination of desolation.”—MATT. xxiv. 15. ALL sins [...]
TCE 56: True Ecumenism
What kind of people will we win to Catholicism if we put relativism first? If we put objective truth first?
Archaeologism Part II: Not Real Archeology
In Archaeologism Part I, I demonstrated that Popes from 1786 to 1947 condemned the heretics projecting Protestant notions of liturgy onto the early Church under pretext of "archeology" or "Church history." This modernist fad is also called "antiquarianism." Realize first that Pope Pius XII basically warned the faithful not to believe the Holy Spirit was less active in guiding the Church of the Middle Ages than the Church of the Primitive Ages. Secondly, he wanted us to realize the Holy Spirit does not change His directives in liturgy or doctrine. But on top of this, I personally believe the modernists executing "archaeologism" (saying the early Church had no complex rites, no complex rituals and no complex liturgies) really finds little to no support in Church history. Truly, those obsessed with "archaeologism" are not doing real archaeology. This article will help [...]
Archaeologism Part I: The Synod of Pistoia
Before looking at the Synod of Pistoia, let's define Archaeologism (also called antiquarianism.) Unam Sanctam defines it: Archaeologism is not so much a heresy as a fad, a certain approach to Catholic liturgy and practice. Its distinguishing characteristic is an excessive value placed on those Catholic practices which came earlier in historical-chronological succession. For the archaeologist, first is always best. A practice or prayer of the patristic Church is “better” or “purer” than a practice of the medieval Church. Consequently, the goal of any true liturgical renewal ought to be to return to the practice of the first Christians, inasmuch as possible. The modern Church ought to imitate the apostolic Church. Pope Pius XII warned against this in his 1947 encyclical Mediator Dei: This way of acting bids fair to revive the exaggerated and senseless antiquarianism to which the illegal [...]