VLX 140: Mt 23:37-39. “Lament Over Jerusalem.”
- My article, "Who is the Man of Lawlessness?" at: https://www.padreperegrino.org/2023/10/who-is-the-man-of-lawlessness/ - My article, "On Eternal Rome" at: https://www.padreperegrino.org/2016/06/saints-peter-and-paul/ - Catholic Arena on Hallow App's new-hire at: https://www.catholicarena.com/latest/tuamliamneesonhallow211123
Should You Recall Past Sins?
Should you recall past sins? The basic answer to this is one that most of you already know: Do not beat yourself up about sins you have confessed because those sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus. (Or, if you are an adult convert, your sins were washed away in baptism.) Keep in mind in St. Luke chapter 15, we have the Prodigal Son parable: After a significant stint of sin, he returns to the Father and he is planning on saying, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants." But the Father doesn't even let him get that far, for the prodigal son only gets out of his mouth the first two of the above three sentences. [...]
The Life and Death of St. Cecilia As Told By St. Alphonsus
St. Cecilia, virgin and martyr, has always been most celebrated in the Church of God; even from the fourth century a Church has been dedicated to her honor in Rome; and honorable mention is made of her, not only in all the martyrologies, but even in the Canon of the Mass. In the eighth century there was a report that Astulphus, King of the Longobards, had carried off the body of our saint from Rome; but she appeared, in a vision, to Pope Paschal I, assured him that the report was false, and encouraged him to seek her relics. The holy pontiff found them, in the cemetery of Prætextatus, Prætextatus, on the Appian road; and, having rebuilt her church, placed them there in the year 821. After a lapse of nearly eight centuries, when the place in which the saint’s [...]
The Ladder of Divine Ascent for Lay People
One of the greatest works of the early Desert Fathers is The Ladder of Divine Ascent. It is considered to be a masterpiece of ascetical theology, but it is primarily for monks. Thus, I was surprised when a married man with children started telling me about how this is one of his favorite books. This layman (about my age) usually does one hour of mental prayer a day and lives very impressive asceticism. (He was not bragging to me, but he admitted he and his family try to make their home a little monastery.) Nevertheless, I still wondered if The Ladder of Divine Ascent should be the goal of the average Catholic layman who has so many other duties in life, including family prayer like the Rosary and catechesis of his children. Happily, the man I was describing in the [...]
A 60 Year Old Pastor’s View of Priesthood in America.
My article earlier this week is called Are Young Priests More Orthodox? In it, I explained that young guys enter seminary pretty conservative, but slowly become more liberal after ordination. I asked a 58-year-old Catholic Priest friend in the South of the United States for feedback. (He belongs to a different Southern diocese than the one featured in the picture above.) I half-expected him to tell me I was too cynical, so I was surprised that he texted back 21 points much more critical of the American bishops' interactions with their priests than anything written in my blog two days ago. I asked him if I could use it in a blog post, and he said yes. Keep in mind as you read these 21 points of how he sees priesthood/bishop relations that he went to a prestigious seminary for [...]
RCT 29: He Ascended Into Heaven.
The Roman Catechism of Trent (RCT) p. 76-80. The Creed, Article VI, Section A. Donate: https://padreperegrino.org/donate/
Are Young Priests More Orthodox?
Are young priests more orthodox than previous generations? The good news is the answer is "yes," as proven in the below study. But this means only one of two things: Either younger priests are truly more conservative than older priests -or- the diocesan priesthood in America liberalizes many or most. The above is a picture of the Theological College, the Catholic seminary producing priests across the street from Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington DC. One of the research groups at CUA is called The Catholic Project which recently published a study on how American Catholic priests self-identify as either orthodox or progressive. The title of the study is called "Polarization, Generational Dynamics, and the Ongoing Impact of the Abuse Crisis: Further Insights from the National Study of Catholic Priests" and it's found here. Here's one graph from the [...]
Bp. Strickland and “No Other Way of Earning a Living.”
Here's the video and text for what Bp. Strickland said recently (autumn 2023) at the Rome Life Forum: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/bishop-strickland-catholics-alive-during-this-crisis-must-remember-they-were-born-for-this/
Argentine Bishop Sounding Like Viganó
Archbishop Emeritus Héctor Aguer of La Plata, Argentina recently wrote about cancelled clergy. His letter is especially important in light of recent news on Bp. Strickland. Rorate Caeli had the full translation, so I reproduce it here: 1. Priests cancelled. I am not dealing now with what is happening at the international level, but with a phenomenon that is becoming more and more frequent in Argentina, in various dioceses. "Cancelled" is equivalent to a displacement to non-existence when counting the official number of priests who serve as clergy in a particular (diocesan) church. They are deprived of the means to exercise the ministry and are disavowed before the faithful. They are accused of being "traditionalists," even though they do not move according to an ideology. Ideological, rather, is the principle of cancellation, which arises from an elementary and shameless progressivism. [...]
QuickPod: What’s Your Flashpoint of Heresy
Why do small heresies grind peoples' gears as they miss the bigger ones?