These days, St. Catherine of Siena is frequently quoted in her love of the pope of her day (as well she should be.) However, she is less frequently quoted in what she had to say about the antipope of her day.  There have been 20-40 antipopes in history, so a discussion on this topic is not “anti-Catholic," or "schismatic," as the following account of St. Catherine clearly demonstrates. The website Virgo Sacrata reads: “In 1378, after the election of Pope Urban VI, the majority of Cardinals, Prelates and the people recognized Clement VIl as pope, even though he was in reality an antipope. Thirteen out of sixteen cardinals questioned the [...]

The men of that [last] generation will have no deeds whatever, but there will come upon them temptation, and those who are worthy in this temptation will be higher than us and our fathers.—St. Ischyrion of Egypt. I have wondered for a long time if good Catholics in any given period in history have to “take the hits” (so to speak) of that specific era in which they live. In other words, if Medieval Catholics were physically very cold, it is no wonder that saints like St. Francis of Assisi had to face to cold as a poor beggar. If Christians in Muslim lands had their throats slit, it is [...]

Who controls the past controls the future.  Who controls the present controls the past.—George Orwell, 1984. Tucker Carlson recently interviewed a Chinese woman named Xi Van Fleet.  After Mao's culture revolution, Xi sought and received asylum in the United States in the 1970s.  She soon came to love and defend America.  This became especially evident when, in 2020, she realized the United States was undergoing a communist revolution, fabricated not upon a conflict of class, but rather that of race.  (Fabricated is the operative word in the last sentence.)  Although Xi never wanted to be involved in politics in the United States, she spoke at a Loudon Co. (VA) school [...]

Anyone who tries to phone me knows that my device is in "airplane mode" about ¾ of the day and then in "moon mode" the other ¼ of the day.  This isn't to be rude, but because a traditional priest has several hours of prayer a day.  Due to this (and not having a community with whom to share various duties) my only time for "reading" is while washing dishes or cleaning my hermitage or running to the hospital for extreme unction.  Thus, I listen to pre-downloaded audio-books or podcasts or Rosaries on airplane-mode much of the day while not in prayer or writing.  My goal is to then turn [...]

Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the Precious Blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.—1 Pt 1:18-19. The above quote from Sacred Scripture shows that the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ is objectively of infinite value to our salvation from sin, death, hell and demons.  But many Catholics today subjectively take the shed-blood of Jesus for granted.  As I have written before, a diocesan bishop once admitted to me that 80% of the Catholics in his Archdiocese received Holy Communion in a state of mortal sin [...]