Hope For America in the Heartland
Riding my bike around Denver as a 12 year old boy, I got good at maps. These were obviously the days before cell-phones and GPS, so I studied my maps as a hobby. I studied city maps of Denver and Chicago, state maps of Colorado and the Eisenhower Interstate System. I would look at globes for hours, memorizing countries all over the world. For me, my map study was always about both location and meaning. The current return to tradition that Catholics are making across the globe is strong, especially places like France and the United States. As I mentioned above, for people obsessed with geography like me, I [...]
When the Priest Decided Which Parishioners Could Receive the Eucharist
Last week in Florida, a woman demanded Holy Communion from a 66 year old priest named Fr. Rodriguez. When he quietly informed her in that Communion line that she had to be a practicing Catholic, she grabbed numerous hosts (the body of Jesus Christ) in his ciborium. As she crushed them in her hand, he had no arms to push her away, so he lunged at her and bit her forearm to defend the Holy Eucharist. I do not believe he broke the skin, but it appears he was still charged by police. The question of a priest physically repelling a lay-assailant upon a ciborium or chalice is essentially [...]
Did Christ’s Nature Change at His Baptism?
One of the more common heresies over the last 50 years goes something like, "Jesus discovered His vocation at His baptism." Of course, that denies the Divinity of Christ. But a reader recently told me about the opposite heresy she came across. She saw that I recently said on social media that I do not read Private Messages (PM) or Direct Messages (DM.) So, she saw my email is on my Donate page. She wrote: Hello Father Nix. I enjoy your posts and podcasts I just saw your recent Facebook post regarding social media messages. I had sent you the following message on April 26. I’d like your input because [...]
Three Broken Canons in the New Code
Just as in the days of Christ, it was the scribes and Pharisees (obsessed with the law instead of the Gospel) who crucified Christ. So also today, canon lawyers now crucify the Catholic Church by legalism. It's not that Canon Law is the problem. Canon Law was originally set up to be at the service of the Gospel, not a replacement of it. But it is being manipulated by corrupt bishops to promote an anti-Gospel in many American dioceses. We will look at three of the worst abuses of the new Code of Canon Law after it was promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1983. There are better [...]
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 [...]
“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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]