The overarching context for our Sunday after the Ascension of the Lord is this: What was not assumed, was not redeemed (St. Gregory of Nazianzus). At the Annunciation, our humanity, body and soul, was taken by God the Son into an unbreakable bond with His divinity. Therefore, when Christ died and went into the tomb, we went with Him.  When He rose from the tomb, our humanity rose in Him.  When Christ ascended to heaven, so also did we.  In Christ, our humanity now sits at the Father’s right hand.  His presence there is our great promise and hope.  Our great hope is al ..read more

“Forty Days” After His Resurrection Falling as it does between the great feasts of Easter and Pentecost, Ascension Thursday gets short shrift from modern Christians. Although it remains an unmoved (usually) Holy Day of Obligation for Roman Catholics (and, to state the obvious, the only one of such days that can never fall on a Sunday), Mass attendance for the feast is pretty dismal, at least in this writer’s experience. And the feast-day homilies can be pretty dismal, too. This neglect is most unfortunate, to say the least, inasmuch as the Ascension of Jesus Christ is the very “engine of the e ..read more

Read the last chapter before this one Table of Contents Start reading from chapter 1 Chapter 21   Malthus my boy,   I had my doubts about you, Malthus, and throughout this process I did not think you would secure the family as you have. But, you have surprised us all and now stand in a victorious position as master and commander of this family. Since your recent triumph I have been celebrating heavily, and we will one day celebrate even harder when the members of this family descend deep into our pit. You somehow managed to dislodge your head from your posterior cavern and follow m ..read more

Above: Dom Alcuin Reid pictured with Cardinal Burke in 2014 (New Liturgical Movement). Dom Alcuin Reid has been for years a respected liturgical scholar in the Church (Cardinal Ratzinger wrote the forward to his seminal work published by Ignatius Press). He is the founding Prior of the Monastère Saint-Benoît in the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, France and has published numerous academic works on the sacred liturgy. Thus he made an important appearance yesterday in the premier of documentary, Mass of the Ages, Episode II: A Perfect Storm, which details the creation of the Novus Ordo ..read more

Historically and theologically, there are three “pillars” of Catholicism: Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterium. All are necessary; all are mutually implicated; and none of them is absolute, in the sense that it can be taken as greater in every respect than the others. Each is first but in a different way. There is an almost Trinitarian perichoresis or circumincessio among them. Protestants exalt Scripture to the extent of denying or minimizing the other two. As a result, even Scripture is eventually corrupted in them. Eastern Orthodox, on the other hand, exalt Tradition, to the extent of den ..read more

Happy Ascension Day! When we look at our liturgical texts (from last Sunday to the Vigil to today), we see that this is the glorious ascending of His throne. This is the moment when the Father seats His Son, the Anointed King over souls and society, at His right Hand in Glory. Thus it is a great day for the social Kingship of Christ. It is the moment when death, the power of Satan, is foreshadowed as placed as a footstool for his feet (Ps. cix). St. Peter says that the Ascended Christ: is on the right hand of God, swallowing down death that we might be made heirs of life e ..read more

Editor’s note: as we have covered recently, we call on all Catholics, citizens of these United States or elsewhere, to join us in this Fatima action against child murder. This is the latest in our call to arms for all Catholics. Please join this effort below and/or click this link for other action items to join the crusade against the unborn holocaust, for the salvation of souls.  On Monday, May 2nd, 2022, a document from the Supreme Court was leaked. The document hinted that the highest court in the land was leaning toward sending the issue of abortion back to the states. On Tuesday, Ma ..read more

I just took a look at our fundraising results for this month’s campaign and I realized that we are only a week away from the end of May. We still have 65% to go to meet our fundraising goal. I understand that 2022 is tough. With inflation and gas prices sky high, and the Marxists running things into the ground, I know that expenses are high and discretionary income reduced. I also know there are many good causes to support. But I want to impress upon you how vital our publication is to the dynamic unfolding within the Church. It is crunch time and traditional Catholics are on our back foot as ..read more

“Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” Probably not. You might not even remember when it happened. Please indulge me as I refresh your memory. The Backstory On Wednesday, November 17th, 2021, the USCCB was holding its Fall General Assembly at the Marriott Baltimore Waterfront hotel. There were quite a few items on the agenda for the meeting: an update of the “Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines,” recognizing the work of Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC); and a review of the Journeying Together, a campaign promoting ..read more

At long last, a man of God has broken from the cowardly bishops of the United States to defend children from the unborn holocaust and save a soul from the fires of hell. He has done so by means of the true and traditional medicine of mercy. And fifteen bishops, so far, have stood with him: Aquila (Denver, CO) Barber (Oakland, CA) Cary (Baker, OR) Coakley (Oklahoma City, OK) Conley (Lincoln, NE) Daly (Spokane, WA) Etienne (Seattle, WA) Hying (Madison, WI) Naumann (Kansas City, KS) Olson (Ft. Worth, TX) Paprocki (Springfield, IL) Ricken (Green Bay, WI) Strickland (Tyler, TX) Vasa (Santa Rosa, C ..read more