Professor Anthony Esolen, writer in residence at Thomas More College of the Liberal Arts, recently wrote an essay for the Catholic magazine Crisis in which he complained about the quality of music at Mass. He’s certainly not alone in his … [Read more...]
Late Summer Reading
September 2, 2018 by Book Reviews
Liturgy and Personality: The Healing Power of Formal Prayer, by Dietrich von Hildebrand; with a new foreword by Bishop Robert Barron (Sophia Institute Press [1943] 2018) $29.00. Reviewed by Fr. Ryan Rojo, S.T.L. The Porn Myth: Exposing … [Read more...]
Maintaining the Liturgy in a Homily Surrounded by Technology
July 12, 2018 by Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC
Does technology enhance or diminish a homily? Should we use technology in homiletics? These questions don’t elicit an agreed-upon answer, and often focus on the art of preaching itself. Let’s take a representative example from each side. Dr. … [Read more...]
Questions Answered
June 14, 2018 by Fr. Brian Mullady, OP
Question: It is my impression that when we celebrate the Eucharist in my diocese at community Mass, Eucharistic Prayer 2 predominates. What might underlie this preference? What merit is there to criticisms about the historicity, and … [Read more...]
Lessons from a Patristic Homily
May 18, 2018 by Brandon P. Otto
In learning how to craft homilies, it is worth studying past master homilists; from these masters, we can learn masterful techniques. Reading those who wrote in one’s own native tongue is, of course, a necessary thing: Newman would probably … [Read more...]
An Analysis of the Motherhood of the Church as Expounded by Henri Cardinal De Lubac
May 18, 2018 by Dr. William R. Luckey, PhD
“Hear, O daughter, consider, and incline your ear; Forget your people and your father’s house; And the king will desire your beauty.” Psalm 45:10 This quote from the Psalms refers analogously to the nuptials of Christ and his Church; a be … [Read more...]
Heaven on Earth
The Liturgical Theology of Pope Benedict XVI
March 15, 2018 by Marcus Benedict Peter
“In the earthly liturgy we take part in a foretaste of the heavenly liturgy….” —Sacrosanctum Concilium 8 These words form the heart of Pope Benedict XVI’s theology of the liturgy. Pope Benedict XVI professed his understanding of the Sacred … [Read more...]
You Shall Rejoice In Your Festival
December 30, 2017 by Fr. Tim McCauley
Why do we need a command to rejoice in our religious festivals? Simply look out at the sea of faces in the average congregation on a Sunday morning. God instructed the people through Moses, regarding the three major Jewish festivals of … [Read more...]
Is There Really Any Hope for a Return to the Traditional Latin Mass?
Interview with Dr. Peter Kwasniewski
December 12, 2017 by Roseanne T. Sullivan
In the essays by Dr. Peter Kwasniewski, collected in Noble Beauty, Transcendent Holiness: Why the Modern Age Needs the Mass of Ages, Dr. Kwasniewski writes as an unabashed adherent for the traditional Latin Mass. He is positive not only … [Read more...]
Re-evaluating the Diaconate
The Liturgical Potential of the Deacon
June 12, 2017 by Fr. Ryan Rojo, S.T.L.
Robert Cardinal Sarah, the Prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, delivered a riveting, yet controversial, address to the attendees of Sacra Liturgia Conference in Rome in July 2016. The Prefect … [Read more...]
Liturgy as an Act of Leisure
Perspectives from Guardini, Pieper, and Ratzinger
May 1, 2017 by Veronica A. Arntz
We frequently hear that the liturgy is the “source and summit” of the Christian life, a quote from the Vatican II document, Lumen gentium. We often do not get the whole context for this small part of the quote. In a slightly different tran … [Read more...]
Early Spring Reading
March 26, 2017 by Book Reviews
Jennifer Roback Morse & Betsy Kerekes, 101 Tips for Marrying the Right Person (Notre Dame, IN.: Ave Maria Press 2016), 127 pp. $13.95. Paperback. ISBN-13: 978-1-59471-671-3. Reviewed by Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. Raïssa M … [Read more...]
Late Winter Reading
February 21, 2017 by Book Reviews
Hope for the World: To Unite All Things in Christ. By Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke and Guillaume D'alançon; paperback; published July 20, 2016. Reviewed by Fr. Ryan Rojo. Proofs of God: Classical Arguments from Tertullian to Barth by M … [Read more...]
Index Lectionum: Scripture Usage in Roman Catholic Masses Before and After Vatican II
A Book Review
January 20, 2017 by Roseanne T. Sullivan
Matthew P Hazell & Dr. Peter A Kwasniewski (Foreword), Index Lectionum: A Comparative Table of Readings for the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite, Volume I (Lectionary Study Press, 2016). The creation of a new form … [Read more...]
The Dialectic of Mutual Glorification
November 4, 2016 by Brandon P. Otto
In the past century or so, dialectic has become a tool for analyzing many areas of life and thought: we might consider the dialectic between “being-for-itself” (l’être-pour-soi), and “being-for-others” (l’être-pour-autrui) in the philosophy … [Read more...]
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