A Treasure To Be Shared

Archangel Michael stands prominently within Divine Worship: The Missal, where his presence reflects the Ordinariate’s deep continuity with the Western liturgical and devotional tradition. Most notably, he appears in the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar , where the priest invokes “St. Michael the Archangel” among the heavenly hosts who assist the Church’s worship. This placement is significant: before ascending to the altar, the celebrant acknowledges the cosmic struggle between light and darkness and seeks the protection of the prince of the heavenly armies. In this way, Michael’s role is not decorative but theological—he embodies the Church’s confidence that divine worship participates in the victory of God over evil. HOLY MICHAEL, Archangel, defend us in the day of battle; be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray, and do thou, Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God thrust down to hell Satan and all wicked spirits who...

[ 5 minute read time ] The Catholic Church’s ongoing recalibration according to sacred Tradition may best be understood as and achieved by a return to the deep sources of her identity—Scripture, the Fathers, the liturgy, and the magisterium—so that her mission may once again flow with clarity and evangelical power. At its heart, this recalibration is not nostalgia but authentic reorientation, a turning toward the stable points that have always defined the Church’s life. A recalibration of the Catholic Church is, at its deepest level, a summons to return to the fontes —the living sources of divine revelation—so that the Church may once again perceive her identity and mission with evangelical clarity. This recalibration is not a reactionary impulse but a theological necessity grounded in the Church’s self-understanding as the Body of Christ, entrusted with the deposit of faith and guided by the Holy Spirit across history. 1. Sacred Tradition as the Church’s Hermeneutical Compass Sacred T...

Truth, beauty and goodness calling. Is anyone listening? To some, the title of this meditation might come across as a bit pretentious or condescending, but even yours truly, a simple Catholic layman, am not exempt from considering the preceding question. The situation seems somewhat obvious given growing evidence of God's movement drawing people into communion, and yet some (many?) seem deaf to what's happening. If repetition is any indication, then the amount of information - not heterodox thinking, mind you - presented in and through diverse forums heralding truth, goodness and beauty, might be worth taking seriously. There are internet forums wherein self-proclaimed progressive prophets cuddle or where hyper-ultra-trads huddle, but schism-adjacent and alter-magisterium forums aren’t the focus here. Griping and scheming and doing little or nothing but complain that the Church or the Liturgy is not fashioned in our own traddy or faddy image is a waste of time and effort. Rathe...

Pope Leo's letter that follows was read at the installation of Sarah Mullally. Some will inevitably claim the letter as an endorsement of her ministry, yet a more careful read will show a wise pope acknowledging that relationships between Christians must necessarily be founded upon truth and love, and there can be no real love without truth. MESSAGE OF POPE LEO XIV ON THE OCCASION OF THE INSTALLATION OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY To The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dame Sarah Mullally Archbishop of Canterbury [Do not read too much into the use of a title. To state a title or rank that is used among a group of people is not an endorsement. Remember, the Catholic Church has her own hierarchy in England.] Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, in truth and love. (2 Jn 1:3) With this assurance of God’s abiding presence, I send prayerful greetings to Your Grace on the occasion of your Installation as Archbishop of Ca...

Caritas Sunday Veritas Monday Bonitas Tuesday Pulchritudo Wednesday Sanctitas Thursday Unitas Friday Haereditas Saturday + + + Charity Sunday Resurrection Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. A heart of love offers the mercy of healing to others. Be ready to accept humiliations. They can hurt terribly but they can help to keep you humble. (Whether trivial or big, accept them). All these can be so many chances to be a little nearer to our Lord. There is nothing to fear if you are near to the Lord and in His Hands. Michael Ramsey, excerpt from  Five Helps for the New Year . Almighty Father, help us to be ever mindful of Thy gift of salvation in Christ Jesus, Thy Son, who died so that we might have life and love Thee for all eternity. May we abide in humility, that we be numbered amongst those within Thine everlasting Kingdom. Grant that we be ever merciful, welcoming others into Thine embrac...

St Luke 5:1-11 | While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. And he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he was astonished, and all that were with him...

[Read time 3 minutes] The Venerable English Mass, Divine Worship, is the legitimate offspring of a conversation between continuity and reform that (re-)unites the Anglican Patrimony—that is, the Catholic Patrimony preserved in Anglicanism—with the Church. Divine Worship is more than a collection of liturgical texts and ritual gestures. It is the organic expression of the Church’s own lex orandi as it was taken up and developed in an Anglican context over the course of nearly five-hundred years of ecclesial separation, and is now reintegrated into Catholic worship as the authoritative expression of a noble patrimony to be shared with the whole Church. As such, it is to be understood as a distinct form of the Roman Rite. Further, while Divine Worship preserves some external elements more often associated with the Extraordinary Form, its theological and rubrical context is clearly the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. That I situate Divine Worship within the context of the Ordinary Form b...

[ Estimated read time: 6 minutes ] Introducing Conspicuous Maximus and Dubious Contentious, two armchair scholars who love God and the Church. Dubious is a former middle-of-the-road Catholic set ablaze by a reading of the Church Fathers. Conspicuous, a shy and retiring individual, has learned to be more outspoken about his convictions. He recently graduated from the Institute for Recovering Catholics Who Are Suspicious of Heretics (IRCWASH). Today's topic: Pope Francis and Traditional Liturgy Conspicuous Maximus: Is it true the Vicar of Christ has a bit of a hate on for traditional liturgy? Dubious Contentious: It seems so, at least to those who are close to the older Latin Mass.  The public record tends to confirm his antipathy toward the older Mass and/or its proponents. CM: Exempli gratia? DC: Well, he issued a formal inhibition in the form of a motu proprio called Traditionis custodes , that restricts the celebration of the Tridentine Mass of the Roman Rite, i.e., the extraordi...

Pope Francis Embraces Shadow Pope Grillo | AI prompt by Gilbert Much psychological violence is being committed against faithful Catholics who value the older Latin Mass. Rome's actions to suppress diocesan celebrations of the Usus Antiquior have provoked dismay among observers from a variety of liturgical backgrounds. dystopia - an imagined state or society in which there is great suffering or injustice, typically one that is totalitarian or post-apocalyptic. "imaginary bad place," 1952, from dys - "bad, abnormal" + ending abstracted from utopia . Earlier in medical use, "displacement of an organ" (by 1844), with second element from Greek topos "place". | OED There are ambassadors of a dystopian vision, mercenaries, prowling about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Andrea Grillo, lay theologian, acts like one such foot soldier. Too dramatic? Let's listen to Professor Grillo speak and then decide. Come out, come out, wherever you are! A ...