What Christ Did When He Descended Into Hell

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On Holy Saturday, after the Church has commemorated the death of Christ on the Cross, and sung the mournful Tenebrae of Saturday (which before Bugnini we would have done on Friday night) she meditates on the triumphal entry of Christ into hell, before his glorious Resurrection. The part of the Creed where we confess: “Descendit ad inferos” or Descended to the low places (i.e. hell) causes confusion for a lot of people. Why should Christ go into hell? Continue reading →

The Glory of St. Patrick and the Tragedy of Ireland

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The 17th of March as most know is the feast of St. Patrick in the Catholic Church. The story is well known, that Patrick was a Roman in Britain, who did not take the faith seriously and dabbled in various adventures, which led to him being caught by slave traders and sold into slavery in Ireland. He became more devout, went back to England persevered in the faith and was made a Bishop. From there he returned to Ireland and evangelized the whole of the emerald isle. Dom Prosper Guéranger has this to say about St. Patrick:

There are some who have been entrusted with a small tract of the Gentile world; they had to sow the divine seed there, and it yielded fruit more or less according to the dispositions of the people that received it: there are others, again, whose mission is like a rapid conquest, that subdues a whole nation, and brings it into subjection to the Gospel. St. Patrick belongs to this second class; and in him we recognize one of the most successful instruments of God’s mercy to mankind. Continue reading →

End of the Reform of the Reform

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CaravaggioEcceHomoThe family split in the Matt family, which formed the two different conservative newspapers, the Wanderer and the Remnant respectively, is perhaps a microcosm of conservative movements in the Church here in the United States (in Europe, Latin America, and elsewhere, it is similar but different in many respects, e.g. European traditionalists I have known find the American Traditionalist obsession with women wearing skirts and veils puzzling. Thus not all issues are the same. So what I am going to say here is only intended with reference to the situation in this country).

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The Perpetual Virginity of the Dei Para: Virginity during Birth

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The Nativity with St. Lawrence and St. Francis -Michaelangelo Merisi da Caravagio

The Nativity with St. Lawrence and St. Francis
-Michaelangelo Merisi da Caravagio

Thesis II

Beata Deipara cum ante partum Virginem fuisset, tum remansisset Virginem inviolatam in partu.

The Blessed Mother of God not only was a virgin before birth, but also remained an inviolate virgin even during birth.

In the first Thesis of this doctrine, we showed, irrefutably from the sources of our religion that Mary was a Virgin before birth. This point is not contended by Protestants, nor any true Catholic, but only by modernists, and those not of the Catholic faith.

Now we take up the second part of this dogma, which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary was a Virgin during birth, which likewise carries the Note of de fide. This means that in the act of giving birth, Mary remained a Virgin, that is to say the physical quality that imparts Virginity remained in tact. Continue reading →

St. Thérèse: Saint of the Little Way

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St_ThereseLaundry“She is the greatest saint of modern times.” -Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI gave St. Thérèse one of the greatest titles in canonizing a saint. He declared her the greatest saint of our time, which suggests there is more to her life than walking about happily and strewing flowers.

Yet I often encounter Catholics who are deluded by this idea, who instead of understanding her great simplicity, think that Thérèse is merely a simpleton. Then there is another class who believe St. Thérèse represents the happy-go lucky, care free attitude to spirituality of the Novus Ordo. This is entirely incorrect either. Continue reading →

Put an end to BCE and CE

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Originally Published 7 May 2010 on the old Athanasius Contra Mundum

The Annunciation -Fra Angelico

The Annunciation
-Fra Angelico

I’ve been searching through a lot of historical documentaries lately, and I’ve been noticing some still use the dating “B.C.” and “A.D.” (Before Christ and Anno Domini), while others have switched over completely to the politically correct “B.C.E.” and “C.E.” (Before the Common Era and Common Era respectively).

One of the reasons I detest this change is not because some people are not Christian and don’t want reminders of the Church even in their dates, nor is it because some people think it shortchanges other religions. It is for the simple reason that it is dishonest. Continue reading →

Interview 007 – Rick Delano on the Principle and Geocentrism

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Today we welcome Rick Delano, the Producer of the movie: The Principle, to talk about issues relating to the same movie as well as the subject of Geo-centrism, and other topics relating to the movie, which I highly recommend irrespective of your views on the matter. Continue reading →

Septuagesima Sunday

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Edited and revised from what was published on the old Athanasius Contra Mundum 12 February, 2006.

Today marks in the Traditional Church what is known as Septuagesima, or 70 days. On the Traditional calendar this does not mark the beginning of Lent, but it does mark pre-Lenten preparations. At the Holy Mass, the Gloria is omitted, as is the Alleluia, and the priest wears purple vestments to symbolize repentance and prayer.
It is one of the many sad and unfortunate losses since Vatican II that the 3 Sundays prior to Lent are suppressed, and we hear no more of them. For indeed they provide us with much to meditate on so that when we arrive at Lent we are prepared to enter the period of fasting and penance with our minds fixed on God. For if we are not centered on God, our fasting is in vain. Continue reading →

Interview 006 – Justin Leedy and the Labouré Society

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Today we are joined by Justin Leedy, a college graduate and former seminarian who is discerning a religious vocation, about what options exist for those discerning a vocation who are laden with hefty college debt. Continue reading →

Announcing: On the Marks of the Church by St. Robert Bellarmine now in print

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On_the_notes_of_the_Church_front2This is one of the main reasons I have not posted anything in so long, the need to get the first book of the Bellarmine project complete! After going through all of my editor’s corrections, I had to do another read through, which takes a lot of time. Basically I am doing the work that in a traditional publishing company would be done by 5 or six different people, not just the translating, but post editing, corrections, cover, layout, and marketing. Now I am working on completing his Septuagesima Sermons, and then back to De Romano Pontifice. In the meantime I hope to return to semi-regular posting. Enjoy!

$15.99 Purchase on Amazon
$5.99 Kindle

St. Robert Bellarmine was not only the most prolific apologist of the 17th century, but of all time! Yet the loss of Latinity has relegated his valuable work to obscurity. Here at Mediatrix Press, we have proposed to change that.

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