At the beginning of this month, we celebrated the Solemnity of Epiphany. During the Mass, after the Gospel, there has long been the custom of the solemn presentation of the Epiphany Proclamation. This dates back many centuries to the days...
[Author’s note: Conservative Catholics sometimes argue that Pope Francis puts too much emphasis on the social dimension of Catholic teaching; they worry that such an emphasis on the communal will distort the Church’s moral teachings. In reality, however, the Church...
I thought I’d close out the week with a little linkaround, sharing some liturgical thoughts and reading that you might find interesting. First off, on November 23, the fifth and final installment in the series by theologians John Cavadini, Mary...
One of the difficulties in responding to critics of the Vatican II liturgy is that they are attempting to resurrect a debate that was effectively finished in the 1960s and 1970s. This was long before the internet made it possible...
Much has been made in recent weeks of actor Shia LaBeouf’s reported conversion to Roman Catholicism. To label Mr. LeBeouf, who was reared in a household he has characterized as “hippie Jewish,” a true convert to the ways of the...
A reader alerted me to this review of the Mass of the Ages films produced by the Conventual Sisters of St Dominic in Australia. It’s available in two formats: a 23-minute audio podcast (below) and a 15-minute “visual” format (above)....
One morning, back in March of 2016, checking up on the news of the day, I came across a headline from the website of the Daily Express (an outlet whose alleged “journalism” has been discussed on this website once before),...
This evening, May 23, 2022, at 7 pm, Holy Comforter-Saint Cyprian Catholic Church, a predominantly Black parish in Southeast Washington, DC, will be hosting a talk by controversial traditionalist speaker Peter Kwasniewski on “Understanding Organic Development in the Catholic Liturgy:...
The Mahayana Buddhist scripture Vimalakirti Nirdesa, also known as the Vimalakirti Sutra, contains one of the most radical ascetic statements in any religion’s canonical texts. The main figure of the text, Vimalakirti, is feigning illness so that he can preach...
In my last article, I discussed the dangers of traditionalism and finished by promising to address the traditionalist anxiety about change and instability, especially in the liturgy. Many traditionalists make no attempt to appreciate the significance of the Second Vatican...
The orientation of the priest during the celebration of the Mass is a liturgical flashpoint. Traditionalists consider the “ad orientem” position to be more reverent. They think that it better represents the transcendence of God. They hold that the “versus...
I have a confession to make. I am, by training, a liturgist. As such, I cringe at the well-known joke—“What’s the difference between a liturgist and a terrorist? You can negotiate with terrorists.”—both because there is a grain of truth...
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