The Abbey of St. Columbanus

NLM

Arvo Pärt: Passio / St. John Passion / Johannespassionen

Whose Latin Christianity? Which Hermeneutic?

Another essay on... Vatican II.

Reading the Signs of the Times by Douglas Farrow

The Church,” says Gaudium et spes, “has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel.” A few paragraphs later, that duty is parsed in a positive way. The Church, we are told, “labors to decipher authentic signs of God's presence and purpose in the happenings, needs and desires in which this People has a part along with other men of our age” (emphasis added). 

What happened to the Church being the sign of God's presence and purpose to the world?

The Idolatry of Human Niceness Masquerading as Mercy

First Things: Why Biden Was Denied Communion by Edward Peters

CNA/CWR: Cardinal Dolan on Biden communion denial: ‘I wouldn’t do it’
“If only saints could receive Holy Communion, we wouldn’t have anybody at Mass, including myself, alright?” Dolan said.

Fake Synodality

This is Faggioli pushing for fake synodality, that has no resemblance to what was or may have been practiced in the early Church.

my latest in La Croix International
Does a council have a future in a Church that has more than 5,000 bishops, almost twice the number of those at Vatican II?
If Francis' re-turn towards synodality succeeds, it could be the beginning of a new chapter in Church governance. https://t.co/XRJ6oMFls1

— Massimo Faggioli (@MassimoFaggioli) October 31, 2019

Dealing with Death

CWR Dispatch: November and remembering our beloved dead by Adam A. J. DeVille
The vacuous talk used today in addressing death is becoming common, but it is the disappearance of practices around death that is infinitely worse.

I need to reread what St. Augustine recounts is St. Ambrose's objection to the following practice:

Edifying in an even more physically basic fashion is to have a picnic in a cemetery, which may seem the height of weirdness to some, but it was a wonderfully jovial and human thing to do. After the prescribed panachyda was prayed (a short memorial office in the Byzantine tradition) we relaxed by sharing drinks and food while recounting stories of those whose graves became makeshift tables for our libations. Our solemn prayers and tears were mingled with laughter and shots of vodka as we feasted in anticipation of the wedding feast of the Lamb, where there will one day be neither mourning nor dying, but all of us reunited around the table of eternity.

Latin Claims Concerning Clerical Continence

"Apostolic" in origin.

Sandro Magister: Married Priests? Yes, But in Perfect Continence. The Lesson of the Church’s First Centuries

Tracey Rowland Reviews A Poetic Christ: Thomist Reflections on Scripture, Language and Reality

CWR Dispatch: New book by French Dominican skillfully defends Gospels, uniqueness of Christ by Tracey Rowland
A review of Olivier-Thomas Venard’s A Poetic Christ: Thomist Reflections on Scripture, Language and Reality