The Narthex

As the Church prepares to close the 2026 Easter Season with Evening Prayer II next Sunday, I'll share some final reflections on this juncture in the liturgical year. Liturgical Anomaly The “pastoral” shift of the Solemnity of the Ascension from the 40th day after Easter (i.e., Ascension Thursday) to displacing…

The interval between the Ascension and Pentecost was archetypal for a particular kind of prayer: the novena. Before the end of His final post-Resurrection bodily appearances to His disciples, Christ instructed them on the fortieth day to remain in Jerusalem, wait, and pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit.…

I have been a critic of the “pastoral adaptation” of the Catholic Bishops of the United States, whereby Ascension Thursday is transferred to the Seventh Sunday of Easter if that is the policy of an entire ecclesiastical province. Most of the United States has “adapted” except for some ecclesiastical provinces…

How ancient is the Great Easter Vigil liturgy? We have evidence of a severe fast undertaken during Holy Week as early as 329 A.D. With regard to the Easter Vigil itself, we have descriptions of Jerusalem Easter Vigils, which include the twelve Old Testament readings, also from the 4th century.…

The Church’s weekday readings are making their way through the glory days of kingship in Israel, the reigns of David and Solomon. (That is to contrast them with the less-than-glorious rulers, subsequent to the division of Israel and Judah.) On Saturday, the First Reading featured Solomon’s prayer for wisdom, wisdom…

Almost fifty years out from the 1969 Roman Calendar reform seems a fitting distance to assess what works and what hasn’t. By and large, I think the Calendar reform has been correct and pastorally successful, but I would offer three changes. First, I would jettison the periods of “Ordinary Time”…

January 6 is the traditional date for the Solemnity of the Epiphany. In the United States, it has been transferred for decades to the first Sunday after January 1. It fell on January 4 this year. Some liturgists would argue that Epiphany was, indeed, the original “Christmas” feast and that…

The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, celebrated on January 1, the Octave of Christmas, is a holyday of obligation. There’s an argument to be made that its status is progressively being eroded. Looking at some parish bulletins, I noticed a cutback in the number of Masses offered. That anecdotal…

Recent years have seen a “war on Christmas.” It takes the form of turning Christmas into a holiday in the closet, daring not to speak its name. Instead, we say “happy holidays,” while kids get “winter break” from school. Those who contend there’s a war on Christmas argue that its…

Advent comes with a repertoire of hymnody unique to the season, such as “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Among traditional Advent hymns now sung in English-speaking Catholic churches is Englishwoman Eleanor Farjeon’s “People, Look East,” which was sung in my parish last Sunday. I had to wonder whether some dioceses…

Reports, officially unconfirmed, are circulating that some dioceses in the United States have prohibited celebration of the Novus Ordo Missae (NO) with a versus orientem posture. I offer some theological reflections: Since introduction of the NO in 1969, the usual posture for celebration of Mass has been versus populum, “towards…

In recent days, during a Mass dedicated to children, a parish priest in Italy uttered remarks that left many faithful disconcerted:

Let me say first up: it's not a sin if you have a Halloween party on October 31st. It's not a sin, even if some idiots say…

Sixty years have passed since Vatican II. Sixty-one years have passed since Lumen gentium, which reminded us that the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life around which all the sacraments revolve (no. 11). Sixty-two years have passed since Sacrosanctum Concilium taught that "the liturgy is the…

Writing in the Chicago Catholic (Sept. 3, linked below), Cardinal Blase Cupich tries to distinguish between “tradition” and “traditionalism,” invoking Ss. Vincent of Lérins and John Henry Newman on development of doctrine to make his case for Vatican II’s reform of the liturgy. He’s concerned that “traditionalism” is obscuring the Council’s…

Anthony Esolen has spilled no small amount of ink challenging the doctrinal and other issues that plague contemporary Catholic hymnody. Demonstrating how today’s “Catholic” ditties upend the traditional liturgical principle lex orandi, lex credendi (how we pray expresses what we believe) has almost become a cottage industry online. Recently, Trent…