The Narthex

Fresh off last week’s discovery that "People, Look East" might be coded propaganda for a clandestine versus orientem revival, I approached this Sunday’s liturgy with heightened vigilance. Imagine my dismay when the next hymn announced itself: the venerable "On Jordan’s Bank" -- that paragon of Advent piety which, upon scrutiny,…

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…

Some Western European clerics are again singing the praises of secularization. The latest, according to Stefano Fontana, is Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Italy. (His November 17 opening address to the bishops’ meeting in Assisi is linked below.) That song, however, is hardly…

Catholics have traditionally dedicated November to prayer for the souls in Purgatory, especially on All Souls' Day. To encourage efficacious prayer for the departed, the Church grants a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions, to Catholics who visit a cemetery from November 1-8 and pray for the dead. The indulgence…

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…

The Third Synodal Assembly of the Italian Church marked a historic turning point in its pastoral approach to LGBT people. With approval of the Synodal Path's summary document, "Yeast of Peace and Hope," the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) overwhelmingly approved proposals that represent an unprecedented openness toward homosexual and transgender…

SNAP Shutdown The continuing shutdown of the federal government has interrupted SNAP payments. SNAP is a federal program to provide food money to the poor. There are currently more than 41 million SNAP recipients. This seems to be one of those areas where the priority of the poor comes into…

The Third Synodal Assembly of the Church in Italy marked a historic turning point in the pastoral approach to LGBT people. With the approval of “Yeast of Peace and Hope,” its Synodal Path Summary Document, the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) overwhelmingly approved proposals representing unprecedented openness toward homosexual and transgender…

Today is the feast of Ss. Simon and Jude. They are two of the lesser known apostles, although in the American Church in the 20th century, there was a popular devotion to St. Jude Thaddeus. Many parishes conducted novenas to him as patron of impossible causes and things despaired of.…

“Migration” features, albeit in limited fashion, in Pope Leo XIV’s Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi Te. Of the three paragraphs that mention it, two are historical. I am not a professional historian but I think I know enough to ask some questions about what those two paragraphs really support versus what some…

Last Sunday’s Second Reading -- for the Exaltation of the Cross, which preempted the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time -- was St. Paul’s great hymn of Jesus’ self-emptying, his kenosis (Phil 2:6-11). One of the key texts in that hymn is verse 6, where Jesus is presented as treating divinity…

The Sunday homily usually reflects on the readings for that day. Typically, that means the Gospel and maybe the First Reading, which often is linked to the Gospel. The Second Reading is usually odd man out since in their wisdom the designers of the new Lectionary decided on a continual…

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…

The pilgrimages across Poland have begun. Every year in early August, from every corner of Poland, people set out on walking pilgrimages across the country to converge on Czestochowa, Mary's national shrine, on August 15. It's a multi-generational tradition. Parishes and local communities assemble and walk, usually 12-15 miles per…

Parishes & Commandments of the Church Archbishop Edward Weisenberger of Detroit has supposedly told priests to remind Catholics attending Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) at one of the four non-parish venues in the Archdiocese where the TLM will at least occasionally be available that those attendees are nevertheless members of some…