We are still in Christmastide. The liturgical season extends past the Epiphany to commemoration of Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan. This year, that takes us to January 9, 2017. Christmas remains with us until then. It is easier for me to talk about Christmas when the day itself—the gaiety, feasting, gift-giving—is done. Christians […]

  God rest ye merry, gentlemen. Let nothing you dismay. Remember Christ our saviour was born upon this day.   Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room, And Heaven and nature sing, What child is this, who, laid to rest On Mary’s lap, […]

There is a crackpot quality to this pontificate. Nothing is gained by tripping over our own tongues trying to disguise, excuse, or justify it. The Church was healthier under Alexander VI. A sinner, for sure. Yet the Borgia pope was still an impressive man in many ways. The Church would be better served by a […]

Only moral cretins and hard left wingers—overlapping categories—grieve for the death of Fidel Castro. Pope Francis hurried to place himself among the mourners of a moral monster: On receiving the sad news of the death of your dear brother His Excellency Mister Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, former president of the State Council and of the […]

It is fitting that Thanksgiving should fall in the month of the Holy Souls. November, of course, marks the anniversary of the Pilgrim landing. But more than that, it memorializes the lives—and deaths—of those who were instruments in forging the religious and cultural lineaments of our nation. A day to commemorate simply a life-sustaining harvest […]

A thoughtful reader responded to the improbable upset on Election Day by sending me these words of St. Gertrude (Gertrude of Helfta): “May the wounds of Christ make of no effect the handwriting that is against us.” They are sobering. When our giddiness subsides, and our schadenfreude—well earned and blameless this time—wears off, we would be […]

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