Commentary

Sacraments, according to the Baltimore Catechism, are outward signs instituted by Christ to give grace. The Sacraments define and direct our lives. Our choices form us. When we choose to live a sacramental life, in a sense we become sacraments reflecting the Lord. But the contrary is also...

The rumors are true. My sources in Rome—too many and too reliable to be doubted—confirm that a document is circulating at the Vatican which, if given papal approval, would significantly restrict use the “extraordinary form” of the liturgy, the traditional Latin Mass...

The second volume of our ebook series for the 2021-2022 liturgical year has been released in our ebooks download area. This volume covers the initial period of Ordinary Time between Christmas and Lent, from January 10th through March 2nd. It may be downloaded free of charge in the following...

Originally published December 2014. See my post from 2013, O Come!! The O Antiphons for further reflection on the O Antiphons. The Advent liturgy is so rich, varied and beautiful. Every time the liturgical cycle repeats, it is another opportunity to enter more deeply into the Church’s...

In its stunning new document increasing restrictions on the traditional Latin Mass, the Congregation for Divine Worship (CDW) charges that many traditionalist Catholics do not recognize the validity of the Novus Ordo liturgy. Therefore, we are told, adherence to the traditional liturgy poses a...

We have just released the fifth volume in the 2020-2022 Liturgical Year series of ebooks. Volume five covers the first half of the long stretch of Ordinary Time between the close of the Easter Season on Pentecost and the beginning of Advent. Like all CatholicCulture.org ebooks, this volume is...

We do not know inside details of the Pope’s meeting with President Biden today, but Biden himself did feel free to report that Francis had called him a “good Catholic” and encouraged him to keep receiving Communion (see, for example, the report from The New York Times). Ludicrous...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has imposed a Gag Rule on Catholics and other Christians who are the targets of her pro-LGBTQ so-called “Equality Act,” HR 5. No Catholic or Evangelical representatives who opposed HR 5 testified before the April, 2019 Judiciary Committee hearing, yet...

From the archives, originally published November 29, 2016: November 30 is the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle and also the pivotal date for the beginning of Advent, starting the Sunday closest to November 30 Also on November 30 starts the tradition to begin two traditional novenas: 1) the

Insofar as Traditionis Custodes provides any explanation for its open hostility toward Catholic traditionalists, that explanation lies in the claim that traditionalist communities have caused divisions within the Church. Therefore, Pope Francis suggests (and the Congregation for Divine Worship...