Commentary

From the Archives, originally published in 2014: On February 2, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, forty days after Christmas. In the 1962 calendar the feast is called the “Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary” and commonly referred to as Candlemas....

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...

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...

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...

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

We have just released the fifth volume in the 2021-2022 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...

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...

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...

What message did Pope Francis send to the American Church by naming Bishop Robert McElroy to the College of Cardinals? How will his latest choices shape the prospects for the next papal conclave? Which other choices deserve a second look, and which prelates were conspicuously absent from the...

Last week I wrote about censorship, and how “discerning readers need to find their own trusted sources of news.” This week I’ll be a bit more specific, and say that Catholic readers (or non-Catholics interested in developments within the Church) need to find their own trusted...