"He trod the winepress alone." 1. SYMPATHY may be called an eternal law, for it is signified or rather transcendentally and archetypically fulfilled in the ineffable mutual love of the Divine Trinity. God, though infinitely One, has ever been Three. He ever has rejoiced in His Son and His Spirit, and they in Him—and thus through …
"Every fresh sin, every fresh ingratitude I now commit, was among the blows and stripes which once fell on thee." Image: The Last Supper by Jean Baptiste de Champaigne, (source). 1. AFTER all His discourses were consummated (Matt. xxvi. 1), fully finished and brought to an end, then He said, The Son of Man will be …
"All of us – yes, even you and I – are liable to be deceived." In this essay we will consider: - Miracles as proof of Christ's revelation - The continuation of miracles in the Church - Being too dependent on signs and wonders - Credulity and false miracles - The purpose of miracles, and …
Continue reading Possible Miracles, Possible Deceptions: How credulity can lead us to ruin
Given the fever-pitch excitement (or anxiety) in many quarters over Francis's upcoming consecration of Russia, it seems a good time to republish this 1953 text from Msgr Alfredo Ottaviani. He was later made the prefect of the Holy Office, and was chief signatory of the Short Critical Study of the Novus Ordo Missae ("The Ottaviani …
Continue reading An “Ottaviani Intervention” on Signs and Wonders
Here are some brief reflections on what the latest announcement may mean for us. 1. Our Lady said Russia, not Russia and the World, or Russia and Ukraine, or the USSR, or the individual Soviet republic, or the Russian Federation. Without this being a problem - why can't we just do what we're asked? 2. …
Continue reading Thoughts on the Consecration of Ukraine and Russia
This three-part series is a summary and re-ordering of the testimonies given in St Thomas’s 1319 canonisation enquiry.[1] These are not just pious stories about St Thomas Aquinas written by hagiographers: they are sworn testimonies recounted under oath by respectable men, both from the clergy and from the nobility. We see amongst the laymen even …
Continue reading The Fioretti of St Thomas – Part II: His Death
INTRODUCTION This three-part series is a summary and re-ordering of the testimonies given in St Thomas’s 1319 canonisation enquiry, 45 years after his death.[1] These are not just pious stories written by imaginative hagiographers: they are sworn testimonies recounted under oath by respectable men, both from the clergy and the laity. We see amongst the …
Continue reading The Fioretti of St Thomas – Part I: His Life
The Rosary and Immaculate Heart: the Two Last Remedies Delivered at numerous pro-life rallies across Ireland in 2018. Edited for publication. It is not unusual for those fighting for any length of time in the pro-life, pro-family movement to be subject at certain times to the temptations of hopelessness and despair. It can often seem …
In this brief piece I would like to draw attention to the following exalted description of the privileges and prerogatives of the Roman Pontiff, by John Henry Cardinal Newman. In this short text, entitled Cathedra Sempiterna, he drew together passages from his Discourses on the Scope and Nature of University Education [later editions published as …
"There is the danger of a one-sided and an imperfect direction in holiness, and of laying great stress on trifles and things of secondary importance." It is a dogma that public revelation ended with the death of the last apostle. Nonetheless, throughout history God has made private revelations to chosen souls, even for the public …
Continue reading How should Catholics treat private revelations?