“The habit doesn’t make the monk,” but it definitely helps. The soldier’s uniform, the priest’s cassock, or the schoolboy’s uniform does not make them who they are. It does, however, influence the way a person thinks and acts. It identifies him to the public. A man is made up of both body … Read more
Cluny, the famous abbey in Burgundy, led the monastic reform of the High Middle Ages. Academic studies about Cluny have multiplied, and the monastery’s prestige has grown accordingly. Its glorious history, now better known, arouses an ever-increasing interest and even enthusiasm among researchers. Cluny began when Blessed Berno (850-927) founded a small … Read more
OTTUMWA, Iowa—The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) has just launched a petition drive asking Mayor Benjamin Foote of Ottumwa, Iowa, to cancel a Satanic invocation scheduled for November 3, which is also Election Day. The controversy began after Matthew Dalbey, a member of the Iowa chapter … Read more
Families have the obligation to maintain their social standing and family name at all levels in society. They have a duty of honor to themselves never to lower their standards, except when necessary to avoid sin. Therefore, families have a duty to save money, work and keep themselves at a level that … Read more
Among all the figures in the Passion of Our Lord, Simon of Cyrene stands out for his simplicity. He is neither an apostle nor a well-known disciple, but an ordinary man. This outsider from North Africa comes to Jerusalem to observe the Passover. He is taken from the crowd and unexpectedly thrust … Read more
“Another petition! What’s the point?” This objection comes up often. A signature alone can’t repeal a law, force a bureaucrat to back down, stop a movie or immediately change a political decision. However, such an attitude toward a petition fails to address its true purpose. If petitions were truly useless, governments, lawmakers, … Read more
Today, October 21, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of Blessed Charles I of Austria, also known as Charles Habsburg. Curiously, we celebrate his feast day on the day he got married, not on the day of his death. He unexpectedly became Emperor of Austria-Hungary, witnessed the collapse of his empire, … Read more
In January 2024, two dozen students from Muscatine High School in Iowa stood on Chinese soil and presented Xi Jinping with a flag that read “Grandpa Xi, Here We Are.” Communist China funded the trip to promote “Marxism-Leninism.” That first presentation represented the whole program in miniature — and the program is … Read more
When in need of special graces, I visit Lourdes. I go to the blessed Grotto where Our Lady appeared to Saint Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. Millions of pilgrims like me gather there every year to seek out grace, favors, and peace. I have never returned unsatisfied or been “left unaided.” Thus, I … Read more
Massachusetts needed more natural gas pipeline capacity ten years ago, and it needs a lot more today. In 2015, Maura Healey helped kill the Algonquin pipeline upgrade that would have provided cheap natural gas to Massachusetts consumers. Today, the state is paying dearly for her folly. On October 1, 2026, the now-Gov. … Read more