Obey in Order to be Free No, dear atheist. Giving a distant echo to the words of the Bishop Saint Remigius upon baptizing Clovis, the first Christian King of the Franks, I say to you: “Burn what you have adored and adore what you have burned.” Yes, burn egoism, doubt, apathy, and, … Read more
“Long live the sacred cross: long live suffering!” How foreign these words of Saint Veronica Giulani are to our modern ears. Tell-tale examples like widespread abortion and drug use are unnecessary to see that contemporary society will do anything to avoid suffering. However, in turning its back on suffering, it has … Read more
The year is 1565. Soleyman the Great, the Ottoman Turk’s greatest leader orders an advance on Malta in an attempt to finish once and for all with the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem (Hospitallers), his greatest enemy. Encouraged by his victory over them at Rhodes 42 years earlier, he is certain … Read more
Americans love heroes. Something about them grips the American soul. Perhaps the attraction lies precisely in going against the zeitgeist of this hedonistic age. Heroes are outside the box. They do not fare well in a culture where real living has been reduced to pre-packaged experiences and media-generated events. They get lost … Read more
In the center of West Point’s historic campus in upstate New York stands a statue of Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Below him is a plaque bearing the words of wisdom he once spoke. “On the fields of friendly strife are sewn the seeds that upon other fields, on other days, shall bear the fruits … Read more
This scene is from the island of Ischia, in Italy, after a storm. Nature has recovered her cheerful appearance and an elderly peasant woman accompanied by her children – perhaps her grandchildren – walks up a hillside. The road is not made of asphalt, nor is it lined with movie theaters, cafes, … Read more
Modern society obsessively avoids suffering, risk and danger. It secures everything with seatbelts and safety rails, air conditions the summer heat, prints warnings on coffee cups and advises that that safety glasses should be used while working with hammers. Certainly such precautions have prevented misfortune. However, since heroism and excellence are born … Read more
Throughout our history, our flag has always played a key role. Our fondness for this national symbol cannot be dismissed as mere sentimental attachment. Rather, the flag somehow calls upon us to look beyond our individual concerns and grasp the reality of the invisible bonds that link us together as a people. … Read more
Self-appointed reformers always arise in times of crises offering “brilliant” solutions that attempt to demolish the Church’s most venerable traditions. Priestly celibacy, a glorious trait of the Latin Church, has been a constant target of these so-called reformers. Curiously enough, abolishing priestly celibacy comes hand-in-hand with destroying the indissolubility of marriage. This … Read more
During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries there lived in Quito, Ecuador, a Spanish nun whose little-known but extraordinary life has a direct connection with our days. Mother Mariana of Jesus Torres y Berriochoa, a nun of the Conceptionist Order, surpassed the already strict discipline of her congregation in the traditional penances she … Read more