The Narthex

Review of: Mere Marriage: Sexual Difference and Christian Doctrine. By Andrew D. Cannon, Ph.D. Alphonsus Publishing, available at MereMarriage.com. 215 pages. $24.95.   George Weigel devoted eleven pages of his 1999 biography of Pope John Paul II, Witness to Hope, to the saint-pope’s Theology of the Body. He concluded that…

Everyone -- whether priest, bishop, or layperson -- has ideas on how to change the liturgy. If I had my druthers, I would make the following changes, but these changes are neither mine to make nor a priest's to make: the congregation would kneel for the penitential moments of the…

The post-conciliar period saw liturgical abuses. One alleged abuse is moving altars away from the back walls of churches to allow, or require, the celebrant to face the people. Let us look at Cardinal Ratzinger’s 2003 foreword to U.M. Lang's Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer (2d ed.…

The Novus Ordo brought a number of reforms besides celebrating in the vernacular. In his Apostolic Constitution of 1969, Pope St. Paul VI approvingly referred to Pius XII’s restoration in 1951 and 1955 of the Easter Vigil and the Rite of Holy Week, respectively. He also cited the desire of…

Cardinal Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, wrote in the Foreword to U.M. Lang's Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer that the Vatican Council did not require the “disappearance of Latin.” In support of this statement, the cardinal quoted Section 1 of Paragraph 36 of the Constitution on…

I begin this installment by stating my love for the Latin language. I studied it in high school and graduate school. I drew on my knowledge of the language to write my master’s thesis, Aquinas on Marriage. I recently taught Latin for five years to grade schoolers on Saturday mornings.…

The first Mass in English in the United States was celebrated on August 24, 1964, by Father Frederick R. McManus in St. Louis. A New York Times article, “Catholics Hear Mass in English Today for First Time in the U.S.” (Aug. 24, 1964), describes the translation as “hurried”; I am perplexed…

This new blog series addresses certain liturgical changes in the Latin Rite Mass, from the vantage point of a half century after Vatican II. These changes notably began with Mass in the vernacular languages rather than solely in Latin. I begin by observing that I know of two instances in…

Typically our statues and paintings portray saints as individuals. And except for martyrs who are often canonized in groups, canonizations are of individual saints. Nonetheless, many non-martyred canonized saints have had deep relationships with their contemporaries who were also saints. A few are: Mary and Joseph; Sarah and Tobias; Ruth…

Over twenty blog posts ago I noted that during the 40 years from 1978 to 2018, 1,419 individuals were canonized and 1,249 of these were martyrs. Of the remainder, about 15-20 were laypersons -- some of which are special cases: those to whom Our Lady appeared, two who took vows…

In order to learn how to recognize holiness in laypersons, we have looked at people by occupation. Let's finish with a few more: Artists Do you think any of the following Catholic artists were holy? Consider the painters Giotto (c. 1267-1337), Michelangelo (1475-1564), Raphael (1483-1520), Rubens (1577-1640), Jan van Eyck…

Continuing our discussion of recognizing lay holiness, let us look at philanthropists. We could discuss the donors of large sums -- $10 million, $100 million -- to causes consistent with Catholic social teaching, including Catholic schools, hospitals, and more. Many such donors take advantage of “naming rights” -- for buildings,…

Would you say that any of the following Catholics, and their spouses, were holy? Writers The married couple Frank Sheed (1897-1982) and Maisie Ward (1889-1975) were writers and founders of a great Catholic publishing house, Sheed & Ward, in 1926. They had a son and a daughter. Other prominent lay…

How does it look when men and women strive for holiness at work? Let's take examples from various occupations: Entertainers/TV-Film Personalities Among prominent Catholic entertainers is convert Alec Guinness (1914-2000). (See Guinness’s first of three autobiographies, Blessings in Disguise, from 1986.) See also his portrayal as G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown…

We continue to consider how holiness has been manifested in lay people of various occupations. Hospitality & Retail Workers At least two members of religious orders transformed the task of “doorkeeper” -- porter or meet-and-greeter -- to a holy life. One is Br. André Bessette, C.S.C. (1845-1937, canonized 2010), about…