Benedictus Deus

From Pope Benedict’s Urbi et Orbi address (emphasis added):

“Salvator noster”: Christ is also the Savior of men and women today. Who will make this message of hope resound, in a credible way, in every corner of the earth? Who will work to ensure the recognition, protection and promotion of the integral good of the human [...]

I just added two posts on Freedom. It was one post, but it quickly so large that I broke it into two. The first one is two posts down, and the second one is right below this post. It is probably the “meatiest” post I have ever put, which a good thing [...]

It seems to me that many, if not most people today see only this minimalist definition of freedom. And when your definition of freedom is limited to a lack of restriction, you loose sight of the freedom for excellence. This skews your world view then because no person of good will wants to take away [...]

In one chapter of the Cube and the Cathedral George Weigel writes about the nature of Freedom. He gives Aquinas’ view of what it means for a person to be free. According to Weigel, Aquinas’ view is that “freedom is a means to human excellence and happiness. Freedom is the capacity to [...]

On the old calendar today is the feast of Thomas the Apostle. Here is a link to Pope Benedict’s lesson on St. Thomas. Great stuff as usual from His Holiness.

It’s the week before winter, so that means this is an Ember week. That means fasting an abstinence for Wednesday (which I flubbed) Friday and Saturday. Pray for a good winter, and for our clergy. For more see my original Ember Week post here.
Why do I keep re-posting this? I believe [...]

Relevant to my previous post, St. Benedict also mentions the following later in the Rule:
There is nothing so opposed to the Christian character as over-indulgence according to Our Lord’s words, “See to it that your hearts be not burdened with over-indulgence” (Luke 21:34).

The title of this post is the title of the 4th chapter of St. Benedict’s Rule.  As the title suggests, St. Benedict lays out what is necessary to get ourselves ready to do good works.  Among other things he says, “Renounce yourself in order to follow Christ; discipline your body; do not pamper yourself, but [...]

We have a nice (if small) cathedral in our diocese. The stain glass windows are gorgeous, there are large bronze Stations of the Cross, the alter has been renovated, but it’s still pretty nice. But the votive candles are those stupid flickering electric things that you turn on with a button push. [...]

I am reading George Weigle’s The Cube and the Cathedral. In making a point about Henri De Lubac’s work, The Drama of Atheistic Humanism, Weigle gives a one sentence summary about the thought of four Enlightenment philosophers. The philosophers in question are Comte, Feuerbach, Marx, and Nietzsche. Granted, one sentance doesn’t get you [...]