Clothes should focus us on our dignity. Clothes direct people to our faces and therefore foster personal relationships. Clothes have a moral, not just a practical purpose. A good question for dress, then, is whether it is “personal” or objectifies us.

Dear Readers, The Catholic church was today thrown into turmoil by the publication of a motu proprio, Traditionis Custodes, that in essence reverses the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI and places heavy restrictions on the celebration of the traditional Latin Mass. Further, for all practical purposes, the traditional Mass is abrogated as a […]

It is a Saturday morning. I wake while it is still dark and blindly shuffle into my clothes. My children sleep. The world is still as I step into the chill morning air to attend the early morning Low Mass at the Abbey of Our Lady of Clear Creek.  I arrive at the monastery while […]

I’ve shared before on this blog my love for the ancient Roman Rite, also known as the Latin Mass, the Tridentine Mass, or the Extraordinary Form. But whenever I write about this topic, I inevitably get emails from readers who were inspired to visit a Mass in the Extraordinary Form, only to be confused and […]

Back in the nineteenth century Father Frederick Faber famously wrote that the Mass was the “most beautiful thing this side of heaven.” As every Mass is a re-presentation of Calvary, and the altar itself the place where heaven and earth meet, one can understand why Saint Peter Julian Eymard called the Holy Sacrifice the “holiest […]

Today, I want to broach a controversial topic, knowing full well that I may cause a ruckus. I want to talk about masculinity and the liturgy. (Fair warning: This is going to be long.) I will start with a few caveats. First, I do not believe the liturgy should ever be a controversial issue. It […]

Society is growing more and more casual. I have seen people shopping for groceries in their pajama pants and fuzzy slippers. I’ve been to world-class classical concerts where people are dressed in Hawaiian shirts and jeans.  In fact, it’s hard to think of anything people will dress up for anymore. Even weddings and funerals are getting […]