There is much talk about being a ‘real man’: the warrior man, the man without emotions or sympathies, the rival of all things deemed weak. Yet this kind of polemic is a form of extremism—and extremism is the devil’s playground. Satan thrives in extremes. He despises virtue and constantly goads us toward deficiency on one side or excess on the other.

Hope is the virtue that expects God’s help. It places it’s trust in Him, looks to heaven as our final end, and waits patiently for His answer to prayers for help here in this life.

Through the psalms, we were reminded of our constant reliance on God; through the silence, our mortality; through the minimalist architecture, our tendency to excess; through reading, our ignorance; through the monks, our pride.

Who is the Holy Spirit? He is a friend who can help us be the men the world needs us to be. Let's look at the Holy Spirit as Counselor, Empowerer, and Friend to get a better understanding of His role in our lives.

Scrupulosity is the battle of overfocusing on not doing the wrong thing. Many men struggle with it in our Christian lives. How can we overcome the control that scrupulosity can have over us? It begins with prayer, but it can come through obedience of action and intelligence.

If we understand the Mass, we will better enter into it. The Mass is not meant for us, but for God. It is primarily about worship, but there are other purposes for the Mass.

The weapon that we possess and carry to fight evil is the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We, the Church on earth, are the Church militant, who wield the Rosary to draw deeper to God, receive countless graces, and to intercede against the terrors of this world. Let's go to war!

In a world that is so loud, prayer is the place to reset ourselves and find the rest promised by God. Prayer can even be a place of leisure, where we put off the anxieties of the world and the day. We can find the fruit of the Spirit and God's will for ourselves in daily prayer.