Tag: papacy

Celebrating the Real St. Francis of Assisi

Nazario Gerardi as St. Francis of Assisi, from the film Francesco, Giullare di Dio

Pope Pius XI, G.K. Chesterton, and Pope Francis have all warned about the danger of a sort of “False Francis of Assisi,” of loving a sort of distorted vision of the great Saint of Assisi.

The truth is, all of those things that the world (rightly) loves about St. Francis are, in fact, simply the natural result of St. Francis’ love of God. If you ignore that root of sanctity, you end up with these false Francises: Francis the Hippie, Francis the Italian Nationalist, Francis the poet, etc. The true Francis is Francis the Lover, which is to say, Francis the Saint.

The Pope and the Mongols

Vincent of Beauvais, Pope Innocent IV sends Dominicans and Franciscans out to the Tartars. From Le Miroir Historial (Vol. IV).

As the State Department has just acknowledged, we are currently witnessing the attempted genocide of Christians by ISIS. But this isn’t the first (and won’t be the last) time that someone tries to wipe the Church off of the map. One of the most frightening was the invasion of the Mongolian “Golden Horde” in the 13th century. We could learn a thing or two from Pope Innocent IV’s response.

St. Peter, the Rock… and the Stumbling Block

Nicolas Poussin, The Sacrament of Ordination (Christ presenting the Keys to Saint Peter) (1630s)

Partly, this is a post about St. Peter, and why he’s the “Rock” in Matthew 16. Partly, it’s a post about the connection between the Cross and Jesus’ Messiahship. Mostly, though, it’s a post about Jesus Christ, and the continual need to grow in our understanding of Him.

Did St. Josaphat Die in Vain?

Józef Simmler, Martyrdom of Jozafat Kuncewicz in Vitebsk in 1623 (1861)

  392 years ago today, Saint Josaphat, an Eastern Catholic bishop in Ukraine, was dragged out of his rectory and murdered by the Eastern Orthodox townspeople that he was trying to lead back into union with the Roman Catholic Church. The Church does not hesitate, in her prayers, to say that he poured out his… Continue reading Did St. Josaphat Die in Vain?

The Heretical Case Against the Synod

Nicolas Beatrizet, Christ's Charge to Peter (1540s)

Even a number of ordinarily sober-minded Catholics have begun panicking that the Synod on the Family is about to lead the Church into apostasy. While we should always pray for the Church, and pray especially for the Synod, these fears are unfounded… and heretical.

Felix Roma: The Role of Rome in the True Church

“O happy Rome, stained purple with the precious blood of so many princes!
You excel all the beauty of the world, not by your own glory,
but by the merits of the saints whose throats you cut with bloody swords.”

Three Rome-themed mini-posts to commemorate Sts. Peter and Paul: (I) the necessity of being united with the Roman Church, (II) the Roman Church not being the Seat of the Antichrist, and (III) an exciting new Catholic podcast centered around Rome.

So. Much. Popery!

I have two big pieces of news to share: 1) As you might have noticed, I’ve got a new blog layout and a new web address. I’ve switched over from Blogspot to WordPress, which should give me a little more flexibility in designing the page. All of this was made possible by John  Lamansky, a seminarian for… Continue reading So. Much. Popery!