This is Alain de Boton, the only atheist philosopher I like. He’s talking about the errors of modernity over “romantic love”. But transpose everything he says from the realm of looking for a spouse to the relationship of the soul with God. This describes the psychological difficulties we have when we first undertake to establish the intimacy with God that the real pursuit of the spiritual life is about.

Here’s a question no one seems to be asking so far: why does Jorge Bergoglio think it’s OK to be a tyrant? It’s not often these days that I have the concentration to read though something on a screen all the way through, but this from my friend John Lamont is a real grabber if you know even a little about what is going on in the Church right now.

And a good way to start the day. We all know the words. Here’s the little squares so you can follow along. And here’s a website that has loads more. ~

  Welp… that’s that. We’re at the end of the Yoot Synod. The news that the Germans got everything they wanted can’t ever really be good. Informed source close to #Synod2018: "The German synod fathers got all their points through — it’s winner takes all for them. They say it's a 'revolution of listening' but it's really a revolution." pic.twitter.com/hh6abPc4fO — Edward Pentin (@EdwardPentin) October 27, 2018 The bishops were forced to vote on a document they couldn’t read and hadn’t been allowed to examine beforehand.

that the only time I ever actually get any writing done is when the internet at home is shut off. Something else I’ve noticed, that constant use of the internet does things to your will, your ability to function, your mood, and not good things. It fogs out your brain; your mental faculties corrode and makes you depressed. You lose concentration and you even lose the ability to shut it off and go do something else.

…And it came to pass that in the last days of the reign of Alexander the Great, he divided his great empire among his most trusted officers, and when he died, they took up crowns and began to rule... “From them came forth a sinful root, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the king; he had been a hostage in Rome. He began to reign in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks.

Why do contemporary “conservative” Catholic painters keep producing works that don’t quite make the grade? How did we get from Pinturicchio’s altarpieces to, well… this? And what’s the difference? We’re used to movies in which sacred persons are being played by actors, so in a sense we’re accustomed to being lied to about their identity. It’s OK for a movie because that’s how that art form works. But these paintings use the same framework, and it fails, because film and sacred painting have completely different purposes.

Sorry. Been away from here for a bit. Stuff’s been going on. Had a few deadlines and then Canadian Thanksgiving!! in lovely sunny (and humid! and mosquito-y) Santa Marinella, (where I had a great snorkel in the Med on Monday afternoon) with all our lovely friends, including… …Larry the turkey! And of course, the holy pumpkin pie. A small company this year, but a splendid time was had by all.

Repost In Praise of Hate by Hilary White for The Remnant April 21, 2015 Stop me if you’ve heard this one: “I sense a lot of anger in you…” How many here have had someone say to them, with that infuriating tone of lugubrious and earnest condescension, “You seem to really be filled with hatred.” I’m sure you’re familiar with the tone – that of a concerned but deeply disappointed nanny speaking to a rather bad child.

This latest retelling of the grisly story of St. Luke’s NuChurch re-education gulag for recalcitrant priests is reminding me that we need to talk about something. Let’s talk about the abuse of holy obedience, and how Holy Obedience doesn’t count if we’re talking about spiritual suicide; obeying your superiors right over the cliff to perdition. This from Zed has been gaining some traction in the wake of the horror story of Fr.