Signs of Hope: Marriage, Prayer, Conversion

I think we’ll make this a regular event, listing the various signs of hope – locally and globally – in our fragmenting and fractious world. After all, Saint Paul’s words that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more, and Saint John’s, that the true light has come into the world, and the darkness has not been able to overcome it should offer some spiritual buoyancy and resilience in this new saeculum obscurum. Feel free to send stories along, and we’ll post them.

So we begin, locally: The college at which I teach, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom, has thirteen weddings of young alumni this year alone, all of them spiritually and morally prepared to begin the adventurous pilgrimage that is marriage. They are truly the good soil for future generations in the Church.

And, added to that, we have three alumni ordinations to the priesthood- Deo gratias!

And on the international scene, the young Dutch philosopher and political commentator Eva Vlaadignerbroek has entered the Catholic Church, along with her Protestant father. At 26 years old, we may hope she has many years to do much to bring many others of her lost generation into the one, true Church, and I’m heartened she was able to see past all the scandals and miseries foisted upon us, even our current hierarchy and Magisterium. The Church – in her 2000 years of worship and teaching – truly is the ‘pillar and bulwark’ of the truth, if one can just see past the present tense. I was intrigued to read that her parents – her mother a Catholic – were classical musicians, and Eva grew up listening to the most glorious of Catholic music. Beauty may yet save us. The Dutch – once the staunchest of Catholics, along with the Quebecois – were amongst the first to fall off the proverbial cliff after Vatican II – witness the abominable ‘Dutch Catechism’, an affront to Saint Peter Canisius – and may this young woman’s bold example prove an inspiration to her country, and the world.

Last night, a local restaurant in my town hosted a drag queen event, which sold out, and so a second was put on, for this evening. Wait, wait, there is a good side to this, and one silver lining, it’s that this was limited to those 19 and over. It’s one for adults to choose to indulge in such ‘entertainment’, but I do wonder whether these ‘performers’ also ‘perform’ for children. Another golden lining was that our parish priest organized a holy hour of reparation, which was packed, full of families with young children, a lot more than were present at said show. The immanentization of the eschaton, as Voeglin put it. We choose our path, to heaven or to hell, and it’s up to us, with the help of God’s grace, of course, given to all, without measure.

A Closed, Unsustainable, Descending Loop

As a follow-up to my thoughts on Payette’s payout, here be a stark image of where are here in Canada. As the graph shows in, well, graphic terms, since 2025, the public sector has contributed to 95.5% of economic growth. The private sector – which funds the public sector, or is supposed to – has[…]Continue reading→

Remembering Father Alphonse de Valk

(Today marks the sixth anniversary of the death of Father Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B., a faithful, courageous and indefatigable Basilian priest, pro-life-and-family apostle, and the founder of Catholic Insight magazine. Here is what we wrote those on his entering into eternity five years ago, as we continue to remember him in our prayers and thoughts)[…]Continue reading→

Presidential Pardon of Weronika Krawczyk

As a good news, follow-up to our story from Poland, of the persecution of Weronika Krawczyk for her pro-life views, we heard that she has been granted a presidential pardon. One might still wonder why one needs a presidential pardon for simply holding the long-held belief that the child within the womb is a child,[…]Continue reading→

Pope Leo and a Rosary for Peace

Pope Leo XIV has asked Catholics across the world to join him in a Rosary for peace today, at 18:00 Rome time (6 pm), which would be noon from where I write (EST). If you are able, whether at that time or another, and in whatever way you pray, to join in intercession with the[…]Continue reading→

Payette’s Payout

I was glancing through some headlines, and noticed a mention of Julie Payette – engineer and astronaut and sometime the Queen’s representative in Canada – which brought back vague memories. She was appointed Governor-General by Justin Trudeau in 2017. Ms. Payette resigned in 2021, amidst claims that she created a ‘toxic work environment’, with allegations[…]Continue reading→

Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów

We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→

Weronika Krawczyk and Injustice in Poland

Catholic Action in Poland has issued a formal statement appealing to the President of the Republic of Poland to pardon Weronika Krawczyk—convicted for warning other women against an abortion-performing gynaecologist. Catholic Action (AK) emphasizes that no apology is owed to a doctor who has performed numerous abortions and proposed others; furthermore, the organization considers the[…]Continue reading→

Three Easter Musical Gems: Bach, Palestrina and Byrd

A very blessed and glorious Easter! Christus surrexit vere, alleluia! As we begin this Easter Octave with the great Solemnity of Easter, music to lift the soul would be one of Bach’s Easter cantatas, composed during his time at Leipzig in the early 1700’s, for the six Sundays of this festive season, leading up to[…]Continue reading→

Saint Isidore of Seville, the Internet and Industriousness

Today, April 4th, muted this year by Holy Saturday, is the commemoration of Saint Isidore of Seville (560-636) a bishop and doctor of the Church during a tumultuous age, when civilization was crumbling, coming apart at its very seams, which may sound sort of au courant. Then again, the form of this world has always[…]Continue reading→

An Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday

The time between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is one of waiting, in silence, as the world wonders – anticipates – what will happen, after the death of Christ. We re-live this time each year in the anamnesis of our liturgy, and in turn look forward to the glorious re-creation of all things at the[…]Continue reading→