To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless. (GK Chesterton, +1936)
Month: February 2026
Will the World Return to Religion? A Public Debate in New York City between Clarence Darrow and G.K. Chesterton
(This is a longer read from long-time contributor Carl Sundell, which may well be his swan song, even if we hope for more from his delightful pen. Perhaps peruse this in sections, for there is much to be gained in this window of how men used to debate, even those who differed deeply, as gentlemen[…]
Benedict’s Resignation
Hard to believe that it was a fateful thirteen years ago on this February 28th that Pope Benedict XVI resigned the papacy, the first Pope to do so since Gregory XII, who voluntarily stepped down towards the close of the Council of Constance (1415) to end what has come to be known as the ‘Great[…]
The Perils of Sedevacantism
(With John-Henry Westen of LifeSite raising the question of sedevacantism, urging a petition for the cardinals to question the validity of Francis’ and Leo’s papacies, here is a re-post of something I wrote earlier, on why we must tread with great caution in declaring a papacy, or any given pope, null and void. Whatever good[…]
Saint Gregory Narek, Mystic, Monk and Doctor
The Armenian monk Gregory Narek (Grigor Narekatsi), whose life spanned the latter half of the 11th century (ca. 950 – 1003), was enrolled amongst the elite Doctors of the Church by Pope Francis in 2015, and soon afterwards placed in the universal liturgical calendar. His life was externally uneventful, at least in a worldly sense.[…]
Saint Gabriel Possenti – God, Prayer…and Guns?
Gabriel of the Seven Sorrows, who died on this day in 1862, may be seen as a kind of male Saint Thérèse, but, as in all things male and female, they were also quite different; Both were difficult, willful children, but managed, by the grace of God, to bend those wills to God’s will. Like[…]
One Stop Death Shop
Well, it’s certainly convenient, as well as profitable: A funeral home in Vancouver that will kill you, then cremate your body – or, if you insist, they’ll bury you in one of those ‘ecologically insensitive’ coffins. Tut, tut. Why not just go straight to compost? The murder is less expensive than disposal of the resulting[…]
How Byzantine Spirituality Speaks to the Contemporary West
Western culture is marked by a strange double-bind. It is interminably fast-moving yet restless, hyper-connected and yet crushingly lonely, materially comfortable and at the same time spiritually exhausted. The endless abundance of our technological age has given us everything imaginable under the sun, except peace of mind. Into this post-modern landscape, the ancient specter of[…]
Jesus, son of Nun, led the people across the Jordan into the promised land. Jesus, our Saviour, has promised the land of the living to all who have crossed the true Jordan, and have believed and are circumcised in heart. (Saint Aphraates, +345)
SSPX Plans to Cross the Rubicon…but the Wrong Way: Alea Iacta Est?
Well, perhaps it was inevitable, given the intractability: The SSPX has decided to go ahead with the ordination of bishops on July 1st, 2026, which is just about 38 years to the day after the first illicit consecrations on June 30th, 1988. When we say ‘illicit’, it means ‘against the law’, or at least not in[…]