VHE VII: Learn of Dietrich and snippets of Fatima

I know i said the next thing i would publish would be contraversial, but i figured I would post this now and the other thing sometime next week....


So onto Von Hildebrands Everywhere part 7


First, I finally got around to finishing a playlist of videos that should give you an understanding of who Dietrich von Hildebrand was and what his teachings are. The talks are from an old EWTN show A Knight for Truth, the audio files can also be accessed HERE

Also OnePeterFive just published a piece with the blessing of Alice von Hildebrand where she talks about the third secret of Fatima (eventually I will post on the new things about this, so wait please).  You can read the article on this HERE


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And since Fatima came up here is a bonus video care of Franciscan University with Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch talking about the real threat of Islam and ISIS along with prominent theologians like Scott Hahn

Furthermore I consider that Islam must be overcome by the reign of Christ the King

VHE VI: Dietrich von Hildebrand critiques Fr. John Hardon's catechism

As you may know, I am a huge proponent of both Fr. John Hardon and Dietrich von Hildebrand, so when I came across a letter in which one critiqued the other, I felt the need to make it better known. The article is kind of a follow up to the article on Fr. Hardon's own critique of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, but this time the tables are (charitably) reversed:

The article originally appeared in the Remnant and Christian Order, but I found the text onl8ine at the Fatima apostolate HERE

A Word of Caution

by Dietrich von Hildebrand

"I HAD looked forward to Jesuit Father John A. Hardon's Catholic Catechism in the hope that it would be not only faithful to Catholic Dogma, but also filled with an authentic Catholic ethos. After reading the book, I am reluctantly forced to say that I am somewhat disillusioned. I feel it my duty, therefore, to write the following words of criticism in order to warn the reader that, side by side with many beautiful and true parts in the "Catechism", there is to be found a spirit of compromise with an imaginary "modern man" and, as a result, certain concessions which seem to have no other justification than the desire to be "up to date".

It goes without saying that, compared with the heretical Dutch Catechism, Father Hardon's book gives us much to rejoice about. Regarding the fundamental articles of faith, such as the divinity of Christ, the virgin birth, the resurrection, and the ascension, there is absolutely no trace of any "progressive" interpretation, no dishonest shunning of a clear and unequivocal profession of revealed truth. But if we think of the fatal spiritual trends which now fill the air and have unfortunately spread even to the Church, if we consider the devastated vineyard of the Lord, we cannot but deplore the book's seeming blindness to the dangers of these trends.

It is unfortunate that Father Hardon makes Vatican II the basis of his "Catechism". He forgets that this Council has been officially designated as strictly pastoral by the very Fathers of the Council and by the Holy Father himself. It does not, and indeed it cannot, depart in the slightest way from any de fide teaching of any previous Council, including above all the Council of Trent and Vatican I. His "Catechism" does not restrict itself to the defined dogmas of the Church; it is not simply an introduction or a summary and concise explanation of de fide teaching, such as we find in Denzinger. This being so, it was incumbent upon the author to emphasize the radical difference between the unchanging doctrine of the Church on the one hand, and the pastoral and administrative decisions on the other; which latter can, in principle, be revoked without the slightest prejudice to consistency or claims to infallibility. But there is nowhere any emphasis upon this radical difference. The fact that the author makes Vatican II, and even many subsequent administrative changes, the basis for his "Catechism" causes the book to be a kind of apologetic work for the actual state of the Church today and for everything which has been either officially introduced — such as the Novus Ordo of the Mass — or is simply allowed — such as Communion in the hand in many European countries.

Pervading the book, therefore, is the imaginary "modern man", to whom the Church must adapt the message of Christ — certainly not in its substantive content, but in its form. On page 441, we find the following words about the liturgy:

"The Council's extensive doctrine on the liturgy marks a turning point in the history of Roman Catholicism. It is a courageous response to the expectations created by an evolutionary age, and a timely answer to the demands for increased light and strength in the communitarian age. On both counts, the liturgy offers great promise to help the Church progress, according to God's design, and to preserve the Church, in Christ's words, as a kingdom that is not of this world."

There are several questionable statements in this short passage. First, the changes in the liturgy are presented as progress. This implies that the Novus Ordo is superior to the Mass of St. Pius V; likewise that the changes in the rites for the seven sacraments are progress. It implies that relative to the needs of our time the older liturgy, whether in the Mass or the sacraments, was defective and stood in need of improvement. I challenge these implications, especially when they are presented in a catechism, as doctrine. We are obliged by no article of faith, by no principle of loyalty, to affirm that the new liturgy constitutes progress. If indeed we are to obey such administrative changes in the liturgy, as long as they do not conflict with our conscience, we are in no way obliged to approve of them. It is fully consistent with the teaching of the Church to expect, and to hope, that the Church in the future will return to her former liturgy. Even though the Novus Ordo was introduced for supposed pastoral reasons, the unchallengeable fact is that it has coincided with a sharp drop in Sunday Mass attendance. And would anyone claim that it has strengthened faith in Christ and in the doctrines of the Church? That it has deepened the love of Christ? As of now the changes all point to a pastoral disaster. One cannot be accused of disloyalty to Christ for simply noting this. Indeed, it would seem that loyalty to Christ demands that we face up to it. When a ship runs aground, loyalty to the Captain is no reason for not sounding the alarm.

A grave error lies in the notion of "an evolutionary age" — as if it were something positive to which the Church must conform. Does the author consider it progress, an awakening to true reality, that Teilhard de Chardin's unfortunate ideas about evolution fill the air? Does he not see that the prevailing tendency to submit everything, even truth — even divine truth! — to evolution amounts to a diabolical undermining of revealed truth? Truth is not truth if it is ever changing. The "courageous response" called for is precisely the opposite of yielding to evolutionary mythologies.

Another serious error concerns our "communitarian age". Again this is presented as a positive thing which calls for an appropriate response by the Church. But the "communitarianism" of our age is really a horrible collectivism, and this, too, has invaded the sanctuary of the Church. This collectivism blinds us not only to the unfathomable value of each individual person, but also to the true idea of community. Does Father Hardon seriously believe that our age is marked by genuine community, that in medieval times or in the Counter-reformation there was less sense of true community than today, when Communism has conquered much of the world? Collectivism is the deadly enemy of Christian revelation. Supernatural community is possible only in Christ and through Christ. Only when we forget everything else and are completely absorbed in Holy Communion can we reach true supernatural union with other members of the Mystical Body of Christ. Only in the direct adoring love of Christ can we attain true charity towards our neighbor. It is false to say that we discover Christ in our neighbor; rather must we say that in Christ alone do we find our neighbor! Yet all this is completely foreign to the "communitarian" spirit of today, with its idolatry of the collective.

It is an easy step to move from praising putative qualities of our age to the heresy of adapting religion to man. In the Renaissance Cardinal Cajetan condemned this heresy in words that should be burned into our consciousness: "Man must be adapted to religion, not religion to man."

But Father Hardon seems to go even further. On page 454 we read:

"Changes in the Church's liturgical customs are not only the result of prudent adaptations to the times or modifications of external practices in order to increase the people's devotion and vitalize their active participation in divine worship; they are also sometimes the outgrowth of a genuine development of doctrine that calls for corresponding expression in appropriate liturgical forms."

Does the author really believe that the aim of the Novus Ordo is to increase faith in the Real Presence of Christ at the Consecration? During the Consecration of the Precious Blood, the words "mysterium fidei" have been eliminated. Does Father Hardon believe this change is really the outgrowth of a greater faith in transubstantiation? Further, would he say that the obvious weakening of faith in transubstantiation is itself an outgrowth of a "genuine development of doctrine in the Church"?

It behooves us to ask whether the decisive changes in the rite of Mass are not rather due to ecumenism than to any genuine development of doctrine. The outstanding German theologian Georg May, in a very fine article in the German review Una Voce, pointed out that no one can overlook the Protestantization of the liturgy. The architects of Church policy have tried to eliminate everything that might possibly separate us from the Protestants. Father Hardon even notes this with approval in that part of his "Catechism" dealing with ecumenism. One wonders why he does not link this very ecumenism with the changes in the liturgy. Here are his words, page 243:

"On the practical level this means that Catholics should avoid any words, judgments or actions that do not correspond to what other Christians believe or do. Positively, they should engage in dialogue with separated brethren through discussion, co-operative action, and corporate prayer. Such dialogue presumes study and the desire to learn how the Orthodox, Anglicans, and Protestants worship, what they believe, and how their allegiance to Christ has affected their lives."

The above passage is sad to contemplate. Here is a Roman Catholic Catechism whose author certainly intends to oppose liberal and progressive trends and to be strictly orthodox. Yet he says that Catholics must avoid words, judgments and actions which do not correspond to what other Christians believe. This attitude reflects not ecumenism, but rather the fatal disease which I call "ecumenitis". Let us recall the recent Eucharistic Congress in Melbourne, Australia. Cardinal Knox, anticipating the suggestion of Father Hardon, purposely omitted the great Eucharistic procession so as not to offend the Protestants he had invited to participate. Indeed, eliminating the procession was one of the conditions of their presence at the Congress! Can we fairly call this consistent with genuine ecumenism? If we have real Christian love for our Protestant brethren, we must have the desire to see them find the one, true, authentic Christian faith. True love can only seek to have the individual Protestant convert to Catholicism. During my long life I have met innumerable ardent converts from Protestantism to Catholicism. (I am myself a convert, though from only a weak and merely formal Protestantism). But not a single convert I have known was ever converted by public dialogues between Catholics and Protestants; still less by Catholics who tried to make any compromises with Protestantism.

At the end of the chapter on ecumenism, Father Hardon states:

"One of the main reasons historically for Christian disunity was the disloyalty to Christ among those who called themselves Catholics."

This historical thesis is more than ambiguous. The birth of Luther's sola fides thesis is in no way caused by the "disloyalty" of Catholics in the Renaissance. As deplorable as this disloyalty is — especially the moral corruption among the hierarchy — it is impossible to claim that being scandalized by this immorality led to a theology in which only faith counts and all morality has no bearing on the salvation of man. The being scandalized by the disloyalties in Rome would be hypocritical in a man who said: "Sin as much as you will, but have an unshakable faith". Is the abolition of priesthood and monastic life the response to the disloyalty of Catholics?

And has the author forgotten the role of the princes and kings who enforced Protestantism? "Cuius regio eius et religo". Does he believe that Henry VIII's separation from Rome was caused by indignation about the disloyalty of Catholics?

Has the author forgotten that, in the same year of Luther's famous thesis, 1517, the "Oratory of Divine Love" was founded by St. Cajetan in Rome — a real reform!

Speaking of ethics, on page 284, Father Hardon quotes blasphemy and theft as being immoral under all circumstances. How can he place blasphemy and theft in the same category? Blasphemy is always morally evil — but taking another person's property belongs to a completely different category. It is legitimate and even morally good if it is the only way to save a man from starvation."


Also, I forgot to post the most recent interview on the Eric Metaxas Show with Lady Alice so here it is:



Eventually i will cut and paste this out but for now this will have to do

VHE IV: The Witness of Dietrich von Hildebrand

If you haven't figured it out by now I am a huge fan [right word?] of Dietrich von Hildebrand and I want people to learn more of this man whom Venerable Pope Pius XII called "The 20th century doctor of the Church"


So, for your viewing pleasure and to better understand Dietrich John Henry Crosby of the Hildebrand Project did an excellent talk on him.  I would also encourage you to look at the other videos for the project HERE

Von Hildebrands Everywhere Part Three

Seeing as it has been a while since I posted news on Deitrich and Alice von Hildebrand, I would like to take this opportunitee to bring a few things to light for your education and enjoyment.

This weeks keep the faith talk on the FSSP's North American site features a talk given by Alice in 1996.  The talk concerns platos philosophy of education and is well worth a listen. (eventually i will upload this to youtube, but for now it is only on their site and only for the week of October 5- 11th.

http://fssp.com/press/2015/10/keep-the-faith-talk-for-october-5-2015/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Fssp-NorthAmericanDistrict+%28FSSP+-+North+American+District%29&utm_content=FaceBook


Alice was also on The World over with Raymond Arroyo a few months back, I'm just now reposting this because I forgot about it:




The Washington Free Beacon did a review of "My Battle against Hitler" HERE

Oh and over at the Latin Mass Society Chairman blog they have made a point of posting on Deitrich's different views.  All of these posts are wonderful and well worth your time!

1: Aestheticism Dietrich von Hildebrand on beauty, 

2: Evangelical Poverty Dietrich von Hildebrand on beauty, 

3: Irrelevance Dietrich von Hildebrand on beauty, 

4: Raising Hearts to God

Von Hildebrands Everywhere Part Deux

Part II of what I hope to be an ongoing series on the Von Hildebrands.

First, Rorate Caeli posted a short article about Dietrich and his opposition to Pope Paul VI's handling of the Petrine Office:

Dietrich von Hildebrand Confronts Pope Paul VI

"TLM: You realize, of course, Doctor, that as soon as you mention this idea of infiltration, there will be those who roll their eyes in exasperation and remark, “Not another conspiracy theory!”

AVH: I can only tell you what I know. It is a matter of public record, for instance, that Bella Dodd, the ex-Communist who reconverted to the Church, openly spoke of the Communist Party’s deliberate infiltration of agents into the seminaries. She told my husband and me that when she was an active party member, she had dealt with no fewer than four cardinals within the Vatican “who were working for us.”

Many a time I have heard Americans say that Europeans “smell conspiracy wherever they go.” But from the beginning, the Evil One has “conspired” against the Church – and has always aimed in particular at destroying the Mass and sapping belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. That some people are tempted to blow this undeniable fact out of proportion is no reason for denying its reality. On the other hand, I, European born, am tempted to say that many Americans are naïve; living in a country that has been blessed by peace, and knowing little about history, they are more likely than Europeans (whose history is a tumultuous one) to fall prey to illusions.Rousseau has had an enormous influence in the United States. When Christ said to His apostles at the Last Supper that “one of you will betray Me,” the apostles were stunned. Judas had played his hand so artfully that no one suspected him, for a cunning conspirator knows how to cover his tracks with a show of orthodoxy."

You can read the whole article HERE

Also Eric Metaxas had Alice on his show again where she talks about a miracle (in relation to her late husband):




Also Glenn Beck had Alice on his TV show for the whole hour the other night.  The clip below is just a taste of it.  You can subscribe to The Blaze for an initial trial of $1, and when you are done you can unsubscribe and you will get your dollar back.  It is worth watching the whole interview:

+JMJ+

Von Hildebrand's Everywhere!

Lady von Hildebrand and her Husband Dietrich

There has been a flurry of recent interviews of Alice von Hildebrand over the past month or so that have not received much attention, so in an effort to make this great family of theologians and moralists better known I have placed the links below. Joh Henry Crosby of the Dietrich von Hildebrand Legacy Project also is featured in some of the interviews specifically with regards to his work in the translation and publication of Dietrich’s works against Hitler.

The first is a link to a talk give by Lady von Hildebrand on May 17th at the Institute of Catholic Culture in Potomac Falls VA.  The description is as follows, followed by the link (because the embedding did not work):

Today the Church’s age old teaching on Marriage is under attack. Following the Synod of Bishops in 2014 and in preparation for the coming Synod in Rome, confusion reigns. What was held as inviolable teaching of the Church only yesterday is suddenly questioned and principles which formed the foundation of Christian society are under direct and open assault. Join the ICC and Dr. Alice von Hildebrand as we study the authentic and beautiful teachings of the Church on the sanctity of marriage and prepare for the battle that lies ahead.

http://livestream.com/accounts/9512022/events/3513470/videos/87536282

Dr. Alice von Hildebrand delivered the commencement address at the 2015 Commencement Ceremonies on May 16, where she was awarded the St. Catherine of Siena for Distinguished Service to Christ and His Church.

Alice Von Hildebrand and John Henry Crosby visit in studio to talk about the life of Dietrich Von Hildebrand in the new book ‘My Battle Against Hitler: Faith, Truth, and Defiance in the Shadow of the Third Reich.’

Eric’s inaugural guests are Alice Von Hildebrand and author John Henry Crosby. The discussion covers topics of faith and their new book about Alice’s late husband Dietrich Von Hildebrand: My Battle Against Hitler: Faith, Truth, and Defiance in the Shadow of the Third Reich.

+JMJ+

Breaking Luther: Reason is opposed to faith

When Pope Benedict gave his Regensburg address and Muslims went mad killing a nun and threatening Christians about the world, many people blamed the Pope for being intolerant.  Yet few, until now with the ISIS threats, recognized that his address was not a bashing of Islam per se, but rather it was calling on Muslims of good will to recognize that they need not submit their reason to the faith as if the two were opposed to one another. So too, few people recognize that this idea of reason being opposed at times to one's faith is not present alone in non-Chrisitan faiths, but it can be found among heretical sects and schismatic groups.

Enter Martin Luther.  In his sermon's on Matthew's Gospel(which can be found HERE), Dr. Luther tries to nuance the relationship between faith and reason.  It is important to not take him out of context because it doesn't serve anyone in doing so, so for the sake of not slinging unnecessary mud I have copied and pasted the full text below with my emphisis:

“Again, they argue: How can children believe, seeing that as yet they have no reasoning power? Thus they add reason to faith. To this Christ answers: This is exactly why children can believe better. They cannot reason. For reason is directly opposed to faith. This is why you must let reason go. It must be killed and buried in believers. But the Anabaptists turn reason into a light of faith so that reason may serve faith as a guiding light. I hold that it does shine forth as smudge in a lantern. Christ wants us to turn into veritable children if we desire to come into the kingdom of heaven. He means that, as all reasoning is, so to speak, still buried in children, so reason is also to be killed in all Christian believers. Otherwise faith has no place in them. For reason opposes faith.

For instance, Scripture says that there is only one God, but that in this one, divine Essence there are three distinct Persons: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost. However, these are one Essence and Substance. Now the Turk presently comes with his reason and asks how it is possible for one to be three and three one. Moreover, say they, in a house there must be no more than one lord and host; just so there must be only one God in heaven. — All this is the language of reason. But in this matter you Christian must become a child and say: Indeed, I cannot comprehend this doctrine; but I must become a child, must let myself be carried, touched, and blessed by Christ, and I must believe it. I must close the eyes of reason and not determine how this is possible or impossible; but I must believe and accept the pure, simple Word. The same thing is true of all other articles of faith. When heathen hear that God's natural Son became man, they say: That is impossible. — No doubt it is if reason is asked for advice. But you must let go of reason in this matter, must pay no attention to it, must entirely kill it; otherwise you will not come into the kingdom of heaven. One cannot grasp or comprehend this matter by reason. You must believe the article that Christ was born man in the fullness of time. You must permit yourself to be carried and led to Christ by the divine Word. Then you will partake of the kingdom of heaven. You must become children. This is the place for little children. Little children Christ carries, fondles, embraces, blesses, and says: Of such is the kingdom of heaven. If, then, I permit myself to be carried, Christ gives me His works and His merit and the kingdom of heaven.

The Turk says the same thing about the Lord's Supper: that mere bread and wine are present in it; and, again, that in Baptism there is simple water, such as is poured over the hand. Really now, says he, should this be called a "washing of regeneration, "as is written in the third chapter of the Letter to Titus? —The matter is ridiculous to them; for one can hardly wash a spoon clean with this water. How, then, is one to bathe body and soul with it? Reason cannot comprehend the articles of faith, including the doctrine of the Sacrament of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Therefore the order is: You must become a child and say: I do not understand this. I do indeed see nothing but water and how it is being poured over a little child. But I will gladly be a fool and a child, and I will believe Him when He says that, through the Word, Baptism has the power and might of regeneration and forgiveness of sins [Translation from What Luther Says, 1:485-486 (entry 1440)].”

Now Lutheran apologists will say that we are splitting hairs, but I dont think this so at all.  Luther claim's that reason cannot comprehend the articles of the faith. It's one thing to say that it's not necessary to understand everything about the faith in order to submit to it and be Catholic, for such is the nature of a child or likely the majority of Catholics. It is another thing to say that we must kill the reason in order to enter the kingdom.  There is nothing in the faith that is in and of itself unreasonable, their are aspects of the faith that are hard to understand but if they are examined there is nothing illogical in the nature of their teachings. It's not illogical to believe in the trinity because having three person's in one nature (or substance) is not illogical.  It is difficult for us to comprehend indeed but not irrational.  And once you dig deep into what the trinity is in and of itself it is the only logical answer to who and what God is which is a communion of persons, a family of self donation as Dietrich von Hildebrand would say. Now if such difficulties bring about doubt in the mind of the believer it is not reasonable to then tell them that they need to kill their reason.  A difficulty does not presuppose a doubt or a falsehood.

A mystery of the faith does not mean we know nothing of it, it means that we cannot at this time comprehend all that the mystery truly is, and nothing of such a mystery is irrational.

Von Hildebrand: The antithesis of conscience is unscrupulousness

The following excerpt was taken from Dietrich von Hildebrand's book:

Love Marriage and the Catholic Conscience: Understanding the Church’s Teachings on Birth Control

“The antithesis of conscience is unscrupulousness. The man who is indifferent to the question of whether something is good or bad, sinful or licit, is unscrupulous. The man who is blind to the ultimate gravity of the moral order, to the offense against God constituted by sin, is unscrupulous. He also is unscrupulous who deliberately silenced the voice of his conscience and frivolously, without bothering about whether something is good or bad, abandons himself to his impulses. Also, he who is not conscious of man’s capacity for self-deception and the possibility of being value-blind is unscrupulous and acts irresponsibly.”

 

- Dietrich von Hildebrand -

New Dietrich Von Hildebrand show on EWTN

EWTN is hosting a series on the great Dietrich Von Hildebrand.  The first episode was yesterday but the series continues today at 2:30 pm EST.  FYI, the first episode on his childhood was excellent

Post by Dietrich von Hildebrand Legacy Project.

+JMJ+

Why hesitate when changing the liturgy? Hildebrand answers

Again, why has the genuflection at the words et incarnatus est in the Credo been abolished? Was this not a noble and beautiful expression of adoring reverence while professing the searing mystery of the Incarnation? Whatever the intention of the innovators, they have certainly created the danger, if only psychological, of diminishing the faithful's awareness and awe of the mystery. There is yet another reason for hesitating to make changes in the liturgy that are not strictly necessary. Frivolous or arbitrary changes are apt to erode a special type of reverence: pietas. The Latin word, like the German Pietaet, has no English equivalent, but may be understood as comprising respect for tradition; honoring what has been handed down to us by former generations; fidelity to our ancestors and their works. Note that pietas is a derivative type of reverence, and so should not be confused with primary reverence, which we have described as a response to the very mystery of being, and ultimately a response to God. It follows that if the content of a given tradition does not correspond to the object of the primary reverence, it does not deserve the derivative reverence. Thus if a tradition embodies evil elements, such as the sacrifice of human beings in the cult of the Aztecs, then those elements should not be regarded with pietas. But that is not the Christian case. Those who idolize our epoch, who thrill at what is modern simply because it is modern, who believe that in our day man has finally "come of age," lack pietas. The pride of these "temporal nationalists" is not only irreverent, it is incompatible with real faith. A Catholic should regard his liturgy. with pietas. He should revere, and therefore fear to abandon the prayers and postures and music that have been approved by so many saints throughout the Christian era and delivered to us as a precious heritage. To go no further: the illusion that we can replace the Gregorian chant, with its inspired hymns and rhythms, by equally fine, if not better, music betrays a ridiculous self-assurance and lack of self-knowledge. Let us not forget that throughout Christianity's history. silence and solitude, contemplation and recollection, have been considered necessary to achieve a real confrontation with God. This is not only the counsel of the Christian tradition, which should be respected out of pietas; it is rooted in human nature. Recollection is the necessary basis for true communion in much the same way as contemplation provides the necessary basis for true action in the vineyard of the Lord. A superficial type of communion -the jovial comradeship of a social affair -- draws us out onto the periphery. A truly Christian communion draws us into the spiritual deeps.

An amazing article by the Late Dietrich von Hildebrand, Read the rest Here!

The Nature of Love

www.hildebrandlegacy.org

It is not enough to stress that love is a value-response and thus is essentially different from all responses motivated by the merely subjectively satisfying. It has also to be stressed that love is grounded in a value so closely united with the person as such, that is, this individual and unique person taken as subject, stands before me as valuable, precious, lovable, and is full thematic for me. The value basis of love is such that it elevates and ennobles the person as person and completely excludes any possibility of looking upon the beloved person as a means for my happiness and delight.

-Dietrich von Hildebrand, The Nature of Love

+JMJ+

What to Read?

source

Four years ago this would have been the last thing I would have ever written on because quite frankly books are boring…its like reading a pamphlet on pulling tonsils.  I think I can remember a handful of books that I enjoyed reading from the K-12 grades, some important like To Kill a Mocking Bird to something plain foolish as Goosebumps.  It’s the same thing with magazines, too few of them interested me.  I loved ESPN the Magazine because it was drowning in amazing pictures.  Other kids in middle school or high school would talk about having a stash of playboys or other pornographic mags.  To this day I thank the Lord that when I inquired to have my friends give me one they always declined.  Someone was watching over me…Thank you Guardian Angel!

I wanted to take a moment and provide a list of the books I am currently reading and recommend them to you for your own learning and enjoyment.

1.       I Am with You Always by Michael Davies, Neumann Press 1997
This book is primarily concerned with providing an apologetic against the scourge that is Sedevananctism.  Since I delve into areas where many criticize the post conciliar church I have been confronted constantly by sedevacantists (who deny that the Popes since either Pius XII or John XXIII are valid) calling me a heretic for holding that the seat was not vacant since the council.  If you enjoy apologetics and are interested in the topic of the indefectibility of the Church this short, 100 page book is for you!  Price: $12 on Amazon

2.       Glories of Mary by St. Alphonsus de Liguori
This Book takes an in depth look at the Salve Regina touching on issues like Mary as Mediatrix of all graces and even the assumption before it was solemnly proclaimed by Pius XII. This is a phenomenal work and I try to read a chapter every Sunday and focus on it for the week.  You will not be disappointed if you pick this title up. 

3.       Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre by Michael Davies
This 3 volume work is a defense of Monsignor Marcel Lefebvre, the controversial Archbishop who established and sustained the Priestly Society of Saint Pope Pius X (SSPX).  I myself am not an advocate for the society itself, especially in the way it is presently constituted, but it is interesting to get an impartial look at this controversial figure in the Churches history and examine his group and their purpose moving forward.  You can find this online for free at the SSPX Asia website.  Be critical in what is said as Mr. Davies is, Stay with Peter but be honest with actions as well.

Prof. Von Hildebrand (source)

4.       The Nature of Love by Dietrich von Hildebrand, St. Augustine’s Press 2009
This was considered Professor Hildebrand’s greatest work on what True Love really is.  Prof. Von Hildebrand was proclaimed by Ven. Pope Pius XII as the, count it, The Doctor of the Church for the 20^th Century (JPII the “great” advocates will disagree but being stuck in the muds of Assisi don’t help their cause…im just kidding).  This is a really deep and scholarly book and I am only attacking this a few pages at a time and most often I have to go back and reread because its so dense. Yet this is a fantastic work and foundational in a world that calls things that are disordered love.

5.       Aquinas (Beginners Guides) by Edward Feser
A fantastic beginners book for Thomas Aquinas.  The book covers the life of St. Thomas his metaphysics, natural theology, psychology and ethics.  Other than Dr. Taylor Marshalls book which is free at his website I would recommend this work to people that really want a deep but not too scholarly look at the Doctor of Doctors for Holy Mother Church.  A fantastic read!

I will finish by recommending The Outline of Sanity magazine put out by the American Chesterton Society.  I think you can tell whats its about.  I think a years subscription is around $50, but its worth it especially if you’re a self proclaimed Chestertonian…like me…self proclaimed.

Alight that’s enough….time for cookies… or not

C is for Cookie!