At the height of his power and prestige in 1215, Pope Innocent III called the Fourth Lateran Council to put forth reforms to root out the weaknesses and wickedness of the clergy.[1. Derek Holmes and Bernard W. Bickers, A Short History of … [Read more...]
Corpus Christi, Corpus Dei
St. John Henry Newman says that to be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant. This is true regarding our doctrines on the true presence of the Eucharist. The Council of Ephesus anticipates the teachings of transubstantiation at … [Read more...]
The Mass and the Ascension
Making Present the Entire Paschal Mystery
April 30, 2025 by Fr. Michael Eades
“In the Eucharist and in all the sacraments we are guaranteed the possibility of encountering the Lord Jesus and of having the power of his Paschal Mystery reach us.”[1. Pope Francis, Apostolic Letter on the Liturgical Formation of the Peo … [Read more...]
Book Reviews – April 2025
March 28, 2025 by Book Reviews
How the Eucharist Can Save Civilization. By R. Jared Staudt. Reviewed by Matthew B. Rose. (skip to review) John Henry Newman: A Life Sacrificed. By Ida Friederike Görres. Translated by Jennifer S. Bryson. Reviewed by Clara Sarrocco. … [Read more...]
Ecclesiology After the NEC with Bishop Barron as Our Guide
August 23, 2024 by Rev. John P. Cush, STD
I was not blessed to personally attend the National Eucharistic Congress this past July. However, I know several bishops, priests, religious sisters, and seminarians, both religious and diocesan seminarians, who had attended, and all of … [Read more...]
Eucharistic Amazement
June 28, 2024 by Rev. Thomas G. Morrow
We speak of the Eucharist in two senses: the Mass and the Sacrament. The first is the re-offering of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. The second is the Blessed Sacrament, which we adore in the tabernacle or monstrance, and receive in … [Read more...]
Questions Answered – June 2024
May 24, 2024 by Rev. John P. Cush, STD
By Rev. John P. Cush, STD, consulting with Fr. Timothy Eck What Can Chalices Be Made Of? Question: My priest uses a Waterford Crystal Chalice and Paten for the celebration of Holy Mass. Is this permitted according to the 2002 General … [Read more...]
Guilt and the Eucharist
February 23, 2024 by Rev. John P. Cush, STD
The words of the centurion, words that we say again and again at every celebration of Holy Mass, are among the truest words that we can ever utter: “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul s … [Read more...]
Questions Answered – December 2023
November 24, 2023 by Fr. Brian Mullady, OP
Christ’s Action in the Liturgy Question: The priest is said to act “in the person of Christ” during the Eucharist prayer. Is this true only at the words of institution or during the whole Mass? Answer: As a ritual, the Mass is heaven on … [Read more...]
Aristotelianism in Eucharistic Theology
Father Thomas Reese and Transubstantiation
May 26, 2023 by David Francis Sherwood
This article has been reworked from a paper entitled “They Must Fall into Being: The Son’s Power as Quasi-Subject of the Accidents of Bread and Wine in the Sacrament of the Eucharist” which I delivered on Feb. 4, 2023, at The Holiness of God … [Read more...]
“Reading” a Marian Eucharistic Icon
Scripturally, Theologically, and Liturgically
May 26, 2023 by Fr. Stanley Smolenski, SPMA
This icon has a double appellation. The first is that of place, Our Lady of Connecticut, because its basic symbols are derived from the state’s shield and motto. Its second designation is that of grace, Virgin Mother of the Holy Vine, from w … [Read more...]
Why Doesn’t Holy Communion Always Seem to “Work”?
St. Thomas Aquinas and Ronald Knox on Objective Grace and Subjective Dispositions at Work in the Reception of the Sacrament
March 29, 2023 by Fr. Charles Fox
For anyone with more than a passing acquaintance with Holy Communion, questions emerge about its efficacy that do not admit of easy answers. The Eucharist is immensely powerful, so why does it not seem to make more of a difference in every … [Read more...]
Questions Answered – November 2022
October 27, 2022 by Fr. Brian Mullady, OP
Incomplete Consecration and its Consequences Question: At Mass yesterday, the parish priest forgot to bring wine in preparing for Mass. Instead of going to the sacristy to get some he remained in the sanctuary and consecrated the hosts — b … [Read more...]
Book Reviews – October 2022
September 30, 2022 by Book Reviews
Touched by Christ: The Sacramental Economy. By Lawrence Feingold. Reviewed by Mark McCann. (skip to review) Transubstantiation: Theology, History, and Christian Unity. By Brett Salkeld. Reviewed by Dan Sherven. (skip to … [Read more...]
Response to Peter Kwasniewski
August 30, 2022 by Mary Healy
On the solemnity of Corpus Christi this year (June 19), the U.S. bishops launched the “Eucharistic Revival,” a three-year endeavor aimed at rekindling Eucharistic faith and devotion among Catholics. Almost simultaneously, on June 29, Pope Fr … [Read more...]
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