Fr John Zuhlsdorf, Author at Catholic Herald

Fr John Zuhlsdorf

December 22, 2016

Christmas is a feast of humbling contrasts. The sight of the Eternal Word made a speechless babe, destined for the Passion, fills our mouths with songs and yet leaves us mute with awe. Writing of the Nativity of the Lord in his exposition of Luke 2, St Ambrose of Milan (d 397) remarked: “He is

Omnium Gatherum

December 15, 2016

On December 17 we enter the final stage of joyfully penitential preparation for the Lord’s manifold Advents. St Bernard (d 1153) preached in an Advent sermon that, in His first coming, Christ came in the flesh and in weakness; in His second, He comes for our rest and consolation; in His third, He will come

Omnium Gatherum

December 08, 2016

Not far from where I write, by American distance standards, is the beautiful Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe near La Crosse, Wisconsin. We honour her on December 12. The ground was broken in 2004 under the aegis of Raymond Leo Burke, then the local bishop, now cardinal, and it was dedicated in 2008. Our

Omnium Gatherum

December 02, 2016

On December 7 we honour a titanic figure who changed the shape of church and state relations for a thousand years, who brought much wisdom of Greek writings to the West, and who guided St Augustine of Hippo into the fold: St Ambrose of Milan (d 397). Will we see his like again in the

Omnium Gatherum

November 24, 2016

We begin a new liturgical year of grace. It’s the First Sunday of Advent. We prepare for the Lord’s Coming. Last Sunday, the Solemnity of Christ the King in the Novus Ordo, we underscored the Second Coming of the Lord, who will unmake the world in fire. Advent welds the end of the world with

Omnium Gatherum

November 17, 2016

We return finally to the 24th and Last Sunday after Pentecost in the Traditional Roman calendar, the Solemnity of Christ the King in the newer, post-conciliar calendar. It is also the official close of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. It was an “extraordinary” year because it stands outside the usual 25-year cycle of Holy

Omnium Gatherum

November 10, 2016

This week Holy Church celebrates St Gertrude the Great (d circa 1302). There are many great saints, but not many saint “Greats”. In their sparse ranks are popes Leo, Gregory and Nicholas, all Firsts. Some now place St John Paul II with them, thus breaking the Firsts trend. Benedict XIV (d 1758) named Gertrude “Great”

Omnium Gatherum

November 03, 2016

In the traditional, Extraordinary Form, calendar, this Sunday’s Mass uses texts for the Fifth Sunday “left over” after Epiphany. Yes, you read that right. Sometimes it is called the “Fifth Resumed” or even “Where-do-I-find-that-in-my-Missal?” Sunday. How can Sundays be “left over”? Perpend! The structure of the liturgical calendar depends on the vagaries of the moon.

Omnium Gatherum

October 27, 2016

In the Novus Ordo calendar, the Solemnity of Christ the King is the last Sunday of the liturgical year, just before Advent begins. In the traditional calendar the feast falls on the last Sunday of October. Christ the King was established in 1925 by Pius XI, as Pius Parsch says in The Church’s Year of

Omnium Gatherum

October 20, 2016

As I tap on my awkwardly propped laptop in a van bouncing on Roman streets, my mind turns to Archangel Raphael. I invoked him in the prayer called the Itinerarium, raised before a journey. Our pilgrimage group is heading north. Raphael is a protector of travellers, as we know from the Book of Tobit. In

Omnium Gatherum

October 13, 2016

I’ve had the angelic bit between my teeth for the past three weeks. Remember what I wrote about the bad angels, demons, devils: they are tireless, see everything, never forget and hate us with a malice no human can plumb. They cannot touch our wills, but they can trick and trip us. If we give

Omnium Gatherum

October 06, 2016

In the last two offerings we looked at angels, faithful and holy, fallen and horrid. October is especially given to veneration of the Holy Angels. Angels are all over the pages of Holy Scripture, having hundreds of references across both Old and New Testaments. The Holy Angels are so closely aligned to the will of

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