Issue: January 2014

A Model of Motherhood: Gabrielle Lefebvre-Watine, Mother of Archbishop Lefebvre

If it is true that “the soul of a priest is formed on his mother’s lap,” then seeking to know Gabrielle Watine will help us understand Archbishop Lefebvre more fully. 

Feminism at Fifty: The Feminine Mystique Critiqued

Twenty thirteen marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Feminine Mystique,1 a passionate attack by a woman named Betty Friedan on the traditional role of women as wives and mothers.

The Role of the Mother in the Modern World

Interview with a traditional Catholic mother

Roman Liturgy in the Light of the East

Upon returning from his trip as an official observer at the Second Vatican Council, Father Schmemann confessed to the New York Times that the event provided him the opportunity “to thank God [he] was Orthodox.” Though Schmemann could not have foreseen in November 1963 what was to happen to “the never-changing Mass” in the wake of Vatican II, these were his thoughts upon watching Pope John Paul II serve Mass at Yankee Stadium in New York in 1979: 

Can God Be Named?

St. Pius X identified two fundamental doctrines at the base of modernism: agnosticism and immanentism, the second being a consequence of the first. Agnosticism teaches that we cannot know God, nor make any positive statements about Him, which leads to the second doctrine, immanentism, according to which the dogmatic statements we make about God, since they cannot apply to Him, simply describe the ideas and sentiments we have in our hearts about Him. 

Padre Pio: A Priest

It is truly amazing to recall that there have only been two priests in all of history who have ever borne the stigmata—our Lord Jesus Christ and Padre Pio.

The Inquisition Defended

Here we briefly explain the Inquisition and rectify the gross exaggerations of previous centuries concerning some of the facts, for instance, the number of people executed and the use of torture. 

Saint Rita of Cascia - Saint of the Impossible

St. Rita is traditionally known as the patron saint of impossible causes and an advocate in desperate cases. 

A Mothers Spiritual Love

Like water or sunlight, Catholic motherhood is ultimately a balance of the right amount of mothering at the right time. What is the one thing you need as a mother to maintain this balance throughout all your children’s years and into their adulthood? 

Question and Answer

  • Does an adult who receives baptism insincerely receive a valid sacrament?
  • May one pray to have someone else's painful disease transferred to oneself? 
  • Does God answer the prayers of sinners?

Church and World

  • Roberto de Mattei: "Motus in Fine Velocior" - Things Speed Up at the End
  • Fr. Alain Lorans: The New List of Grievances
  • Switzerland and Germany: Answers to the Survey of the Family
  • The Vatican City State Celebrated Its 85th Birthday
  • Letter from Fr. Karl Stehlin: We Must Be Men of Principle

Theological Studies: On the Occasion of the Week of Christian Unity

DICI: On the Occasion of the Week of Christian Unity, January 18-25, 2014: Once more the Vicar of Christ, on whom rests the unique foundation of the only Church of Christ, has chosen the setting of ecumenical prayer for a pan-Christian meeting with the highest representatives of Michael Cerularius’s schism.

The Last Word

It is no accident that you find an image of Our Lady at the marriage of Cana on the cover of this issue on Motherhood. Mary, after all, is the model of all mothers.