Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 125

Impotent and Irrational Rage

  Here is the latest in my series on the seven deadly sins for Catholic Exchange website. I will always remember a conversation with an exorcist in which he stated that the devil is full of impotent and irrational rage. His fury against God and all that is good is impotent because he has no power [Read More...]

All Are Welcome…Really?

The theme song at the moment seems to be “All are safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin.” In other words, “All are welcome!” Of course all are welcome in the Catholic Church, but this truth is balanced by the fact that the church has a door. The sheepfold has a gate. The path [Read More...]

Kieran Conry Says “Celibacy Just Means Not Getting Married”

In this article in the UK’s Guardian paper former Catholic Bishop Kieran Conry confirms what I suspected all along: that his understanding of celibacy is simply that the priest promises not to be married. Conry said celibacy was not about sex but marriage. “When a priest makes a promise of celibacy, he promises to remain unmarried, [Read More...]

Celebrate the Rosary By Building a New Church

The parish of Our Lady of the Rosary in Greenville, South Carolina was started by a group of lay people in the 1950s to have Mass closer to their home in South Greenville. They bought a little house and a priest came to say Mass. Eventually they built a school with a large, warehouse type [Read More...]

Why the Rosary is Not “Vain Repetition”

Protestants sometimes charge Catholics with “vain repetition” in praying the rosary. This is a reference to Matthew 6:7 where Jesus instructs, “When you pray to not babble with vain receptions as the pagans do.” Sure, when we pray the rosary there is a lot of repetition. The problem is not repetition but vain repetition. If repetition were [Read More...]

Mantilla the Hon on the Crystal Cathedral

Guest blogger Mantilla Amontillado is the founder of Veritas Vestments. She holds a degree in Ecclesiastical Haberdashery from Salamanca University. She has done the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella three times on horseback and is engaged to the famous matador, Senor Augusto Torquemada. OK hon, I got to say “Sorry” for maybe not writing anything [Read More...]

Special Divine Mercy Event at OLR

Author, convert, theologian and speaker, Dr Paul Thigpen will be at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church on Sunday, October 12 for a special Divine Mercy celebration in honor of St Faustina’s Feast Day. Come and join us at OLR in Greenville for this inspiring event: 3:00 – Divine Mercy Chaplet with special music [Read More...]

A Mystical Metaphysical

  This week’s article at The Imaginative Conservative is an introduction to the poet Thomas Traherne. My sister Denise, who died last Spring, was an internationally known Traherne scholar, and her book Happiness and Holiness: Thomas Traherne and His Writings (Canterbury Studies in Spiritual Theology) (Canterbury Studies in Spiritual Theology)  is recognized as the best [Read More...]

Why is Christian Marriage Indissoluble?

I heard some time ago about a Methodist minister who decided that he wanted to do things “more Catholic.” So he started wearing vestments and added a few extra candles to the altar. He began to cross himself and introduced a more formal liturgy. When Lent came along he decided to impose ashes on the [Read More...]

Kathy Schiffer and La Verna

Go with Kathy Schiffer here on a little photo tour of St Francis’ mountain retreat La Verna (from Wikkipedia) Count Orlando of Chiusi gave La Verna to Francis on May 8, 1213 as a retreat specially favourable for contemplation, and in 1218 built him the chapel Santa Maria degli Angeli. In August, 1224, frustrated by the changes [Read More...]