Dusty Gates addresses Catholic theories regarding subsidiarity, private property, and the proper goals of economy.
20 February 2026
Hitler's Royal Nemesis - The King on the Horse
From Mark Felton Productions
In 1940, Denmark was invaded by Germany. Unlike most European monarchs, the Danish king decided to stay in Copenhagen. Through a strange daily ritual, he became a focal point of Danish resistance to German rule.
Metaphysics: 3. The Subject Matter of Metaphysics
With Ralph McInerny (R+I+P), PhD, late Professor of Philosophy, Director of the Jacques Maritain Centre, & Michael P. Grace Professor of Medieval Studies, Notre Dame.
Lent Is the Perfect Time To Conquer Your Selfish Desires
Pope St Leo the Great said, "As we approach then the beginning of Lent, ... let us prepare our souls for fighting with temptations".
From Aleteia
By Philip Kosloski
The more we conquer our selfish desires, the more likely we will be able to direct our thoughts towards God.Few of us like to admit that we are selfish. We tend to keep a pearly image of ourselves, thinking that we really aren't that bad of a person.
While we may not be a murderer or a thief, we likely are tempted to be prideful and sometimes think that our way is the best way possible.
Whatever selfish tendency we may have, Lent remains a perfect time to work on those lower qualities of our personality and strive to focus our attention more on God.
Conquering our inner demons during Lent
St. Leo the Great gives his reasoning in a homily as to why we need to take advantage of Lent as a time of personal spiritual renewal:
For we have many encounters with our own selves: the flesh desires one thing against the spirit, and the spirit another thing against the flesh. And in this disagreement, if the desires of the body be stronger, the mind will disgracefully lose its proper dignity, and it will be most disastrous for that to serve which ought to have ruled.
We often forget that we are a body-soul composite being, which means that what we do with our bodies affects our souls. If we are selfish in our desires and let them rule, then our soul will suffer and we will have a difficult time resisting temptation.
St. Leo the Great then explains that if we are able to subdue our inner passions, we will be able to conquer those temptations and rightly order our lives:
But if the mind, being subject to its Ruler, and delighting in gifts from above, shall have trampled under foot the allurements of earthly pleasure, and shall not have allowed sin to reign in its mortal body, reason will maintain a well-ordered supremacy, and its strongholds no strategy of spiritual wickednesses will cast down: because man has then only true peace and true freedom when the flesh is ruled by the judgment of the mind, and the mind is directed by the will of God.
He then goes on to write, "As we approach then, dearly-beloved, the beginning of Lent, which is a time for the more careful serving of the Lord, because we are, as it were, entering on a kind of contest in good works, let us prepare our souls for fighting with temptations, and understand that the more zealous we are for our salvation, the more determined must be the assaults of our opponents."
If we are to do anything during Lent, let us seek to stamp out our selfish tendencies by rightly ordering our lives, letting God rule over us with his loving compassion.
SSPX Issue Brutal Response To Rome's Demand To Halt Consecrations
The wording of the response is professional but contains direct jabs at Cardinal Fernandez.
7 Banned Medieval Vegetables Big Agriculture Wants To Erase
From Medieval Way
Medieval gardens grew over 100 different vegetables. Your grocery store carries about 30. And most of those 30 are the same plant bred into different shapes. Broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, cabbage are all the same species, wearing a different costume.
Seven vegetables that fed Europe for centuries have been quietly pushed out of seed catalogues, removed from commercial farming, and in some cases made illegal to sell as food. Not because they failed. Because they couldn't be shipped, stored, or mass-produced fast enough to make corporations money.
Traditional Catholic Morning Prayers in English | February
Traditional Catholic morning prayers -- an excellent way to start your day off strong! The month of February is devoted to the Holy Family -- Jesus, Mary, and St. Joseph. It is my hope that these prayers increase your devotion to Our Lord and His Holy Family. Begin each day with morning prayer! This video is a compilation of many traditional morning prayers Catholics say, and should not be considered a replacement for those who have an obligation to pray the Divine Office morning prayers.
Lent With Frodo Baggins
"The Ring is destroyed on March 25. This is the feast of the Annunciation, the feast of the Incarnation, the date on which God becomes man; the date on which the Word becomes flesh. This is intriguing enough in itself, but it’s also, according to tradition, the historical date of the Crucifixion. Taken together with the Resurrection, the Incarnation and Crucifixion destroy the power of sin, redeeming us from its dominion."
From Aleteia
By Joseph Pearce
Let’s look a little closer at Tolkien’s bestselling epic so that we can unlock its Lenten spirit.What on earth or in Middle-earth does The Lord of the Rings have to do with the penitential season of Lent? The answer might surprise us.
J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings and a lifelong practicing Catholic, said that “The Lord of the Rings is, of course, a fundamentally religious and Catholic work.” Fundamentally Catholic? Of course? Really?
Let’s look a little closer at Tolkien’s bestselling epic so that we can unlock its Lenten spirit.
The key that unlocks the Lenten spirit and the Catholicism of The Lord of the Rings is the date on which the Ring is destroyed. We are told that the Ring is destroyed on March 25. This is the feast of the Annunciation, the feast of the Incarnation, the date on which God becomes man; the date on which the Word becomes flesh. This is intriguing enough in itself but it’s also, according to tradition, the historical date of the Crucifixion. Taken together with the Resurrection, the Incarnation and Crucifixion destroy the power of sin, redeeming us from its dominion. As a Catholic steeped in the history of the Middle Ages, Tolkien knew this. But what’s the connection between the Incarnation, the Crucifixion and the destruction of the Ring?
The Ring is the One Ring to rule them all and in the darkness bind them. Original Sin is the One Sin to rule them all and in the darkness bind them. The power of the One Ring and the power of the One Sin are both destroyed on the same date. This means that the Ring is in some sense synonymous with sin itself. Putting on the Ring is the act of sin. If we wear the Ring habitually, we become addicted to its power. We become its slaves. We shrivel and shrink into a shrunken wreck. We gollumize ourselves.
If, however, we bear the Ring but don’t wear it, we are bearing the burden of sin without sinning. Ring bearers are cross bearers!
As the one ordained to bear the burden of the Ring, the burden of sin, Frodo Baggins can be seen as a Christ figure, a cross bearer. It’s no wonder that Frodo leaves Rivendell on December 25 and arrives at Mount Doom (Golgotha) on March 25. His journey is the life of Christ from birth to death! In accompanying his master, Samwise Gamgee is the loyal disciple. His journey is the journey we are all called to take, especially in this season of Lent.
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