10 September 2026
Bishop Schneider Banned From Saying Mass in St Peter’s
A year ago, his TLM was being seen as a triumphant return of the Catholic Mass to St Peter's, with gloating. Or so the Vatican says.
The Brutal Rules Medieval Guilds Forced Everyone To Follow
From Modern History TV
Jason Kingsley, CBE, the Modern Knight, discusses strange Medieval Guilds, an early form of trade association and the powerful urban system they created in medieval towns and cities. Medieval Guilds: How They Worked and Shaped Society. What were medieval guilds, and how did they influence everyday life in the Middle Ages?
⚒️ In this video, we explore the fascinating world of guilds—powerful organisations of craftsmen, merchants, and tradespeople that controlled industries, protected workers, and shaped cities.
The roles and functions of medieval guilds. How guilds regulated trade, quality, and prices. The path to becoming a master: apprenticeships and journeymen. How guilds shaped city life and power structures. Historical examples of guilds in action
Whether you’re a history enthusiast, a Game Master looking to add depth to your TTRPG campaigns, or curious about medieval economics, this video offers valuable insights into the backbone of medieval commerce and craftsmanship.
How did guilds maintain their power? What benefits did guild members receive? Why were guilds so important to medieval society?
Traditional Catholic Morning Prayers in English | September
Traditional Catholic morning prayers to help start your day in a holy way! The month of September is dedicated to the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady. I hope these prayers increase your devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary this month, to share in her sorrows and to and draw you closer to her Divine Son, Jesus Christ. Begin each day with morning prayer! This video is a compilation of many traditional evening prayers Catholics say, and should not be considered a replacement for those who have an obligation to pray the Divine Office evening prayers.
7 Things Pope Leo Wants Gone From the Catholic Mass
From Totus Catholica
Pope Leo XIV is quietly ending seven Catholic practices, and your parish might still be doing almost all of them. Not with a thundering decree, but with a letter here, a closed-door talk there, and the quiet power of his own example. In about 16 months he has drawn a clear line against things Catholics do every single week, and number one touches every person who walks into Mass this Sunday. To be honest up front: he has not signed seven laws abolishing seven things. That is not how a pope steers the Church. He teaches, he writes, he celebrates a certain way, and slowly the whole Church turns to watch. The Church has an ancient saying for this: the law of prayer is the law of belief. How we worship shapes what we truly believe, so when worship grows careless, the faith itself begins to blur. That is why the Catechism, echoing the Second Vatican Council, calls the Eucharist the source and summit of the whole Christian life, and why Leo keeps asking one question: if it is the summit, why do we so often treat it like a chore? The thread tying all seven together is a single small lie, that worship is something we watch instead of something we offer. So this Sunday, do one thing differently. Arrive early. Pray one hour of the Church's prayer. Offer the Mass, do not simply attend it. In this video: • Why Leo told Rome's own priests to stop preparing homilies with AI • The letter to Cardinal Roche: do not change the liturgy on your own initiative • A pope admitting out loud that post-conciliar abuses "still occur at times even today" • The Liturgy of the Hours, the Church's daily prayer, handed back to the laity • The line Leo traced through Pius X, Pius XI, and Pius XII: participation cannot be passive ⏱ CHAPTERS 0:00 What Leo Is Ending Without Signing Anything 2:02 Stop Letting AI Write the Homily 3:01 Chasing Likes Is Not Evangelizing 3:46 Bare Worship Is Not a Virtue 4:44 The Liturgy of the Hours Is for You 5:40 Priests Reshaping the Mass 7:47 Participation Cannot Be Passive 📖 SCRIPTURE REFERENCED • 1 Corinthians 14:40: let all things be done decently and in order, the line of St Paul behind the letter to Cardinal Roche. ⛪ FROM THE CATECHISM • CCC 1324, echoing the Second Vatican Council: the Eucharist is the source and summit of the whole Christian life. If it is the summit, why do we so often treat it like a chore? 📜 SOURCES & FURTHER READING • 19 February 2026: Leo's closed-door meeting with the priests of Rome. Resist the temptation to prepare homilies with artificial intelligence, because a machine can arrange words about God, but only a soul that knows God can hand him to you. • That same meeting: the warning that piling up followers and likes is the illusion of evangelising, not the thing itself. • 5 August 2026: Leo commends the Liturgy of the Hours to the whole Church, calling it, with the Eucharist, the breath of the life of the Church. • Letter to Cardinal Arthur Roche, made public 14 August 2026: stay faithful to the Roman Missal, the official book of the Mass, and do not change the liturgy on your own initiative. • 26 August 2026 public teaching: abuses that crept in after the Council "still occur at times even today", and the participation of the faithful cannot be passive. • The century-long line behind that call: Pius X in 1903, Pius XI, Pius XII, and the Council's own phrase, the silent spectator. 🔗 EXPLORE MORE 🌍 Website: https://totuscatholica.org/ Rosary Guide: https://totuscatholica.org/rosary ✉️ Contact: https://totuscatholica.org/contact 🔍 Examination of Conscience: https://catholicexaminationofconscien... 📚 Free eBooks: https://buymeacoffee.com/totuscatholi... 👥 Become a Totus Insider: https://buymeacoffee.com/totuscatholi...
A Saint for All Souls (in Purgatory)
Today is his Feast Day. He was the first member of Pope Leo's Augustinian Order to be canonised in 1446 by Pope Eugene IV.
From Aleteia
By Ray Cavanaugh
It is surprising that St. Nicholas of Tolentino is not more prominent, and more frequently called upon.
Some saints have patronages that are not especially relevant to most people (for example, there is a patron saint of chimney sweeps).
Then there's St. Nicholas of Tolentino, a 13th-century Italian mystic and Augustinian priest, whose patronage is about as relevant as it gets: He is the patron saint of souls in purgatory. And September 10 is his feast day.
Nicholas was born in 1245 in the central Italian region of Marche. He came from a family of humble financial means, and The Catholic Encyclopedia describes his parents as “pious folk … living content with a small substance.”
Inspired by the preaching of a local Augustinian, Nicholas joined the order as a novice when he was a teenager. After seven years with the Augustinians, he was ordained a priest.
Soon into his priesthood, he acquired a reputation as a highly effective speaker. This talent, combined with a gentle disposition, saw him entrusted with the role of peacemaker in regional political disputes.
Around age 30, Nicholas had visions of angels telling him to go to Tolentino, a community about 15 miles away from his hometown.
He would spend the remaining 30 years of his life at Tolentino, where he preached almost every day.
Visions of purgatory
Along with his preaching, Nicholas received many visions of purgatory, which tended to come during periods of fasting. After having these visions, much of his spiritual focus turned to the welfare of souls in purgatory. As for the living, much of his ministerial focus was devoted to persons who had drifted away from the Church, many of whom lived on the fringes of society.
Rendered very weak after one particularly long period of fasting, he regained his strength by eating bread marked with a cross and dunked in water. This recovery launched the Augustinian tradition of St. Nicholas Bread.
Eventually, though, he was suffering a prolonged illness, from which no amount of bread could beget a recovery. He died on September 10, 1305, at age 60.
His remains are interred in the Shrine of St. Nicholas in the Basilica di San Nicola of Tolentino.
1st canonized Augustinian
Almost immediately after his death, clamors for his canonization arose, and he received credit for a series of miracles.
Canonized by Pope Eugene IV on June 5, 1446, Nicholas became the first member of the Augustinian order to receive formal canonization.
An altarpiece designed in 1501 by the Renaissance master Raphael depicts Nicholas with the devil beneath his feet. Above Nicholas are St. Augustine, the Virgin Mary, and God.
In 1884, Pope Leo XIII proclaimed Nicholas the patron of souls in purgatory.
In the current day, churches dedicated to St. Nicholas of Tolentino stand at locations ranging from Venice to the Bronx. He is the patron of several cities in his Italian homeland. And there are even cities as far away as the Philippines that also regard him as their patron.
In some ways, though, it is surprising that he is not more prominent. After all, this is clearly a saint with universal appeal. There's a very good chance that most, if not all, of us have known someone who currently inhabits the purgatorial realm. What's more, there's a very high chance that we ourselves might eventually have a profound personal need for St. Nicholas of Tolentino.
Consequences of Compassion
As a friend once told me, "there's a fine line between Christian charity and being used". Unfortunately, the USCCB has crossed that line!
From Crisis
By John Cassara
The Church hierarchy naively assumed that we could allow mass violation of our border and, at the same time, we could, as Sister Donna said, “protect our citizens.”
Naivety and emotionalism are pronounced all the more when they collide with real data and the perspective of time.
In 2017, shortly after the first inauguration of President Trump, Dominican Sister Donna Markham, then president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, said in a statement, “Pope Francis has urged people not to close the door on migrants and refugees…In concert with the Holy Father, we believe we must move from attitudes of defensiveness and fear to acceptance, compassion and encounter.”
Sister Donna continued,
As the U.S. Catholic bishops have said, this is not an either/or situation for us. We can protect our citizens and, at the same time, we can welcome newcomers. Our commitment to care for those who are most vulnerable resides at the core of our faith.
As the CEO of Catholic charities (now retired) noted, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)—in both rhetoric and policy—has sided with illegal immigration and the “dignity” of all persons while simultaneously giving lip service to a country’s right to defend its borders.
With the perspective of time, what is the reality of the Church hierarchy’s self-described “compassion” for “migrants”?
Let’s start with something we should all be able to agree on—the tragedy and heartbreak of the most vulnerable: missing and exploited children.
During the four years of the Biden presidency, the United States faced an overwhelming border crisis. Estimates of illegals crossing our borders vary widely. However, it is generally accepted that at least 11 million crossed. (Note: I am not going to use the politically correct term “undocumented migrants” favored by the USCCB and others in Church leadership. In United States federal law, the statutory term defined in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) is “illegal alien.”)
Included in the illegal aliens crossing the border during the Biden administration were roughly 480,000 unaccompanied minors. In many cases, these helpless children were released to sponsors without proper vetting. In its rush to get illegal aliens into the country, the Biden administration, including then U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and current California gubernatorial Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra, lowered the guardrails.
For example, HHS staff were urged by Becerra to treat the backlog of unaccompanied minors like an “assembly line” to discharge children to sponsors faster. Safety protocols were bypassed to clear temporary shelters quickly. As a result, many children were placed in exploitative environments.
Subsequent investigations during the later Trump administration revealed some of the “sponsors” were paying smugglers to bring the children into the country. There were also cases where “sponsors” fraudulently claimed familial relationships. As a result, these victim children were subjected to physical and sexual abuse and labor exploitation.
Investigations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) showed that many of the unaccompanied minors were often placed in horrid living conditions or in situations that constituted neglect. In some cases, young unaccompanied girls became pregnant with children fathered by their alleged sponsors. ICE discovered numerous sponsors who committed serious crimes, including offenses of hit-and-run, aggravated assault, larceny, substance abuse, counterfeiting, drug trafficking, prostitution, and attempted murder.
As of June 2026, ICE—the same ICE that democratic socialists uniformly vilify and wish to abolish—has rescued approximately 146,000 unaccompanied minors and has referred for prosecution many of the child trafficking networks that exploited them as well as their migrant “sponsors.” Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of children are still missing.
I will spare the reader graphic descriptions of the fate of some of the children. There are hundreds of stories. Each is heart-wrenching. Each has a name and “dignity” of person. The illegal aliens behind the crimes are among the worst of the worst. According to a DHS spokesperson, “These aren’t just low-level offenders—they are sickening sexual predators and smugglers who pose real public safety threats to Americans. These are grisly criminals who exploited children, smuggled illegal aliens, and stalked Americans.”
The Church hierarchy naively assumed that we could allow mass violation of our border and, at the same time, we could, as Sister Donna said, “protect our citizens.” How has that worked out? The data begins to tell the story.
Although the mainstream media actively works to suppress stories of illegal alien violent crime, the numbers are horrific. Murders, assaults, rapes, and road carnage caused by illegals are devasting. The exact numbers are impossible to obtain, in large part because most Democratic Party-controlled states and municipalities put restrictions on collecting and/or disseminating such data. In addition, their sanctuary policies work against cooperation with the federal government.
There are some private attempts to track the data. For example, Americans for Legal Immigration maintains a list of multi-hundreds of Americans killed by illegal aliens. As the site notes, these “100% preventable deaths…are only a very small fraction/tip of the data iceberg, and the vast majority of American deaths caused by illegal immigration are suppressed, censored, and unidentifiable.” Reportedly, over 90 percent are censored by Google. The list does not include “thousands of documented cases of illegals raping, robbing, assaulting, and harming Americans.”
I urge those who support illegal immigration to scroll down the list of victims. Remember, none of these deaths had to happen. Click on a victim’s name. Reflect on the life needlessly cut short. Think of the dreams that went unrealized. Contemplate the suffering—not only of the victims but of the families and loved ones. Reflect on the loss to communities. Now, think again about the word often used by advocates of illegal aliens: “compassion.”
The above is simply a snapshot of another problem that has not received much attention. It’s estimated that approximately one fourth of all the women and children trafficked into the United States during their often long and perilous journeys were physically and/or sexually assaulted. Simple math should demonstrate to skeptics that the victim count could approximate one million.
Outside of physical crime, there are many fiscal concerns. It is estimated that the gross cost of illegal immigration is $182 billion annually, “covering spending on law enforcement, education, medical care and welfare programs at all levels.” This is occurring when the U.S. federal debt is over $40 trillion. Illegal aliens, “green card” holders, and newly naturalized citizens also make up a substantial percentage of those involved with government service fraud, which the Government Accountability Office estimates could exceed over $500 billion annually. There are also various other issues that should not be overlooked, including environmental crimes, overcrowded schools, the stress on emergency medical services, higher rents and property prices, higher unemployment for citizens, etc.
Fortunately, border enforcement, including the wall, is making progress in reversing the carnage. Human trafficking networks are integrated with narcotic trafficking networks. Both are being simultaneously dismantled. Despite what liberal do-gooders might think, enforcement saves lives. For example, fentanyl-linked deaths plunged 22 percent in a single year. That equates to approximately 10,000 lives. There was also a 45 percent decline in nationwide fentanyl seizures in fiscal year 2025 compared with the previous year. The White House credits its border crackdown, campaign against drug cartels, and arrests of traffickers for helping drive down the deadly toll.
Approximately 2.3 million illegal aliens have left the United States thus far during the second Trump administration. There is a cause and effect between the departures and the improving crime rate. Unfortunately, in most sanctuary states and cities violent crime has stayed stubbornly high.
A large percentage of illegal aliens in the United States have ties to gangs or cartels. These individuals, plus those with prior violent criminal records, have been prioritized for deportation. Corresponding with forced and voluntary deportations, data shows that violent crime is plummeting to record levels. For example, the homicide rate is on pace for the lowest level in over 100 years. The steepest declines in homicides are found in cities where the Trump Administration ramped up enforcement and deportations after Democrat leaders failed to act. Countless lives have been saved.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), 97 percent of illegal aliens entered the United States via the U.S.-Mexico border. The border crossings were facilitated almost entirely through smuggling networks. U.S. Border Patrol officials have stated that “nobody crosses without paying the cartels.”
Criminals are attracted to human trafficking because it is a multibillion-dollar business. Almost every illegal alien or their sponsor paid a substantial fee to a criminal organization. Some illegal aliens pay back their fees to the organization over time by committing to a type of long-term indentured servitude of labor or crime until their loans are repaid. Many human trafficking operations financially support larger international criminal groups, including violent drug cartels based in Mexico.
Financial data also shows that enforcement works. The Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released information showing suspicious activity (financial intelligence reported by banks and money service businesses) linked to human smuggling peaked in 2024, the last year of President Joe Biden’s single term. The reporting decreased dramatically in 2025, the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term.
I’m not an attorney, but given the above cause and effect, it is a wonder the politicians that allowed this to happen, those that continue to allow crime to thrive in sanctuary jurisdictions, and those that enable, encourage, and facilitate the trauma, including some in the Catholic hierarchy in America, are not being charged criminally as coconspirators under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act due to their public support and acts in aiding and abetting networks engaged in human trafficking. Civil suits are possible. Why are those in power and those who wield influence—and, in some cases, benefit financially—not charged when illegal alien criminals for whom they facilitated illegal entry and subsequently helped shield from deportation go on to rape, murder, or otherwise violently harm American citizens?
Evolutionary psychologist Gad Saad warns of “suicidal empathy,” whereby excessive compassion often prioritizes outsiders over citizens. Rooted in subjective relativism and a view of Western culture as uniquely immoral, hyper-empathy, Saad argues, risks civilizational collapse.
So, why did the Church get involved when the results were so easy to predict? Is it because today’s feminized Church is swayed by emotion rather than rational thought? Does it all come back to money? For example, the Biden administration granted Catholic nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and charities nearly $3 billion in immigration-related funding. Is it because so-called “elites” favor globalism? Does the Church hierarchy want to fundamentally transform the United States? Is it Trump derangement syndrome?
Sister Donna once urged policymakers to see the “faces and humanity” of those in need in their communities. We should. But facts and the perspective of time speak volumes. Unfortunately, the Church chose to ignore the dark side of illegal immigration—including the victims.
Their faces have been lost to us forever—victims, in part, of compassion.
St Nicholas of Tolentino, Confessor
From Dom Prosper Guéranger's Liturgical Year:
Today the Infant Mary smiles upon the lily offered her in the cradle by the representative of a great Order. The Hermits of St. Augustine were being grouped and organized by the Vicar of Christ when Nicholas was admitted into their family, of which he was soon to become the thaumaturgus. When he died, in 1305, the Roman Pontiffs were beginning their exile at Avignon; and his canonization, deferred for nearly a century and a half through the troubles of the period, marked the close of the lamentable dissensions which followed that exile.
Peace so long lost; peace, of which even the wisest despaired—such was the ardent prayer, the solemn adjuration of Eugenius IV when, towards the close of his laborious pontificate, he committed the cause of the Church to the humble servant of God placed by him upon her Altars. According to the testimony of Sixtus V, the obtaining of this peace was the greatest of Nicholas’ miracles; a miracle which moved the latter Pontiff to order the celebration of the Saint’s feast as a double, at a time when the days of that rank were much rarer on the Calendar than now.
Let us read the Legend, which is as simple as the Saint’s life itself.
Nicholas, called of Tolentino as he lived a long time in that city, was born at the town of St. Angelo in the Marches of Ancona. His pious parents, desirous of having children, went to Bari in fulfillment of a vow. There they were assured by St. Nicholas that they should have a son; whom they therefore called by that Saint’s name. From his infancy he was admirable for his virtues, especially for his abstinence; for, when only seven years old he began, in imitation of St. Nicholas, to fast several days a week; which custom he afterwards kept up, contenting himself with bread and water.
While still young he was enrolled in the ranks of the clergy and made a canon; but one day, hearing a sermon on contempt of the world preached by one of the Hermits of St. Augustine, he was so struck by it that he immediately joined that Order. As a Religious he led a perfect life; subduing his body by rough garments, disciplines, and iron chains; abstaining from meat and almost every kind of nourishment; and showing a bright example to others by his charity, humility, patience and other virtues.
Very great was his love of prayer, in which he never relaxed, although Satan troubled him in various ways and at times scourged him severely. For six months before his death he heard every night the songs of the Angels: a foretaste of heavenly delights which caused him frequently to repeat that saying of the Apostle: I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. He foretold to his brethren the day of his death, which was the 4th of the Ides of September. Both before and after death he was famous for miracles; which having been duly proved, he was enrolled among the Saints by Pope Eugenius IV.
Good and faithful servant, thou hast entered into the joy of thy Lord. He has broken thy bonds; and from heaven, where thou art now reigning, thou repeatest to us those words which determined the sanctity of thy life on earth: Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. For the world passeth away, and the concupiscence thereof. (1 John 2:15-17) How much a man thus forgetful of earth can do for his fellow men is evinced by the gift thou didst receive of solacing all the miseries around thee and succoring the souls in Purgatory. Then successor of St. Peter was not deceived when, in ranking thee among the Saints, he counted on thy power in heaven to bring back society from its long-continued state of disturbance to the paths of peace. May that word of the beloved disciple, which thou hast just echoed to us, sink into our souls as a seed of salvation, and there yield the fruits that it produced in thee: detachment from all temporal things and a longing for eternal realities; that humble simplicity of the soul’s eye which makes life a peaceful journey towards God; and lastly, that purity which made thee the friend of Angels and the favorite of Mary.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)