02 October 2026
Summa Contra Gentiles, Book II: CI Do Separate Substances Know Everything at Once Naturally?
AI, Loneliness, and the Future of Being Human With Christopher West, STD
From Matt Fradd
Christopher West is here to warn against the dangers of mistaking intelligence for personhood.
Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England | The Woman Who Lost the Wars of the Roses | The Wife of Henry VI
Religion and Science
Leo XIV Names Clickbait the Enemy of Real Communication
His Holiness has not only addressed AI, but now, he and the Dicastery for Communication are taking on clickbait! Some of the biggest offenders are Catholic YouTubers.
From Aleteia
By Daniel Esparza
For World Communications Day 2027, the Pope chose “A New Gaze: Paying Attention in the Age of Clickbait,” a direct challenge to the infrastructure that monetizes human attention.
On September 29 — the feast of St. Gabriel the Archangel (in the New Calendar, March 24 traditionally), patron of communications — the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication announced the theme for the 61st World Communications Day, to be celebrated on May 9, 2027: “A New Gaze: Paying Attention in the Age of Clickbait.” The full papal message will be released on January 24, the feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists.
The choice reflects a concern that has run through Leo XIV’s pontificate from the beginning: that the infrastructure of contemporary communication is reshaping not just what people know, but how they think, and how they relate to one another. As the Dicastery explained in its announcement, “the attention economy, with its struggle for a few moments of interest amid the rapid and endless flow of content, is transforming not only our cognitive abilities but also the depth of our interpersonal communication.”
What the attention economy actually is
The term was coined by the psychologist and Nobel laureate Herbert Simon in 1971, developed by the economist Michael Goldhaber in the 1990s, and popularized by Tim Wu’s 2016 book The Attention Merchants. The basic observation is simple: in a world of information abundance, the scarce resource is no longer content but human attention. Media platforms — social networks, streaming services, news aggregators — compete for that attention, measure it, and sell it to advertisers. The business model requires maximizing the time users spend on the platform, which means maximizing engagement, which means systematically favoring content that provokes strong emotional reactions: outrage, fear, desire, schadenfreude. The incentive structure produces this regardless of anyone’s intentions.
The consequences are well documented. A September 2026 Pew Research Center survey found that 53% of American adults feel they spend too much time on their smartphones — and that among those who tried to cut back, only a quarter succeeded. A 2024 MIT study found that regular use of AI writing tools produces measurable “cognitive debt” — a reduction in the brain’s capacity for independent reasoning and sustained attention. Research on social media use documents its tendency to produce “epistemic cocooning”: the gradual narrowing of a person’s information environment to content that confirms existing beliefs and triggers reliable emotional responses.
What the Dicastery said
The announcement framed the problem both theologically and technically. The Latin root of the word “attention” — ad-tendere, to stretch toward — reveals what attention actually is: a form of generosity, a reaching out toward another. “Communicating is not about capturing attention, nor about selling it, but about safeguarding it as a precious resource for relationships.” The call of the theme is spiritual, and thus practical: “We are called to a conversion of our gaze: to look again, with attention and with love.”
This connects directly to Leo XIV's message for the 60th World Communications Day — released in January 2026 — in which he warned against algorithms that “reward rapid emotions and penalize human expressions that require more time, such as the effort to understand and reflection,” closing communities “into bubbles of easy consensus and easy indignation” and fueling social polarization. That message placed face and voice at the center of authentic communication — both given by God, who created us in his image and called us to life with his Word. The risk the Pope identified: the attention economy leads us to build “a world of mirrors, where everything is made ‘in our image and likeness,’” depriving us of genuine encounter with the other.
Why this matters beyond media policy
The attention economy shapes how children learn, how adults form opinions, how communities build or fracture consensus, how prayer competes with the scroll for the first minutes of the morning, and how human relationships — which require sustained, patient, non-monetized attention — survive in an environment optimized to prevent exactly that.
As Leo noted at his September 23 general audience, commenting on Gaudium et Spes, the genuine progress of human civilization requires that technology serve the integral good of the person. The attention economy, at its current scale and design, is a system built to extract value from human cognitive life rather than to serve it. Naming it on the feast of the archangel associated with divine communication is a characteristically precise gesture.
The full papal message arrives January 24.
Fernandez Tells a Whopper of a Lie in Defense of the New Synodal Religion
Diocesan Priest Joins the SSPX Earning a Truly Synodal Punishment From His Bishop
The laws of the Church are not enforced evenly or fairly. With heretics, the Vatican and bishops will engage in synodal dialogue encounters. With traditionally-minded Catholics, the only response is the hammer.
Medieval Food: How Healthy Was It?
Traditional Catholic Morning Prayers in English | October
Traditional Catholic morning prayers to lay a strong foundation for the rest of your day! The month of October is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I hope these prayers increase your devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary this month, to help us meditate on the events in the life of Christ and draw us 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 morning prayers.
Neuroscience Confirms: This Ancient Christian Behaviour Quickly Rewires Your Brain
Why Are Guardian Angels Celebrated on October 2?
Mr Kosloski explains the origins of the Feast kept today and how and why it ended up on 2 October. Holy Guardian Angels, pray for us!
From Aleteia
By Philip Kosloski
The feast was instituted to complement the celebration of St. Michael a few days earlier.
In the Traditional liturgical calendar, there exist four feasts that honor angels. The feast of St Gabriel on 24 March, the feast of St Michael on September 29, and the feast of St Raphael on October 14.
Eventually there arose a request to have a separate feast in honor of the guardian angels, those angelic spirits who are assigned by God to guide and protect each human soul.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, October 2 was picked because it was the first "free" day in the calendar.
It is believed that the new feast was intended to be a kind of supplement to the Feast of St. Michael, since the Church honored on that day (29 September) the memory of all the angels as well as the memory of St. Michael. Among the numerous changes made in the calendar by Clement X [in the 17th century] was the elevation of the Feast of Guardian Angels to the rank of an obligatory double for the whole Church to be kept on October 2, this being the first unoccupied day after the feast of St. Michael.
At the time September 30 was the celebration of St. Jerome and October 1 was the commemoration of St. Remigius, patron saint of France. October 2 did not have any particular celebration, and so it became the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels.
01 October 2026
If You Think Catholics Worship Mary, Watch This
Online Wills Can Get You Killed (or Worse)
An attorney points out the dangers of "living wills", which is why I recommend using a form such as this from Jeff Cassman or this from the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference.
From Crisis
By
Legal Disclaimer: The opinions expressed below are the personal views of the author and are not intended to reflect the official position of the author’s law firm, clients, or any affiliated entity. This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or medical advice, nor does it create an attorney-client relationship. Readers should consult a qualified attorney regarding their specific situation. While the case elements discussed in this article are real, names and other sensitive information have been altered to protect client privacy.“Ithink I killed my wife.”
Minutes into our first meeting, my new client, John, broke down sobbing.
His adult daughter, Tess, tried in vain to comfort him, quietly leaning toward me. With pain in her eyes, she admitted: “I was very uncomfortable with how it all happened. That’s why we’re here.”
As an estate planning attorney, I serve clients and families through major life transitions. It is among the most rewarding aspects of my profession. Beyond the legal work, our team often shares moral support and ethical guidance as well, and we have learned that the most difficult challenge many Catholics ever face is making decisions about end-of-life medical care.
The conversation that followed Tess’ admission was not about taxes, asset transfer, Medicaid, or probate timelines. It was about the agony of yet another family that learned too late and had been caught unprepared with inadequate documents and no legal counsel rooted in Church teaching. It was about how fear and clinical pressure prevailed, leading John to “pull the plug” on his merely injured wife of 30 years who should have lived to see grandchildren play.
His wife did not die because of malice. She died a victim of misconstrued “mercy,” ignorance about the true shape of American legal and medical systems, and the cold calculus of financial expediency. Above all, she died because there was no trusted advocate with legal authority to intervene—and no valid advance directive setting moral limitations on her medical care.
Sadly, her case is increasingly common.
Over 70 percent of U.S. adults have no Will, and more than half have no estate planning documents of any kind.1 With that kind of service gap, people are being told to “just get a Will done.” That, in turn, leads to online platforms promising speed, simplicity, and low prices. This is not necessarily a bad place to begin, but in the absence of a direct relationship with a trusted attorney, these platforms can become impersonal vending machines: dispensing a false sense of security along with their templated documents, some of which are not even valid apart from attorney signature.
Over 70 percent of U.S. adults have no Will, and more than half have no estate planning documents of any kind.Most troubling is the fact that many “Do-It-Yourself” legal platforms exclude health-care proxy appointment or advance directives—fairly nuanced and state-specific documents—which are arguably the most important elements in any estate plan. This leaves many people convinced that a basic Will is “good enough” for the responsible Catholic. I disagree.
By only creating a Will, we address only post-death matters, leaving loved ones exposed to the stress of probate court after death and—far more seriously—dangerously unprepared for the more likely scenario: incapacity while living. In doing so, we omit our moral duty to care for the temple of our body through advance planning (see 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Illness, accident, pregnancy, surgery, dementia, mental breakdown and other causes will render most adults unable to direct their own care at some point.2 To address this, serious Catholics should keep an updated estate plan with valid powers of attorney, HIPAA authorization, and advance medical directives that align with Church teaching.
Some assume their state’s default form will suffice or that doctors will “do the right thing” when the time comes, especially at a faith-based care facility. But default forms are not built from Catholic moral reasoning, and clinical pressures are real, no matter what name is on the building.
Recent years and “public health crises” forced many to learn this the hard way, and state-standard advance directives have led to outcomes people never imagined: withdrawal of food and water, terminal sedation, or even the quiet redefinition of death to facilitate premature organ harvesting. Moral silence here is not neutrality. These moments shape the fate of souls—of patients, their loved ones, and their medical providers.
In our age of electronic medical records, I regularly see clients who are surprised to find that they already have a problematic advance directive on file. As these forms are frequently completed at a license branch or routine doctor visit without second thought, I expect many are in this same situation.
The specter of AI in American health care introduces another concern. Few are legally prepared for the emerging techno-future in which algorithms are already starting to determine medical diagnoses, treatment, and even funding. Medicine is becoming more automated, and patients with no plan for legally protecting their data will face a time when their digital likeness survives them in an interminable and uncontrollable “digital afterlife.”
Virtual clones for AI system training, memorials, therapy, and otherwise are already on offer. “Griefbots” like Seance, Re;memory, and Versona promise users an avatar that will live forever rather than allow the dead to rest in peace. A robust estate plan should include clear legal provisions about using your image, likeness, and data after your death.
Furthermore, the Catholic tradition of ethical decision-making in health care is very precise, with key distinctions between ordinary versus extraordinary measures, legitimate pain control versus excessive sedation, and allowing death versus hastening it. These judgments are case-specific and depend on intentions, circumstances, and principles that can never be captured by checkboxes or algorithms.
This is why an attorney who shares your values will stress the importance of a Catholic health-care proxy: legally appointing someone you know and trust, who understands your care goals against the backdrop of Church teaching, and is prepared to speak for you in the medical setting. Additionally, a professional health-care advocate—someone trained in Catholic ethics and familiar with your wishes and family dynamics—can be a highly valuable support.
My client John did not lack genuine concern for his wife. He lacked preparation.
He assumed that reliable guidance would appear when the time came. That assumption is common and increasingly dangerous. It is imperative that we avoid the same mistake, recalling that Catholics have always prayed against an unprovided death. Thankfully, this is one prayer we can answer for ourselves through preparation.
Today, the choice is between responsible stewardship or presumptive omission; between leaving loved ones with clear guidance and legal counsel or leaving them alone in a time of crisis—often simply because we intended to “get to it later.” The path forward is clear: find a trusted attorney to create or review your estate plan to align with your personal and family goals and reflect your Faith.
The life—the soul—you save may be your own.
The Holy Guardian Angels
.jpg)
The piety of the faithful, in the latter ages, desired to have a special day consecrated to the Guardian Angels. Several churches having taken the initiative, and kept the Feast under various rites and on different days, Paul V (1608) authorized its celebration ad libitum. Clement X (1670) established it by precept as a Feast of double rite on the 2nd of October, the first free day after Michaelmas, on which it thus remains in some way dependent.
It is of faith, on the testimony of the Scriptures and of unanimous tradition, that God commits to his Angels the guardianship of men, who are called to contemplate him together with these blessed spirits in their common fatherland. Catholic theology teaches that this protection is extended to every member of the human race, without any distinction of just and sinners, infidels and baptized. To ward off dangers; to uphold man in his struggle against the demons; to awaken in him holy thoughts; to prevent him from sinning, and even, at times, to chastise him; to pray for him, and present his prayers to God; such is the office of the Guardian Angel. So special is his mission that one Angel does not undertake the guardianship of several persons simultaneously; so diligent is his care that he follows his ward from the first day to the last of his mortal existence, receiving the soul as it quits this life, and bearing it from the feet of the sovereign Judge to the place it has merited in heaven, or to its temporary sojourn in the place of expiation and purification.
It is from the lowest of the nine choirs, the nearest to ourselves, that the Guardian Angels are for the most part selected. God reserves to the Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones the honor of forming his own immediate court. The Dominations, from the steps of his throne, preside over the government of the universe; the Virtues watch over the course of nature’s laws, the preservation of species, and the movements of the heavens; the Powers hold the spirits of wickedness in subjection. The human race in its entirety, as also its great social bodies, the nations and the churches, are confided to the Principalities; while the Archangels, who preside over smaller communities, seem also to have the office of transmitting to the Angels the commands of God, together with the love and light which come down even to us from the first and highest hierarchy. O the depths of the wisdom of God! Thus, then, the admirable distribution of offices among the choirs of heavenly spirits terminates in the function committed to the lowest rank, the guardianship of man, for whom the universe subsists. Such is the teaching of the School; (Suarez. De Angelis, lib. vi. cap. xviii. 5) and the Apostle, in like manner, says: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them who shall receive the inheritance of salvation? (Hebrews 1:14)
But God, magnificent as he is towards the whole human race, honors in a special manner the princes of his people, those who are most favored by his grace, or who rule the earth in his name; the Saints testify that a supereminent perfection, or a higher mission in Church or State, ensures to the individual the assistance of a superior spirit, without the Angels, that was first deputed, being necessarily removed from his charge. Moreover, with regard to the work of salvation, the Guardian Angel has no fear of being left alone at his post; at his request, and at God’s command, the troops of his blessed companions who fill heaven and earth are ever ready to lend him their aid. These noble spirits, acting under the eye of God, whose love they desire to second by all possible means, have secret alliances between them, which sometimes induce between their clients even on earth, unions the mystery whereof will be revealed in the light of eternity.
“How profound a mystery,” says Origen, “is the apportioning of souls to the Angels destined for their guardians! It is a divine secret, part of the universal economy centered in the Man-God. Nor is it without ineffable order that the ministries of earth, the many departments of nature, are allotted to the heavenly Virtues; fountains and rivers, winds and forests, plants, living creatures of land and sea, whose various functions harmonize together, by the Angels directing them all to a common end.” (Origen. in Josue, Hom. xxiii)
Again, on these words of Jeremias: How long shall the land mourn? (Jeremiah 12:4) Origen, supported by the authority of his translator St. Jerome, continues. (Origen. in Jerem. Hom. x. juxta Hieron. viii) “It is through each one of us that the earth rejoices or mourns; and not only the earth, but water, fire, air, all the elements; by which name we must here understand not insensible matter, but the Angels who are set over all things on earth. There is an Angel of the land who, with his companions, mourns over our crimes. There is an Angel of the waters to whom are applied the words of the Psalm: The waters saw thee, and they were afraid, and the depths were troubled; great was the noise of the waters; the clouds sent out a sound, for thy arrows pass.” (Psalms 76:17-18)
How grand is nature, viewed in this light! It is thus the ancients, more truthful as well as more poetical than our generation, always considered the universe. Their error lay in adoring these mysterious powers, to the detriment of the only God, under whom they stoop that bear up the world. (Job 9:13)
“Air and earth and ocean, everything is full of Angels,” says St. Ambrose. “Eliseus, besieged by a whole army, felt no fear; for he beheld invisible cohorts assisting him. May the prophet open thine eyes also, may the enemy, be he legion, not terrify thee; thou thinkest thyself hemmed in, and thou art free: there are more with us than with them.” (2 Kings 6:16)
But let us return to our own specially-deputed Angel and meditate on this other testimony: “The noble guardian of each one of us sleeps not, nor can he be deceived. Close thy door, and make the darkness of night; but remember, thou art never alone; he has no need of daylight in order to see thy actions.” And who is it that speaks thus? Not a Father of the Church, but a pagan, the slave-philosopher Epictetus. (Ap. Arrian. Diss. I. 14)
In conclusion, let us listen to the Abbot of Clairvaux, who here gives free reign to his eloquence: “In every place show respect to thy Angel. Let gratitude for his benefits incite thee to honor his greatness. Love this thy future coheir, the guardian appointed for thee by the Father during thy childhood. For though we are sons of God, we are as yet but children, and long and dangerous is our journey. But God hath given his Angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. In their hands they shall bear thee up, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk; and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon. (Psalms 90:11-13) Yes; where the road is smooth enough for a child, they will content themselves with guiding thee, and sustaining thy footsteps, as one does for children. But if trials threaten to surpass thy strength, they will bear thee up in their hands. Oh! those hands of Angels! Thanks to them, what fearful straits we have passed through, as it were without thinking, and with no other impression left upon us than that of a nightmare suddenly dispelled!” (Bernard. in Psalm. xc. Sermon xii)
And in his commentary on the Canticle of Canticles, St. Bernard thus describes the triumph of the Angel: “One of the companions of the Spouse, sent from heaven to the chosen soul as mediator; on witnessing the mystery accomplished, how he exults, and says: I give thee thanks, O God of majesty, for having granted the desire of her heart! Now it was he that, as a persevering friend, had not ceased, on the way, to murmur into the soul’s ear: Delight in the Lord, and he will give thee the requests of thy heart; and again: Expect the Lord, and keep his way; and then: If he make any delay, wait for him, for he will surely come and will not tarry. Meanwhile he represented to our Lord the soul’s desire, saying: As the hart panteth after the fountains of water, so this soul panteth after thee, O God; have pity on her, hear her cries, and visit her in her desolation. And now the faithful paranymph, the confidant of ineffable secrets, is not jealous. He goes from the Spouse to the bride, offering desires, bringing back gifts; he incites the one, he appeases the other. Sometimes, even in this world, he brings them into each other’s presence, either by raising up the Bride in ecstasy, or by bringing down the Bridegroom; for he is one of the household, and well known in the palace; and he fears no rebuff, for every day he beholds the face of the Father.” (Bernard. in Cant. Sermon xxxi)
Let us unite with the Church and offer to our Guardian angels this hymn of today’s Vespers.
HYMN
We celebrate the angels, guardians of men, whom our heavenly Father has given us as companions, lest our weak nature should be overcome by the snares of our enemies.
For because the traitorous angel fell, and was justly cast down from the honors he has enjoyed, burning with envy he now endeavors to expel those whom God calls to heaven.
Fly hither, then, O ever-watchful guardian; ward off from the land committed to thy care as well diseases of soul, as all that threatens to disturb the peace of the inhabitants.
May loving praise be ever the holy Three, by whose eternal power is ruled this triple world, heaven and earth and the abyss; and whose glory is supreme throughout all ages. Amen.
Before the establishment of a special feast in honor of the Guardian Angels, the following sequence was sung in certain churches on September 29.
SEQUENCE
Let us invoke with our desires the paranymphs of the Most High King, the defenders of Christ’s flock: these are called mountains, encircling the throne of God by privilege all theirs.
These form the triple hierarchy of heaven, flourishing under the one divine Wisdom, and enjoying the threefold light; they perfect us, cleanse us, enlighten us, that our soul may rise from sin.
They draw ever nearer to God in contemplation; when sent to do his will, they depart not from him, for their coming and going is all within God. They keep the enemy at bay, they guide the just, they assist and protect their loving clients, and console them when afflicted.
Though themselves already blessed, yet delegated to us, they carry our prayers to God: they abandon not the saints on earth, but desire their company, that their own ranks may be completed.
O happy citizens these! who, while fulfilling their offices, lose not the joys of heaven: let us pray to them with confidence, that they may ever assist us before God. Amen.
Blessed be ye, O holy Angels, for that your charity is not wearied out by the crimes of men; among so many other benefits, we thank you for keeping the earth habitable, by deigning to dwell always therein. Solitude often weighs heavily upon the hearts of God’s children; in the great towns, and in the paths of the world, where one meets only strangers or enemies; but if the number of the just grows less, yours never diminishes. In the midst of the excited multitude, as well as in the desert, not a human being that has not beside him an Angel, the representative of universal Providence over wicked and good alike. O blessed spirits! you and we have the same fatherland, the same thought, the same love; why should the confused noises of a frivolous crowd disturb the heavenly life we may lead even now with you? Does the tumult of public places hinder you from holding your choirs there, or prevent the Most High from hearing your harmonies? We also, beholding by faith the face of our heavenly Father, which you ever delightedly contemplate, we wish to sing in every place the praises of our Lord and to unite at all times our adorations with yours. Thus, when our manners have become altogether angelic, the present life will be full of peace, and we shall be well prepared for eternity.