Born in Wonder: A Humanities Program Taught Us How to Change the World Through Literature

I was privileged to be part of the IHP, though well after its heyday, and to call the "cowboy", John Senior, my friend. I have fond memories of the program.

From Crisis

By Walker Larson

Through this program, the professors (a former WWII pilot, a cowboy, and an army veteran) transformed students by placing them in contact with authentic Christian ideas, texts, and culture.

Something miraculous occurred during the 1970s at a university campus on the plains of Kansas. Scores of young students turned away from the heathenism they’d been raised in and embraced Catholicism. Many even became monks, nuns, or priests; a few were eventually consecrated bishops. Countless others became devout teachers, parents, and writers. 

What precipitated this unlikely Christian renaissance at a secular university during a decade when millions were leaving the Catholic Church, Critical Theory was poisoning higher education, and immorality was sweeping the culture like a plague of locusts? How did these hippies turn into religious contemplatives? The answer lies in a humble humanities course, the Pearson Integrated Humanities Program (IHP), led by three literature professors: John Senior, Dennis Quinn, and Franklyn Nelick. 

Through this program, the professors (a former WWII pilot, a cowboy, and an army veteran) transformed students by placing them in contact with authentic Christian ideas, texts, and culture. The students’ minds were awakened to the reality of the good, the true, and the beautiful.

The IHP, located at Kansas University, surged to unexpected success and popularity during the 1970s, changing hundreds if not thousands of lives. This set the program and its authors on a collision course with the university authorities and initiated a desperate fight to keep the program from “death by administration” due to accusations of proselytism and, in the end, the institution’s hatred for the program’s adherence to objective truth. A deeply human story of the struggle for the truth, the adventure of the IHP stands out from 20th-century pedagogical history like a flaming candle in the midst of the darkness of the age. There is much we can discover in its light that will aid us in the fight that continues in our own day.

The story of the IHP contains human interest and drama, a groundbreaking pedagogical model usable by contemporary educators, and a profound philosophical message that the world desperately needs to hear. I am convinced that the professors of the IHP discovered a key to restoring modern man to his senses, rebuilding an acknowledgment of objective reality (the lack of which is rotting our civilization), and preparing the way for the fruitful penetration of grace. 

What was this key? The professors discovered, as a prelude to restoring philosophical realism, the need to restore the senses, emotions, and imagination of students through wonder, “the reverent fear that beauty strikes in us,” in the words of Dr. Senior. A former student of the program, Bishop James Conley, explained in an interview with Catholic News Agency: 

The professors saw that the modern students who came to the university might be very bright academically, but their memories and imaginations were so affected by the modern world. They were sort of bankrupt when it came to the imagination. 

With corrupted imaginations and emotions, their minds were not even awake to truth. Thus, the professors gently led the students back to an emotional and imaginative encounter with first things, culminating in wonder. 
Wonder, as Aristotle teaches, is the beginning of philosophy, the beginning of loving the truth. It is precisely a re-enchantment with truth—a falling in love with what is—that this weary world stands in need of. The motto of the program sums up the essence of the professors’ epiphany as well as the spiritual childhood at its heart: “Nascantur in Admiratione,” which means, “let them be born in wonder.” 

The professors realized that modern man must return to first things and learn to wonder at them again in order to restore healthy education, philosophy, and, ultimately, civilization. As Dr. Senior wrote in The Restoration of Christian Culture, “No serious restitution of society can occur without a return to first principles, yes, but before principles we must return to the ordinary reality which feeds the first principles.”

The professors accomplished this “birth in wonder” by exposing the students in a simple, heartfelt, and non-academic manner to the great texts of Western civilization, alongside direct encounters with the mystery of reality through stargazing, dancing, singing, festivals, and studying abroad. All this aimed to capture not just the students’ minds but their hearts as well. 

Most lectures consisted of students listening to the three professors talk in an unstructured manner, a kind of improvised symphony of ideas. The three teachers passed the points of the conversation among themselves, now holding up a truth to let the light shine through it, now leaping to a related anecdote to illustrate, now showing the connection between the text and the students’ own experience, their words glancing and shimmering, sparking with laughter and life, showing the students in real time the delight of discovering reality. And all of it was fueled by friendship and the shared love of truth.

Do these half-remembered conversations of three beloved teachers hold a key to victory in the intellectual and educational battles of our own day? I think the answer is yes. The conservative world in general and Catholic world in particular continues to reap a rich harvest from the work of these three unassuming, brilliant, eccentric, and holy men. 

The more I investigate this story, the more I see its hidden fruits and how so many of the positive movements in American Catholicism have ties to the IHP. In the words of former president of Wyoming Catholic College Kevin Roberts, “Without John Senior and the movements he spawned, there would, in fact, be little hope for the future.”[1] Wyoming Catholic itself was inspired by the work of the IHP, along with many other schools and colleges throughout the country. New generations are discovering the work of the IHP and carrying its torch forward. The IHP’s effects, like the ripples from a stone dropped in a lake, continue to wash through the decades and lap up on the shores of eternity itself.

The IHP’s mission, vision, and legacy has very practical applications for our current crisis as well. With the shuttering of Catholic schools and colleges, the destruction of authentic liberal education worldwide, and moral and doctrinal relativism invading even the Church, we need the story of the IHP now more than ever. We need to place ourselves as pupils before these great teachers and let them show us—and the world—not only how to believe in reality again but how to love it again. The IHP showed the way.

Alas, I am too young to have attended the IHP, though its memory seems to haunt me as if I had. My experiences as an undergrad and graduate student at a secular university followed by my years as a teacher at a classical academy sent me on a journey for a better way of teaching and learning—and, thus, an in-depth examination of the IHP. And though I missed the program by forty years or so, I’ve discovered that the spirit of the program and the men who made it lives on. You catch a glimpse of it just by talking to their students, older men and women now, who remember every detail, whose youth seems to flood through them again when they speak of their experiences in the program. 

As a darkness falls across our world in this 21st century after Christ, the image of the three professors, seated together, students ringed around them enthralled, imprints itself upon my mind as a quiet glow, or a familiar poem—warm, luminous, and overflowing the bounds of time. Senior’s gaze is fixed on the book before him, a contemplative smile on his lips. Quinn’s finger is raised, his eyes bright; he is about to speak, a truth blooming on his tongue, maybe some mystery that words will never be able to fully express. 

All three professors are gone now—to their eternal rest, I hope. But they left us something. Something we would be fools not to take up and take to heart, signposts in a strange land, reminders of the permanent things, like dusty old maps, directing our gaze upward to the stars the professors so loved to speak of. Their work is a reminder of that “undiscovered country” beyond the bounds of this world, and it echoes like that celestial music that radiates through the heavens (as Dante taught us in his cosmic comedy), calling us home. 

---

[1] Quoted in Fr. Francis Bethel, John Senior and the Restoration of Realism, dust jacket.

Le Pen Trial: French Democracy in the Dock?

Written before Le Pen was barred from standing. It's ironic that the Revolution established Jacobin democracy, and now its heirs are destroying it in the name of "democracy".

From The European Conservative

By Hélène de Lauzun, PhD

The judges should beware of not serving as a tool in the establishment forces’ endeavours to prevent a Marine Le Pen presidency.

Today, March 31st, the long-awaited verdict will be announced in the trial of Marine Le Pen and her associates in the affair of the European Parliament assistants. The leader of the National Rally deputies has a lot at stake in this ruling, as it will determine whether or not she can run to succeed Emmanuel Macron in the next election, which is set to take place in 2027.

The trial highlights a judicial system engineered to by all means prevent her party from coming to power, regardless of whether she is guilty or not in what is a complex case open to many interpretations. 

Let’s recap the facts. Marine Le Pen and her party, the Rassemblement National (RN, or National Rally), are accused of having embezzled European funds intended for parliamentary assistants in the European Parliament. Instead of working on tasks related to European mandates, the assistants allegedly focused on the party’s national activities. The amount of money involved is €6.8 million. In addition to Le Pen, 24 people from her party are set to be tried, including Louis Aliot, mayor of Perpignan, MP Julien Odoul, and MEP Nicolas Bay, who since then has left the RN to sit alongside Marion Maréchal.

The hearings held in Paris last autumn attempted to establish the existence of a ‘system’ for the misappropriation of European funds. Marine Le Pen and her party’s defence was straightforward and appealed to common sense: a parliamentary assistant cannot be criticised for working in the interests of the party he represents, nor for engaging in politics, especially since the European Parliament’s rules of procedure do not precisely define the scope of tasks allowed for parliamentary assistants. During the trial, Le Pen forcefully reiterated that the “political activity” of an MEP in France “is an integral part of the mandate.” Consequently, she believes that the work of parliamentary assistants should not necessarily be linked to the EP. “An assistant works for his MEP, and he can work for his MEP for the benefit of his party.”

The main issue at stake in the trial is not the exact and precise content of the accusations. Other political groups have also been investigated for similar offences: the centrist party of the current prime minister, the MoDem, and the far-left party La France Insoumise led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon—albeit for lower amounts and for accusations involving fewer members.

Le Pen and her party will in all likelihood be convicted because her argument has already been deemed indefensible. “He who wants to drown his dog accuses him of rabies,” (qui veut noyer son chien l’accuse de la rage) as the French saying goes.

The real issue lies downstream of the trial and has a dual dimension. 

The first is financial. The RN is likely to be subject to very heavy fines. For a party that is regularly under financial strain, and which regularly faces almost systematic obstruction from French banks when trying to obtain loans to finance its campaigns, a fine of several million will weigh heavily on the organisation of future elections.

The second is political. In November, the prosecutor requested that Le Pen be ineligible to stand for election, with provisional enforcement without a suspensive condition. In other words, this means that the sentence will be applied even if Le Pen appeals the verdict. Normally, an appeal has the effect of pausing a ruling. But if the judges decide to follow the prosecutor’s advice, the first consequence will be to make it impossible for Marine Le Pen to stand in the 2027 presidential election.

Since the start of the trial, lawyers have been tearing each other apart over this case. It is a multi-faceted case with a complex distribution of responsibilities that can have very serious consequences. The game is not completely over. Several areas of uncertainty leave room for interpretation—maximalist or minimalist—on the part of the magistrates.

First, the length of the period in question. The facts under consideration extend from 2004 to 2016. The penalty of ineligibility for a case of this type has only become mandatory since 2016. The judges will therefore seek to maximise the period of analysis in time to give more legitimacy to their verdict.

Then, there is the question of provisional enforcement, i.e., the immediate application of the sentence to the accused, even if they decide to appeal the court’s decision. The prosecutor requested the provisional enforcement of the sentence in November. In other words, if Marine Le Pen is convicted, she will be instantly declared ineligible, even if she appeals. Will the magistrates follow the prosecutor’s recommendation? The law provides that this immediate enforcement must be justified and must “serve the general interest and aim to facilitate the enforcement of the sentence and prevent recidivism.” As Le Pen is unlikely to reoffend and her possible ineligibility would not interrupt her current term as a member of parliament, the only effect of the provisional enforcement of this sanction would be to deprive her of the opportunity to stand in the presidential election. The magistrates are well aware of this. The decision they will make will therefore be eminently political.

The RN has made it known that not only will the party appeal the decision, but it will also seek the help of all authorised bodies to win its case, including one of the highest authorities of the French State, the Constitutional Council. In such a case, a procedure exists, known as a Priority Preliminary Ruling on the Issue of Constitutionality (QPC, for Question Prioritaire de Constitutionnalité), to request that the provisional enforcement ruling be challenged. But what can be expected from a Constitutional Council whose opinions are publicly known to be politically orientated and to take orders from those in power?

The possible censure of Le Pen and her potential ousting from the next French presidential race obviously has to be seen in the more general context of fierce political struggles against all the political groupings in Europe that are trying to make the Brussels administration listen to a different tune. The Romanian example, a drama being played out before our eyes, is a perfect illustration of this. But it is also worth recalling the words of former European Commissioner Thierry Breton, who recently called for intervention in the German elections if the result defied the expectations of his caste. The legal tool is being used in the service of a political agenda of controlling public opinion to prevent the emergence of alternative political forces.

In France, however, some voices are being raised against the risks connected with excluding Marine Le Pen from the next election. Prime Minister François Bayrou considered the possibility that Le Pen could be declared ineligible, with immediate enforcement of this penalty, to be “very disturbing.” Obviously, the RN, which is still very much centred around the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen despite a significant renewal of its personnel, would suffer greatly, particularly because its current president, Jordan Bardella, is still too young to be able to stand for the highest office. But he will certainly benefit from a wave of sympathy in the face of what will clearly appear as a dark political manoeuvre against the party that embodies the main opposition to the current system.

As the French celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the referendum that saw the unexpected victory of the ‘no’ vote on the European Constitutional Treaty, it is worth remembering that the French, often sheep-like but sometimes equally unpredictable, hate to have their destiny imposed on them in politics.

Bishop Challoner's Meditations ~ Tuesday, Fourth Week in Lent

ON THE TREASON OF JUDAS

Consider first, how sensible an affliction it was to our Lord, to be betrayed and sold by one of his own Apostles into the hands of those that sought his life. Inasmuch that he, who bore in silence all the insolences of the Jewish rabble and the pagan soldiers; he who suffered the whips, thorns, and nails without complaint: could not but complain of this treachery, ingratitude, and perfidiousness of a false friend, both in his words to his disciples the night before his passion, and to the traitor himself when he offered him the treacherous kiss; and long before by the Royal Prophet. Hear how he expresses himself in the Psalms. 'Even the man of my peace,' (the friend whom I had taken into my bosom,) 'in whom I trusted, who eat my bread,'  (even the bread of life,) 'hath greatly supplanted me,' xl. 10. And again, 'If my enemy hath reviled me, I would willingly have borne with it; and if he that hated me hath spoken great things against me, I would perhaps have hid myself from him. But thou a man of one mind, my guide and my familiar, who did’st take sweet meats together with me,' (even the sacred body and blood of thy Redeemer,) 'in the house of God we walked with consent,' Ps. liv. 13, 14. Yes, I had associated thee to the communion of all my goods and graces in my church; I had admitted thee to be one of my individual companions, a witness of all my doctrine and miracles, and even one of my twelve Apostles. And that thou, so highly favoured without any merit of thine, should be thus ungrateful, thus false and perfidious, as without any injury or provocation, for a petty trifling interest, to betray me into the hands of my enemies, and to join thyself with them to persecute me unto death - O, this it is that afflicts my soul; and the more insupportably because in betraying and selling me thou betrayest and sellest thy own soul (which is so dear to me) to be an eternal prey to devils. O take care, my soul, thou never imitate the traitor! O dear Jesus, be thou my keeper, or else I shall also betray both myself and thee! Alas, how often have I betrayed thee already by wilful sin! O never suffer me to be so miserable any more.

Consider 2ndly, what an aggravation it was to the injury which the traitor offered to our Redeemer, that he should set no greater value on him, but sell him at so low a rate as thirty pieces of silver, the price it is likely of the meanest slave; and that he should prefer such a trifling consideration before his Lord and his God, who made both him and all things, and who set such a value upon his soul, as to employ his whole life, and give his most precious blood to redeem it. My soul, dost thou not loudly condemn and detest this monstrous treason? But hast thou never been guilty of the like or worse? Hast thou never sold for a more trifling consideration that grace and friendship of thy Redeemer? hast thou never preferred before him a petty interest, a filthy pleasure, a punctilio of honour, or the gratifying of some unreasonable passion? And what was all this, but selling both thy God and thy own soul for something of less value than the traitor’s thirty pieces of silver? Alas it is what thou hast been guilty of as often as thou hast committed mortal sin. Be confounded, repent, and amend.

Consider 3rdly, and see in this example of Judas that no state of life or calling, how holy soever, can secure us from danger, since an Apostle, called by Christ and trained up in his school, so well instructed by his heavenly doctrine and great example, and empowered by him to cast out devils and work wonderful miracles, is fallen, nevertheless, and fallen so as to rise no more, even into the bottomless pit. O! let him that stands be sensible upon what slippery ground he stands, and by whose grace he is supported and kept from falling; that so, by entirely distrusting himself and placing his whole confidence in God, he may work out his salvation with fear and trembling. But what was it that brought Judas to this enormity? It was the love of money. This was his predominant passion. This he indulged at first in lesser injustices, by the opportunity of carrying the common purse and thus, whilst he took no care to mortify his evil inclinations, by degrees they gained ground upon him, till they introduced Satan into the full possession of his soul, and so prevailed upon him to betray and to sell his Master, and then to hang himself in despair. Christians, beware of your passions, stifle them betimes, lest they grow headstrong by being neglected in the beginning; especially take care of that cheating vice of the love of money, the source of innumerable evils; and yet the poison works so insensibly, that few or none are willing to think themselves infected by it. Alas! how many pretexts and pretences are made use of to cover the evil; how many ways of palliating even frauds, injustices, usuries, and what not! And how ingenious are men, where their interest is concerned, to persuade themselves that their way is right, the latter end of which (as they will find to their cost, when it is too late,) leads to the second death.

Conclude to mistrust thyself and thy own judgment, in all cases where thy worldly honour, interest, or pleasure is concerned because it is natural on these occasions to be biassed to that side of the question that is most agreeable to self-love. O how hard it is to be an impartial judge in one’s own case! But O, how happy then are they who in simplicity of heart seek God and his holy will and law on all occasions, and do not desire to bend down the law of God to their will, but their will to the law of God.

1 April, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations For Each Day

 

The Passion of Our Lord

1. The Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ is one of the most profound mysteries of our religion. It is a mystery of infinite goodness and mercy that, out of love for fallen humanity, the Eternal Word of God should have assumed a human form and become man in order to show us the way to Heaven and to enable us to reach it. Jesus came amongst us to instruct us, to call us to perfection and to give us an example and the necessary help. But He did much more than this. He came also to bear the weight of our offences and to offer Himself as a spotless victim of love and suffering in expiation of our sins. All this seems too great a mystery, almost inconceivable, in fact, until we consider that the charity of God is as infinite as His nature. This is why the Saints experienced hours of ecstasy contemplating the passion and death of our Divine Redeemer. Whenever St. Gertrude looked upon the figure of Jesus nailed to the Cross, she could not restrain her tears. She was accustomed to say that God was specially merciful towards those who meditated on the passion and death of Jesus. St. Bernard writes that even as the rocks were rent asunder at the death of Our Redeemer, so our sin-hardened hearts should feel as if they were breaking when we meditate on His sufferings. Let us meditate, therefore, on the passion and death of Our Lord Jesus Christ. If we are sinners, as unfortunately we all are, we shall be moved to weep for our sins. If we are imperfect and lukewarm, we shall be set on fire with love and with a determination to requite as far as possible the infinite charity of Jesus Christ.

2. The Crucifix is a simple meditation manual, open and intelligible to all, even to the most illiterate. Anyone who turns to it can study the sorrowing gaze of Jesus, His heart pierced with love for men, His head crowned with thorns, His hands and feet transfixed with nails which support His divine body, streaming blood and writhing in anguish. The Crucifix should be dear and sacred to every Christian. It should stand at the head of his bed, hang around his neck, and hold a prominent position in his place of work or study.

Above all, however, the Crucifix should have its place in the heart of every fervent Christian. At every moment of his life, in times of sadness and of joy, he should remember that God became man and suffered and died for him. He should remember also that this implies an obligation on his part to work, suffer and die for the love of God. Many people meditate on the Crucifix. They kiss it and claim to love it. But while they love the Crucifix, they have no love for their own particular cross, which they try by every means in their power to fling far away from them. Now, it is quite certain that anyone who does not love his own cross does not really love the Crucifix, for Jesus has told us that “if anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mt. 16:24)

3. "Meditation on the passion of Jesus," writes St. Albert the Great, "is more profitable than fasting on bread and water or than scourging ourselves." This is because when we meditate with love and gratitude on the passion of our Redeemer we have the experience of being transformed and set aglow with charity. We realise the truth of St. Paul's words: “The sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that will be revealed in us.” (Rom. 8:18) Let us cast ourselves, therefore, into the merciful arms of God and be prepared to suffer everything, even death, for the love of Jesus.

Eastern Rite ~ Feasts of 1 April AM 7533

Today is the Feast of St Mary of Egypt.

✠✠✠✠✠

Saint Zosimas (April 4) was a monk at a certain Palestinian monastery on the outskirts of Caesarea. Having dwelt at the monastery since his childhood, he lived there in asceticism until he reached the age of fifty-three. Then he was disturbed by the thought that he had attained perfection and needed no one to instruct him. “Is there a monk anywhere who can show me some form of asceticism that I have not attained? Is there anyone who has surpassed me in spiritual sobriety and deeds?”

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Zosimas, you have struggled valiantly, as far as this is in the power of man. However, there is no one who is righteous (Rom 3:10). So that you may know how many other ways lead to salvation, leave your native land, like Abraham from the house of his father (Gen 12:1), and go to the monastery by the Jordan.”

Abba Zosimas immediately left the monastery, and following the angel, he went to the Jordan monastery and settled in it.

Here he met Elders who were adept in contemplation, and also in their struggles. Never did anyone utter an idle word. Instead, they sang constantly and prayed all night long. Abba Zosimas began to imitate the spiritual activity of the holy monks.

Thus much time passed, and the holy Forty Day Fast approached. There was a certain custom at the monastery, which was why God had led Saint Zosimas there. On the First Sunday of Great Lent the igumen served the Divine Liturgy, and everyone received the All-Pure Body and Blood of Christ. Afterwards, they went to the trapeza for a small repast and then assembled once more in church.

The monks prayed and made prostrations, asking for forgiveness from one another. Then they made a prostration before the igumen and asked his blessing for the struggle that lay before them. During the Psalm “The Lord is my Light and my Savior, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defender of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” (Ps 26/27:1), they opened the monastery gate and went off into the wilderness.

Each took with him as much food as he needed, and went into the desert. When their food ran out, they ate roots and desert plants. The monks crossed the Jordan and scattered in various directions, so that no one might see how another fasted or how they spent their time.

The monks returned to the monastery on Palm Sunday, each having his own conscience as a witness of his ascetic struggles. It was a rule of the monastery that no one asked how anyone else had toiled in the desert.

Abba Zosimas, according to the custom of the monastery, went deep into the desert hoping to find someone living there who could benefit him.

He walked into the wilderness for twenty days and then he sang the Psalms of the Sixth Hour and made the usual prayers. Suddenly, to the right of the hill where he stood, he saw a human form. He was afraid, thinking that it might be a demonic apparition. Then he guarded himself with the Sign of the Cross, which removed his fear. He turned to the right and saw a form walking southward. The body was black from the blazing sunlight, and the faded short hair was white like a sheep’s fleece. Abba Zosimas rejoiced since he had not seen any living thing for many days.

The desert-dweller saw Zosimas approaching and attempted to flee from him. Abba Zosimas, forgetting his age and fatigue, quickened his pace. When he was close enough to be heard, he called out, “Why do you flee from me, a sinful old man? Wait for me, for the love of God.”

The stranger said to him, “Forgive me, Abba Zosimas, but I cannot turn and show my face to you. I am a woman, and as you see, I am naked. If you would grant the request of a sinful woman, throw me your cloak so I might cover my body, and then I can ask for your blessing.”

Then Abba Zosimas was terrified, realizing that she could not have called him by name unless she possessed spiritual insight.

Covered by the cloak, the ascetic turned to Zosimas: “Why do you want to speak with me, a sinful woman? What did you wish to learn from me, you who have not shrunk from such great labours?”

Abba Zosimas fell to the ground and asked for her blessing. She also bowed down before him, and for a long time, they remained on the ground each asking the other to bless. Finally, the woman ascetic said: “Abba Zosimas, you must bless and pray, since you are honoured with the grace of the priesthood. For many years you have stood before the holy altar, offering the Holy Gifts to the Lord.”

These words frightened Saint Zosimas even more. With tears, he said to her, “O Mother! It is clear that you live with God and are dead to this world. You have called me by name and recognized me as a priest, though you have never seen me before. The grace granted you is apparent, therefore bless me, for the Lord’s sake.”

Yielding finally to his entreaties, she said, “Blessed is God, Who cares for the salvation of men.” Abba Zosimas replied, “Amen.” Then they rose to their feet. The woman ascetic again said to the Elder, “Why have you come, Father, to me who am a sinner, bereft of every virtue? Apparently, the grace of the Holy Spirit has brought you to do me a service. But tell me first, Abba, how do the Christians live, how is the Church guided?”

Abba Zosimas answered her, “By your holy prayers God has granted the Church and us all a lasting peace. But fulfil my unworthy request, Mother, and pray for the whole world and for me a sinner, that my wanderings in the desert may not be useless.”

The holy ascetic replied, “You, Abba Zosimas, as a priest, ought to pray for me and for all, for you are called to do this. However, since we must be obedient, I will do as you ask.

The saint turned toward the East, and raising her eyes to heaven and stretching out her hands, she began to pray in a whisper. She prayed so softly that Abba Zosimas could not hear her words. After a long time, the Elder looked up and saw her standing in the air more than a foot above the ground. Seeing this, Zosimas threw himself down on the ground, weeping and repeating, “Lord, have mercy!”

Then he was tempted by a thought. He wondered if she might not be a spirit and if her prayer could be insincere. At that moment she turned around, lifted him from the ground and said, “Why do your thoughts confuse you, Abba Zosimas? I am not an apparition. I am a sinful and unworthy woman, though I am guarded by holy Baptism.”

Then she made the Sign of the Cross and said, “May God protect us from the Evil One and his schemes, for fierce is his struggle against us.” Seeing and hearing this, the Elder fell at her feet with tears saying, “I beseech you by Christ our God, do not conceal from me who you are and how you came into this desert. Tell me everything, so that the wondrous works of God may be revealed.”

She replied, “It distresses me, Father, to speak to you about my shameless life. When you hear my story, you might flee from me, as if from a poisonous snake. But I shall tell you everything, Father, concealing nothing. However, I exhort you, cease not to pray for me a sinner, that I may find mercy on the Day of Judgment.

“I was born in Egypt and when I was twelve years old, I left my parents and went to Alexandria. There I lost my chastity and gave myself to unrestrained and insatiable sensuality. For more than seventeen years I lived like that and I did it all for free. Do not think that I refused the money because I was rich. I lived in poverty and worked spinning flax. To me, life consisted in the satisfaction of my fleshly lust.

“One summer I saw a crowd of people from Libya and Egypt heading toward the sea. They were on their way to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. I also wanted to sail with them. Since I had no food or money, I offered my body in payment for my passage. And so I embarked on the ship.

“Now, Father, believe me, I am very amazed, that the sea tolerated my wantonness and fornication, that the earth did not open up its mouth and take me down alive into hell because I had ensnared so many souls. I think that God was seeking my repentance. He did not desire the death of a sinner but awaited my conversion.

“So I arrived in Jerusalem and spent all the days before the Feast living the same sort of life, and maybe even worse.

“When the holy Feast of the Exaltation of the Venerable Cross of the Lord arrived, I went about as before, looking for young men. At daybreak, I saw that everyone was heading to the church, so I went along with the rest. When the hour of the Holy Elevation drew nigh, I was trying to enter the church with all the people. With great effort, I came almost to the doors and attempted to squeeze inside. Although I stepped up to the threshold, it was as though some force held me back, preventing me from entering. I was brushed aside by the crowd and found myself standing alone on the porch. I thought that perhaps this happened because of my womanly weakness. I worked my way into the crowd, and again I attempted to elbow people aside. However hard I tried, I could not enter. Just as my feet touched the church threshold, I was stopped. Others entered the church without difficulty, while I alone was not allowed in. This happened three or four times. Finally, my strength was exhausted. I went off and stood in a corner of the church portico.

“Then I realized that it was my sins that prevented me from seeing the Life-Creating Wood. The grace of the Lord then touched my heart. I wept and lamented, and I began to beat my breast. Sighing from the depths of my heart, I saw above me an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. Turning to Her, I prayed: “O Lady Virgin, who gave birth in the flesh to God the Word! I know that I am unworthy to look upon your icon. I rightly inspire hatred and disgust before your purity, but I know also that God became Man in order to call sinners to repentance. Help me, O All-Pure One. Let me enter the church. Allow me to behold the Wood upon which the Lord was crucified in the flesh, shedding His Blood for the redemption of sinners, and also for me. Be my witness before Your Son that I will never defile my body again with the impurity of fornication. As soon as I have seen the Cross of your Son, I will renounce the world, and go wherever you lead me.”

“After I had spoken, I felt confidence in the compassion of the Mother of God and left the spot where I had been praying. I joined those entering the church, and no one pushed me back or prevented me from entering. I went on in fear and trembling, and entered the holy place.

“Thus I also saw the Mysteries of God, and how God accepts the penitent. I fell to the holy ground and kissed it. Then I hastened again to stand before the icon of the Mother of God, where I had given my vow. Bending my knees before the Virgin Theotokos, I prayed:

“‘O Lady, you have not rejected my prayer as unworthy. Glory be to God, Who accepts the repentance of sinners. It is time for me to fulfil my vow, which you witnessed. Therefore, O Lady, guide me on the path of repentance.’”

“Then I heard a voice from on high: ‘If you cross the Jordan, you will find glorious rest.’

“I immediately believed that this voice was meant for me, and I cried out to the Mother of God: ‘O Lady, do not forsake me!’

“Then I left the church portico and started on my journey. A certain man gave me three coins as I was leaving the church. With them, I bought three loaves of bread and asked the bread merchant the way to the Jordan.

“It was nine o’clock when I saw the Cross. At sunset, I reached the church of Saint John the Baptist on the banks of the Jordan. After praying in the church, I went down to the Jordan and washed my face and hands in its water. Then in this same temple of Saint John the Forerunner I received the Life-Creating Mysteries of Christ. Then I ate half of one of my loaves of bread, drank water from the holy Jordan, and slept there that night on the ground. In the morning I found a small boat and crossed the river to the opposite shore. Again I prayed that the Mother of God would lead me where She wished. Then I found myself in this desert.”

Abba Zosimas asked her, “How many years have passed since you began to live in the desert?”

“‘I think,” she replied, “it is forty-seven years since I came from the Holy City.”

Abba Zosimas again asked, “What food do you find here, Mother?”

And she said, “I had with me two and a half loaves of bread when I crossed the Jordan. Soon they dried out and hardened Eating a little at a time, I finished them after a few years.”

Again Abba Zosimas asked, “Is it possible you have survived for so many years without sickness, and without suffering in any way from such a complete change?”

“Believe me, Abba Zosimas,” the woman said, “I spent seventeen years in this wilderness (after she had spent seventeen years in immorality), fighting wild beasts: mad desires and passions. When I began to eat bread, I thought of the meat and fish which I had in abundance in Egypt. I also missed the wine that I loved so much when I was in the world, while here I did not even have water. I suffered from thirst and hunger. I also had a mad desire for lewd songs. I seemed to hear them, disturbing my heart and my hearing. Weeping and striking myself on the breast, I remembered the vow I had made. At last, I beheld a radiant Light shining on me from everywhere. After a violent tempest, a lasting calm ensued.

“Abba, how shall I tell you of the thoughts that urged me on to fornication? A fire seemed to burn within me, awakening in me the desire for embraces. Then I would throw myself to the ground and water it with my tears. I seemed to see the Most Holy Virgin before me, and She seemed to threaten me for not keeping my vow. I lay face downward day and night upon the ground, and would not get up until that blessed Light encircled me, dispelling the evil thoughts that troubled me.

“Thus I lived in this wilderness for the first seventeen years. Darkness after darkness, misery after misery stood about me, a sinner. But from that time until now the Mother of God helps me in everything.”

Abba Zosimas again inquired, “How is it that you require neither food nor clothing?”

She answered, “After finishing my bread, I lived on herbs and the things one finds in the desert. The clothes I had when I crossed over the Jordan became torn and fell apart. I suffered both from the summer heat, when the blazing heat fell upon me, and from the winter cold when I shivered from the frost. Many times I fell down upon the earth, as though dead. I struggled with various afflictions and temptations. But from that time until the present day, the power of God has guarded my sinful soul and humble body. I was fed and clothed by the all-powerful word of God since man does not live by bread alone, but by every word proceeding from the mouth of God (Dt 8:3, Mt.4:4, Luke 4:4), and those who have put off the old man (Col 3:9) have no refuge, hiding themselves in the clefts of the rocks (Job 24:8, Heb 11:38). When I remember from what evil and from what sins the Lord delivered me, I have imperishible food for salvation.”

When Abba Zosimas heard that the holy ascetic quoted the Holy Scripture from memory, from the Books of Moses and Job and from the Psalms of David, he then asked the woman, “Mother, have you read the Psalms and other books?”

She smiled at hearing this question, and answered, “Believe me, I have seen no human face but yours from the time that I crossed over the Jordan. I never learned from books. I have never heard anyone read or sing from them. Perhaps the Word of God, which is alive and acting, teaches man knowledge by itself (Col 3:16, 1 Thess 2:13). This is the end of my story. As I asked when I began, I beg you for the sake of the Incarnate Word of God, holy Abba, pray for me, a sinner.

“Furthermore, I beg you, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, tell no one what you have heard from me until God takes me from this earth. Next year, during Great Lent, do not cross the Jordan, as is the custom of your monastery.”

Again Abba Zosimas was amazed, that the practice of his monastery was known to the holy woman ascetic, although he had not said anything to her about this.

“Remain at the monastery,” the woman continued. “Even if you try to leave the monastery, you will not be able to do so. On Great and Holy Thursday, the day of the Lord’s Last Supper, place the Life-Creating Body and Blood of Christ our God in a holy vessel and bring it to me. Await me on this side of the Jordan, at the edge of the desert, so that I may receive the Holy Mysteries. And say to Abba John, the igumen of your community, ‘Look to yourself and your brothers’ (1 Tim 4:16), for there is much that needs correction. Do not say this to him now, but when the Lord shall indicate.”

Asking for his prayers, the woman turned and vanished into the depths of the desert.

For a whole year Elder Zosimas remained silent, not daring to reveal to anyone what he had seen, and he prayed that the Lord would grant him to see the holy ascetic once more.

When the first week of Great Lent came again, Saint Zosimas was obliged to remain at the monastery because of sickness. Then he remembered the woman’s prophetic words that he would not be able to leave the monastery. After several days went by, Saint Zosimas was healed of his infirmity, but he remained at the monastery until Holy Week.

On Holy Thursday, Abba Zosimas did what he had been ordered to do. He placed some of the Body and Blood of Christ into a chalice and some food in a small basket. Then he left the monastery and went to the Jordan and waited for the ascetic. The saint seemed tardy, and Abba Zosimas prayed that God would permit him to see the holy woman.

Finally, he saw her standing on the far side of the river. Rejoicing, Saint Zosimas got up and glorified God. Then he wondered how she could cross the Jordan without a boat. She made the Sign of the Cross over the water, then she walked on the water and crossed the Jordan. Abba Zosimas saw her in the moonlight, walking toward him. When the Elder wanted to make prostration before her, she forbade him, crying out, “What are you doing, Abba? You are a priest and you carry the Holy Mysteries of God.”

Reaching the shore, she said to Abba Zosimas, “Bless me, Father.” He answered her with trembling, astonished at what he had seen. “Truly God did not lie when he promised that those who purify themselves will be like Him. Glory to You, O Christ our God, for showing me through your holy servant, how far I am from perfection.”

The woman asked him to recite both the Creed and the “Our Father.” When the prayers were finished, she partook in the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Then she raised her hands to the heavens and said, “Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen Your salvation.”

The saint turned to the Elder and said, “Please, Abba, fulfil another request. Go now to your monastery, and in a year’s time come to the place where we first time spoke.”

He said, “If only it were possible for me to follow you and always see your holy face!”

She replied, “For the Lord’s sake, pray for me and remember my wretchedness.”

Again she made the Sign of the Cross over the Jordan, walked over the water as before, and disappeared into the desert. Zosimas returned to the monastery with joy and terror, reproaching himself because he had not asked the saint’s name. He hoped to do so the following year.

A year passed, and Abba Zosimas went into the desert. He reached the place where he first saw the holy woman ascetic. She lay dead, with arms folded on her bosom, and her face was turned to the east. Abba Zosimas washed her feet with his tears and kissed them, not daring to touch anything else. For a long while, he wept over her and sang the customary Psalms, and said the funeral prayers. He began to wonder whether the saint would want him to bury her or not. Hardly had he thought this, when he saw something written on the ground near her head: “Abba Zosimas, bury on this spot the body of humble Mary. Return to dust what is dust. Pray to the Lord for me. I reposed on the first day of April, on the very night of the saving Passion of Christ, after partaking of the Mystical Supper.”

Reading this note, Abba Zosimas was glad to learn her name. He then realized that Saint Mary, after receiving the Holy Mysteries from his hand, was transported instantaneously to the place where she died, though it had taken him twenty days to travel that distance.

Glorifying God, Abba Zosimas said to himself, “It is time to do what she asks. But how can I dig a grave, with nothing in my hands?” Then he saw a small piece of wood left by some traveller. He picked it up and began to dig. The ground was hard and dry, and he could not dig it. Looking up, Abba Zosimas saw an enormous lion standing by the saint’s body and licking her feet. Fear gripped the Elder, but he guarded himself with the Sign of the Cross, believing that he would remain unharmed through the prayers of the holy woman ascetic. Then the lion came close to the Elder, showing its friendliness with every movement. Abba Zosimas commanded the lion to dig the grave, in order to bury Saint Mary’s body. At his words, the lion dug a hole deep enough to bury the body. Then each went his own way. The lion went into the desert, and Abba Zosimas returned to the monastery, blessing and praising Christ our God.

Arriving at the monastery, Abba Zosimas related to the monks and the igumen, what he had seen and heard from Saint Mary. All were astonished, hearing about the miracles of God. They always remembered Saint Mary with faith and love on the day of her repose.

Abba John, the igumen of the monastery, heeded the words of Saint Mary, and with the help of God corrected the things that were wrong at the monastery. Abba Zosimas lived a God-pleasing life at the monastery, reaching nearly a hundred years of age. There he finished his temporal life, and passed into life eternal.

The monks passed on the life of Saint Mary of Egypt by word of mouth without writing it down.

“I, however,” says Saint Sophronius of Jerusalem (March 11), “wrote down the Life of Saint Mary of Egypt as I heard it from the holy Fathers. I have recorded everything, putting the truth above all else.”

“May God, Who works great miracles and bestows gifts on all who turn to Him in faith, reward those who hear or read this account, and those who copy it. May he grant them a blessed portion together with Saint Mary of Egypt and with all the saints who have pleased God by their pious thoughts and works. Let us give glory to God, the Eternal King, that we may find mercy on the Day of Judgment through our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom is due all glory, honour, majesty and worship together with the Unoriginate Father, and the Most Holy and Life-Creating Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.”

Troparion — Tone 8

The image of God was truly preserved in you, mother, / for you took up the Cross and followed Christ. / By so doing, you taught us to disregard the flesh, for it passes away, / but to care instead for the soul since it is immortal. / Therefore your spirit, holy mother Mary, Rejoices with the angels!

Kontakion — Tone 3

Having been a sinful woman, / you became through repentance a Bride of Christ. / Having attained angelic life, / you defeated demons with the weapon of the Cross. / Therefore, most glorious Mary, you are a Bride of the Kingdom!

IN LUMINE FIDEI: 1 APRIL – TUESDAY IN THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT

IN LUMINE FIDEI: 1 APRIL – TUESDAY IN THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT:   Lesson – Exodus xxxii. 7‒14 In those days the Lord spoke to Moses saying: “Go, get down from the mountain, your people which you have...

1 April, The Chesterton Calendar

APRIL 1st
ALL FOOLS' DAY

We shall never make anything of democracy until we make fools of ourselves. For if a man really cannot make a fool of himself, we may be quite certain that the effort is superfluous.

'The Defendant.'

1 April, The Holy Rule of St Benedict, Patriarch of Western Monasticism

CHAPTER L. Of the Brethren who are working at a distance from the Oratory, or are on a journey

1 Apr. 1 Aug. 1 Dec.

Let the brethren who are at work at a great distance, or on a journey, and cannot come to the Oratory at the proper time (the Abbot judging such to be the case) perform the Work of God there where they are labouring, in godly fear, and on bended knees. In like manner, let not those who are sent on a journey allow the appointed Hours to pass by; but, as far as they can, observe them by themselves, and not neglect to fulfil their obligation of divine service.

2 April, The Roman Martyrology

Quarto Nonas Aprílis Luna tertio Anno Dómini 2025

The holy Confessor Francis of Paola, founder of the Order of Friars Minim, [in the year 1507.] He was famous for his graces and miracles, and Leo X enrolled his name among those of the Saints.
At Caesarea, in Palestine, the holy martyr Amphian. During the persecution under the Emperor Galerius Maximian he rebuked the President Urban as he was sacrificing unto idols, and for this cause he was savagely mangled, and most cruelly tormented. His feet being wrapped in flax steeped in oil, and set on fire, and at length he was drowned in the sea, and thus did he go through fire and through water, and was brought out into a place of refreshment.
There also suffered the holy martyr Theodosia, a Virgin of Tyre, during the same persecution. When she saw the holy Confessors standing before the judgment seat, she publicly saluted them, and besought them that when they should be come unto the Lord they would remember her. For this cause the soldiers took her, and led her before Urban the President, and by his command her sides and her breasts were deeply mangled, and she was cast into the sea, [in the year 307.]
At Lyon, holy Nicetius, Bishop of that city, famous for his life and miracles, [in the year 573.]
At Como, the holy Confessor Abundius, Bishop of that see, [in the year 468.]
At Langres, holy Urban, [6th] Bishop of that see, [in the year 395.]
In Palestine, holy Mary of Egypt, commonly called the sinner, [fifth century.]
℣. And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
℟. Thanks be to God.

Meme of the Moment

Compline

From St Thomas Aquinas Seminary. You may follow the Office at Divinum Officium.

Florida Bishop Preserves Thriving Latin Mass Community by Establishing Shrine

Good on His Lordship! He found a way to circumvent the restrictions placed on Tradition by the modernist Vatican.

From LifeSiteNews

By Antonino Cambria

Bishop Gregory Parkes said the new Latin Mass shrine in Tampa Bay will be a ‘place of pilgrimage for those throughout the Diocese devoted to the liturgical fruits of the antecedent liturgy.’

A Florida bishop has announced that a growing parish with a strong devotion to the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) will become a diocesan shrine and be placed under the pastoral care of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP).

Bishop Gregory Parkes of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida, announced on March 25 that the Epiphany of Our Lord Church in Tampa Bay will become the Epiphany of Our Lord Shrine this Summer and will be placed under the patronage of the ICKSP. The move ensures the stability of the TLM in the diocese, amid the restrictions placed on the ancient Roman rite by Traditionis Custodes.

The announcement emphasized that the community at Epiphany of Our Lord, with the support of their pastor, Father Edwin Palka, had sought to ensure the stability of the TLM while also adhering to the Francis’ wishes outlined in Traditionis Custodes.

“After careful study of Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes and having prayerfully reflected on spiritual needs expressed by the faithful in the Diocese devoted to the Roman Rite celebrated according to the Roman Missal of 1962, the canonical status of Epiphany of Our Lord Catholic Church, in Tampa, Florida, will be converted from a parochial church to a diocesan shrine,” the announcement read.

The shrine will be a “place of pilgrimage for those throughout the Diocese devoted to the liturgical fruits of the antecedent liturgy and the incarnational spirituality of the Epiphany when the Heavenly Father manifested through signs and wonders the newborn Christ as a light to the nations.”

Pope Francis promulgated the controversial motu proprio Traditionis Custodes in July 2021. The document abrogated the universal permission for the celebration of the TLM granted by Pope Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum and gave the bishops the power to restrict its celebration within their dioceses. 

While the motu proprio bars Latin Masses from being celebrated in “parochial” churches, the restrictions notably do not apply to shrines.

Since the initial promulgation of Traditionis Custodes, the Vatican has implemented further restrictive measures on the ancient liturgy. In December 2021, the Vatican issued a responsa stating that diocesan clergy are barred from celebrating old Rite sacraments and must be willing to concelebrate the Novus Ordo. In February 2023, Francis issued a rescript restricting bishops’ ability to dispense priests from the restrictions of Traditionis Custodes. 

Scholar Dr. Peter Kwasniewski celebrated Bishop Gregory Parkes’ announcement and praised the bishop in a Facebook post. “[T]his strikes me as very good news indeed. A bishop who cares for his flock and is willing to provide for them!” he wrote.

The transition of the parish into a shrine will be effective on July 1, and the ICKSP will assume control of the shrine on September 1, according to the announcement. In addition to the newly established shrine, two parishes in the diocese will continue to offer the TLM. 

Bishop Strickland: Novus Ordo Mass, Priestly Formation Have Led to Problems in the Church

I've said for years that NO clergy are no longer Priests offering Sacrifice but celibate social workers in collars, which is one of the reasons for the push for a married Priesthood.

From LifeSiteNews

By Raymond Wolfe

Bishop Joseph Strickland said the ‘more comfortable’ Novus Ordo Mass has shifted priests toward acting like ‘social workers’ and declared that the Latin Mass ‘will stay with us’ in a recent interview.

Bishop Joseph Strickland said that the shift to the Novus Ordo Mass from the Traditional Latin Mass has led to a decline in the priesthood and called out the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for pushing bishops to “forget that they’re successors of the Apostles.” 

The former bishop of Tyler, Texas, who was removed from his diocese by Pope Francis in 2023 after criticizing the pope’s heterodoxy, faulted the more “comfortable” and less “sacral” approach of the Novus Ordo Mass in a more than three-hour interview on March 20 with Conor Gallagher, the CEO of traditional Catholic publisher TAN Books. 

In the interview, Bishop Strickland recounted his upbringing in the small, overwhelmingly Protestant town of Atlanta in east Texas, where he attended Mass as a child at a mission church that his parents helped establish. 

When he had “time in town to kill,” he said, “I just went to the church and prayed. Nobody told me that’s a good thing to do, I just knew, you know, because being Catholic was the best thing we had as a family.” 

Bishop Strickland noted in the interview that he begins each day with one hour of Eucharistic adoration and did as many as three hours a day as bishop of Tyler. He credited adoration and the Holy Rosary with giving him the strength to “stand up against” corrupt Church authorities and to say, “Well, okay, if you have to remove me, that’s what will happen, but I’m not going to backpedal on the truth that I believe Christ is telling us to teach and to share.” 

The Texas bishop also shared his vocation story and how he attended an “orthodox” seminary after the Second Vatican Council where he nevertheless had “no exposure” to the Traditional Latin Mass and “wasn’t taught” about the centrality of the Eucharist for the priesthood. 

Novus Ordo Mass, priestly formation have led to problems in Church

Bishop Strickland attributed the crisis in the modern Church to the desacralization of the Mass and to formation that envisions priests as social workers.

The problems in the Church “really are rooted in many ways in the formation of priests to be active, out there, doing good things, setting up food pantries, and doing all this stuff, and having this program and that program and another program,” he said. 

However, Bishop Strickland revealed that he came to understand through a deepening of his prayer life “that being a priest primarily happens at the Eucharistic altar.” 

“That is the core, that is the lifeblood, that is the epicenter of a priest’s life,” he stressed, though he “wasn’t taught that.” 

“It wasn’t really the emphasis. It was, you know, kind of a Church that had been desacralized in many ways,” he lamented, including with the abandonment of the Traditional Latin Mass. 

Bishop Strickland’s comments echo Venerable Pope Pius XII, who said, “There are indeed many forms of activity that a priest can exercise for the salvation of the modern world; but only one of them is without a doubt the most worthy, the most effective, and the most lasting in its effects: to act as dispenser of the Holy Eucharist, after first nourishing himself abundantly.” 

“His work would not be that of a priest, if he, even through zeal for souls, put his Eucharistic vocation second,” the pontiff stated. 

Bishop Strickland said that, in the wake of Second Vatican Council and the introduction of the Novus Ordo Mass, “I think all of that really began to shift the priesthood more into being a social worker, a good man, and doing good things but not being a priest of Jesus Christ.” 

“There are lots of factors, but I think that one of the critical is, you know, the liturgy was not as sacral,” he said. “That was the objective: make it simpler, make it more something comfortable with this world.” 

“It’s not this mystical event every Sunday that it really is, but that was the emphasis, and I think that’s bled into what do priests do, what do bishops do,” he observed. 

Bishop Strickland explained that he “was trained very much as a Novus Ordo priest,” describing the new Mass as a “barebones Eucharistic sacrifice, and even sacrifice wasn’t emphasized, it was the communal gathering.” 

He also related how he began celebrating the Latin Mass in 2020, more than 30 years after being ordained as a priest. His first Latin Mass was a “profound experience,” Bishop Strickland said. “I remember the actual consecration, I mean, you’re only whispering anyway, but I could hardly get the words out. It was very emotional.” 

“The Traditional Latin Mass will stay with us,” he declared and predicted that “those who want to totally eliminate it” will fail, citing the “supernatural focus” of the traditional liturgy. 

“I try to celebrate the Novus Ordo Mass with great reverence and great focus on the supernatural but the Traditional Latin Mass, in my experience, you’d almost have to fight against it being supernatural, you know, it’s just the way it is,” with its many genuflections, signs of the cross, bows, and other signs, the prelate said. 

READ: New DC Cardinal McElroy has long record of promoting LGBT ideology, downplaying abortion

USCCB pushes bishops to ‘forget that they are successor of the Apostles’ 

In the interview with Gallagher, Bishop Strickland additionally discussed how bishops are trained to be “managers” and “businessmen.” 

He recalled a moment around December 2016, after having been the bishop of Tyler for four years, when he decided to reject the “management-style” approach and commit speaking the truth, regardless of the consequences. 

“I really remember sitting in my office and saying, ‘Are you going to be the management-style bishop, you know, that I was witnessing – go to meetings, get on committees, do all this stuff – or are you going to teach the truth?’” he said. 

“More and more what the truth means to me is a person, is Jesus Christ, Truth Incarnate, so I really feel like I was answering a call to speak for Christ in a very clear way, willing to make whatever sacrifices to speak His truth,” Bishop Strickland stated. 

“And so I did make that decision, and, as I’ve said to people, you know, it’s been hell on wheels in some ways ever since then, because opposition, and it’s like, ‘Wait a minute, you’re getting out of line here, you’re not following the plan, you’re not being a good manager,’” he continued. 

The Texas prelate said that he was accused of “lack of fraternity” toward other bishops because he was “saying things that were not comfortable.” 

He noted that pushback from the “institutional Church” against him started “really ramping up” after the USCCB’s November 2018 meeting, which followed explosive homosexual abuse revelations about now-former cardinal Theodore McCarrick. 

During the meeting, Bishop Strickland denounced the promotion of LGBT activist Jesuit priest James Martin, who has criticized Catholic teaching about homosexuality, encouraged homosexual relationships, and organized heterodox, pro-LGBT conferences. 

Several bishops, including Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the former archbishop of Atlanta and Washington, D.C., have invited Martin to speak in their dioceses. Cardinal Robert McElroy, the current archbishop of Washington, D.C., and Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, have also strongly praised his LGBT activism.

“Do we believe the doctrine of the Church or not?” Bishop Strickland questioned fellow bishops at the meeting. 

Unfortunately, bishops are “encouraged to be part of the Texas Catholic Conference, to be part of the USCCB, and to kind of forget that they’re successors of the Apostles,” Bishop Strickland said in the Thursday interview. 

Boldly declaring the truth is “a very different path of being a bishop in the 21st century than most bishops are on and, frankly, [a] different path than the Church encourages” due to “the structure of the USCCB.” 

“And I’ve heard bishops say, ‘Well, you know, I’m not going to make a statement. What did the USCCB put out about this?’” It’s like, you’re the apostle of your diocese, you should know better than anyone what your flock needs, and that to me that’s not been the focus,” Bishop Strickland said. 

“I was accused of not being fraternal then,” he added, “but … as a bishop I’m supposed to just go against what I believe in principle is the right thing and, frankly, with some of these things I think I was proven to be on the right side, but that’s not the way the management school wanted it to work.” 

Bishop Strickland notably clashed with the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, for example, when they publicly opposed a mother’s efforts to save her disabled baby daughter, whom doctors had determined to remove from life support because of her “quality of life.” 

The Tyler bishop, however, urged the Texas Supreme Court to protect the girl, Tinslee Lewis, who was eventually released from the hospital in 2022. 

Bishop Strickland’s case is similar to that of Bishop Daniel Fernández Torres of Puerto Rico, another outspoken defender of Catholic teaching who was removed by Pope Francis in 2022 with no official explanation, reportedly due to his support for conscience objections to COVID shots and because he was insufficiently “fraternal.” 

Pope Francis’ nuncio pressured Bishop Strickland to be quiet 

Bishop Strickland told Gallagher that he faced pressure from Pope Francis’ nuncio to the U.S., Cardinal Christophe Pierre, and USCCB leadership to stop speaking out. 

“I had a few phone calls from the nuncio saying, ‘Bishop Strickland, you know, you need to cool it,’” he recounted. “It’s like, well, if it’s the truth, I don’t know that I can cool it.” 

He added that his removal was due to allegations that he was “disrespectful to Pope Francis” and “wasn’t fraternal.” Bishop Strickland has previously accused Francis of “undermining the Deposit of Faith” and criticized his heterodox initiatives, like the Synod on Synodality. 

The prelate said in the interview that Pope Francis “seems to have gone beyond ambiguity to really challenging what the truth of the Church teaches,” citing his endorsement of homosexual “blessings” and how he “writes friendly notes” to James Martin. 

He described the Church under Francis as “like a family with an alcoholic father,” pointing out that “we’re respectful” to human authority but that “obedience ultimately is to God.” 

“I ultimately made that choice. I have to be obedient to the truth that is Christ,” he said. 

“There wasn’t any specific quote” cited as the reason for his removal, Bishop Strickland said, “but I would say, in general, I was speaking out in ways that were they found disruptive.” 

“For the manager side, you don’t want to be disruptive.” 

Bishop Strickland said that he thinks his ousting “was orchestrated to send signals to the other bishops, because they were meeting the day after it was announced that I was removed or relieved.” 

“I can’t be told to quit teaching Truth Incarnate because it doesn’t fit the synodal model in the modern Church,” he insisted. “I was directly told to quit talking about it, ‘Quit talking about the Deposit of Faith.’ It’s like, ‘Quit doing my job.’” 

“But to me I can’t understand how someone who is saying the Deposit of Faith needs to be changed, and this word needs to be taken out of the Catechism, we need to change all this, we need to totally reinterpret Sacred Scripture that we’ve known for centuries, I can’t understand,” Bishop Strickland said. 

Cupich, McElroy, Tobin, and Martin have all suggested that the Catechism should be changed to no longer say that homosexuality is “disordered.” 

“They don’t know the Jesus Christ that I know,” Bishop Strickland said. “I guess I can put it that way. What He says is in conflict with that.”