Jeanie Hannaman

By Anthony Esolen, Crisis Magazine - The Vatican has recently approved of some considerable alterations of the Novus Ordo celebrated in the Mexican diocese of Chiapas. These alterations are put forward as springing from immemorial Mayan traditions. The controversy leads me to think again about what it means to have any kind of culture at all, especially as against the phenomena of the masses, which bid fair to make the world into one great Nowhere... How can you tell Nowhere from Somewhere?

By Jonah McKeown, CNA - “Immaculate” is not a word most people would use to describe the Mississippi River’s famously muddy waters. But Father Jacques Marquette was not most people... The Jesuit explorer, who came from France as a missionary to Canada in 1666, was one of the first Europeans to name the Mississippi, which he explored and mapped with his companion Louis Joliet beginning in 1673. And the name he gave to this vital artery of North America was “The River of the Immaculate Conception.”

By David G Bonagura, Jr., The Catholic Thing - The Advent of Christ in the flesh, then, sends us back to the future Advent that we celebrated first. And we arrive back there via the same bridge we crossed earlier: through repentance of sin as preached by the Baptist... Repentance is not a singular occurrence. We must repent daily because as we live, we inevitably sin. The Church urges a nightly examination of conscience to foster a habit of repentance. But our sorrow turns to joy, for we know the two sides of the bridge: the infant Christ and the judging Christ. Each fills us with awe. Each spurs us to action. Each calls us to a greater love.

By Andrea Gagliarducci, Catholic News Agency - The number of cardinal electors is the most critical data point to emerge from this weekend’s consistory. Of the 140 cardinal electors, 110 have been created by Pope Francis, 24 by Benedict XVI, and six by St. John Paul II. At the end of the year, on December 24, Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias, created cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2007, will reach 80 years of age and will, therefore, no longer be able to participate in a conclave.