This Sunday, Rorate Sunday, the Fourth in Advent, this weblog reaches its 20th anniversary.
Thank you so much for your readership!
Papa Stronsay 2026 Calendar Available
The Papa Stronsay Calendar 2026 is now available on the website of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer.
It really is beautiful, and filled with spiritual prayers and advices.
The Number One Priority of the Catholic Church in Charlotte, North Carolina: NO ALTAR RAILS
Thankfully, the Church in western North Carolina has a liturgical heavyweight to guide it, a true giant of the faith.
From his episcopal letter, "on the reception of holy communion":
The episcopal conference norms logically do not envision the use of altar rails, kneelers, or prie-dieus for the reception of communion. Doing so is a visible contradiction to the normative posture of Holy Communion established by our episcopal conference.
Pope Leo XIV, Cherubini's Mass, and King Charles X: Sacred Music returns to the Vatican in an event rich in symbols
Leo XIV, Cherubini's Mass, and Charles X
by Roberto de Mattei
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| The Coronation of Charles X at Rheims (1825) |
On December 12, in the Vatican, in the presence of Leo XIV, Maestro Riccardo Muti conducted Luigi Cherubini's Mass for the Coronation of Charles X, performed by the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra and the Guido Chigi Saracini Choir of Siena Cathedral.
The event was rightly hailed as a sign of the return of great sacred music to the Vatican, which had been conspicuously absent during the papacy of Pope Francis. But the choice of this Mass as a musical tribute to Leo XIV also appears to be an event rich in symbolic allusions.
Confirmed by Local Radio: Bishop Ronald Hicks to be named new Archbishop of New York!
The rumors had been floating around since yesterday, but the local radio station of Joliet, Illinois, has confirmed it: current Bishop of Joliet, Ronald Hicks, is to be named to the great American See, New York -- to be announced in the coming days, maybe as soon as tomorrow?
Italian Daily "Il Giornale": Liturgical question at the heart of the Consistory of Cardinals called by the Pope for early January
Nico Spuntoni
Il Giornale
December 16, 2025
[Main excerpts:]
In these last days of 2025, the anticipation in the Vatican will not end with the conclusion of Advent. A more “secular” anticipation, in fact, is that for the extraordinary consistory on January 7 and 8, called for by Leo XIV.
French Semi-Official Catholic Daily "La Croix": The "Normalization" of the Latin Mass is Here
Towards a "normalization" of the Tridentine Mass?
Those Catholics who pray in both Latin and French
La CroixMatthieu Lasserre & Eve GuyotDecember 14, 2025
While Gregorian chants still resonate inside Saint George's, in Old Lyon, several fathers are already on the church square, letting their children get some fresh air. Among them is Grégoire, 31 years old. This Lyon native began attending the parish five years ago to follow his wife, a devotee of the Latin Mass. Full of preconceived notions about "this world of traditional Catholics," he now alternates between the ordinary rite without any problem: "First, there's the place of silence, which fosters my contemplation, and, more strangely, the power of Latin."
FRIENDS OF CAMPOS: Help Sisters in the only Diocesan Structure in the World Exclusively Dedicated to the Traditional Mass
This Advent and Christmas, the Friends of Campos invite you to join them in supporting the sisters of the Religious Institute of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Campos, Brazil.
Filiae Laboris Mariae, a Semi-Contemplative Community of Sisters in the Kansas City area
Our History
The Filiæ Laboris Mariæ was founded on the Feast of Our Lady, Mother of Divine Grace (June 9th) in 2017, at Saint Mary’s Parish in Independence, Missouri, in the Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph. Our community is a semi-contemplative Marian community of women Religious, whose members live a rich liturgical and interior life and share those riches through some external apostolate, especially in the context of the parish.
Edelweiss House - Retreats with the Traditional Mass in Indiana
Do you long for silence? Do you long for time alone with God where you can work on the most important relationship in your life? Invest in your soul and enter into one of the Edelweiss House retreats. We offer traditional silent retreats all year round. Our mission is to sanctify families by standing as a roadblock against the destruction of the family. The goal of each retreat isn’t fulfilled at the end, rather, it is for the retreatants to carry this grace into their lives, practicing mental prayer daily so that they may grow in the love of God and sanctify the world.
Pope Leo XIV: Revelation is always History
God has in time spoken through events and people. He has spoken in the history of Israel, in the life of Jesus and in the journey of the Church. Indeed, Revelation is always history. If this is so, then understanding Revelation requires an adequate knowledge of the historical, cultural and material contexts in which it took place. Christian archaeology contributes to this knowledge. It illuminates the texts with material evidence. It examines, completes and scrutinizes written sources. In some cases, it confirms the authenticity of traditions. Other times, it places them in their proper context, or even raises new questions. All of this is theologically relevant. If theology is to be faithful to Revelation, it must remain open to the complexity of history.
The Demented War on Altar Rails Moves North -- to Pennsylvania
After Charlotte, the war on Altar Rails moves north.
This past June, Rorate reported on a Pennsylvania parish reeling from a persecution of traditional pastors.
The Golden Thread of Christian Civilization: A Compendium on the Greatest Civilization (a first look)
How do you tell a story that has been told a thousand times before?
One way to do it is through an all-encompassing masterpiece. And that is the vast work that Professors James Hankins and Allen Guelzo have managed to accomplish in THE GOLDEN THREAD: A History of the Western Tradition (Encounter Books, New York),* which we can honestly call the most important non-religious book to be published in America in this troubled decade. (Non-religious, we say, though Catholicism is an essential part of the story it tells.)
A Poem on the Sixteen Documents of Vatican II
With a spirit so bold, midst a war so cold, that critics were appalled.
He set up commissions and gave them permissions:
Let the old-time religion be overhauled!
Archbishop Gänswein: Benedict XVI’s path “is the right way,” Traditionis custodes “is and remains a mystery to me”
Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the former private secretary of Pope Benedict XVI and current nuncio to Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, recently gave an interview to Athinea Andryszczak, broadcast in two parts (1, 2) on the German Catholic television station K-TV.
Immaculate Mother, the Mediatrix and Co-Redemptrix: "Every kind of grace we receive from the treasury of the redemption is ministered as it were from the hands of the Virgin."
Quæ est ista quæ progreditur quasi aurora consurgens, pulchra ut luna, electa ut sol, terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata?
Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?
Canticles (Song of Solomon), vi, 9
***
Because the Doctors of the Church by common consent profess that, if the Most Blessed Virgin did not apparently have any participation in the public life of Jesus Christ, and then suddenly reappeared on the path to Calvary and under the Cross, she could not have been present without Divine design.
Pope Leo XIV Extends Apostolic Blessing to SSPX Chapel in North Carolina for Its 25th Anniversary
In a remarkable gesture of pastoral solicitude, Pope Leo XIV has extended an Apostolic Blessing to the Society of St. Pius X's chapel in the Charlotte Diocese of North Carolina:
Vatican II ended 60 years ago today - "The Smoke of Satan has entered the Temple of God - Doubt has entered through windows meant to be open to light - We believed it would be sunny: instead, darkness and clouds."
The Second Vatican Council ended 60 years ago today, on December 7, 1965 (the official end came on the next day, with the publication of several documents and messages, but December 7th was the last day of official business). You may read the still optimistic closing address by Paul VI here.
Seven years later, we can see through Paul VI's own eyes the devastation that followed the assembly: in his famous homily on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29), 1972, Paul VI was not so optimistic anymore -- main excerpt:
Obedience in All Things but Sin?
By James Baresel
A priest of my diocese, who occasionally offers the Tridentine Mass on an as needed basis, has developed a habit of preaching on obedience every single time he does so—basing himself, sometimes explicitly, on Saint Alphonsus Liguori’s principle that it is never sinful to obey a superior’s command to do something which is not itself sinful. No attempt to explain just how the saint’s highly qualified statement might be relevant to the priest’s obvious implication has not, to my knowledge, ever been made.
Families and Children – Another View
Pope Leo XIV on Music in the Liturgy
Music has always had an important role in Christian experience. In the liturgy, in particular, singing is never a “soundtrack”, a simple backdrop, but is intended to lift the soul to lead it as close as possible to the mystery that is celebrated. Saint Augustine, referring precisely to singing in prayer, wrote in his Comment on the Psalms: “You must sing to Him, but not out of tune. He does not wish for His ears to be offended. Sing with artistry, O brethren.” How important in music are care, commitment, artistry, and, finally, the harmony that comes from them: it is truly a precious gift that God has given to all humanity. ...
A Reply to John Lamont: In Defense of Christian Neoplatonism
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| Domenico Ghirlandaio, Dionysius the Areopagite with Thomas Aquinas, Madonna and the Child, 1486. |
The following article by Dr. Sebastian Morello replies to Dr. John Lamont's critique of his work.
I was initially pleased to see that recently Rorate Caeli had published a critical essay by John Lamont on my writings. Given that Lamont has often shown himself to be a thoughtful writer, I was flattered that he deemed my work worthy of his critical engagement. Indeed, one of his essays is among the works cited in Mysticism, Magic, and Monasteries (see p. 105), the very work that has caused controversy among niche platforms of the internet. One can imagine my disappointment, then, when I read Lamont’s paper and found that, whilst it contained some interesting history of classical philosophy and its relationship with Christian intellectual culture, insofar as it claimed to respond to my writings, it comprised a sequence of attacks on straw men.
Francis-instituted Vatican Commission says NO to Female Diaconate - English Translation of Full Report
Announced today -- report by Vatican News (followed by our translation of the full text of letter and report submitted to Pope Leo XIV):
Petrocchi Commission says no to female diaconate, though judgment not definitive
A report presenting the results of the Commission’s work has been released. It rules out admitting women to the diaconate understood as a degree of the sacrament of Holy Orders, but says that it is not currently possible “to formulate a definitive judgment, as in the case of priestly ordination.” [Vatican News]
***
Summary of the Study Commission on the Female Diaconate, December 4, 2025
To His Holiness
Leo XIV
Dear Holy Father,
Pope Buries German Synodal Way: the voice of the powerful in the German Church cannot silence the voice of the numerous who are not listened to
Well, not exactly, but in so many words.
From his press conference in the airplane returning to Rome from Lebanon:
[Question:] The Church in Lebanon is supported also by the German Church. There are, for example, some German aid agencies very active in Lebanon. So from that point of view, it is important that the German Church has to be strong. So you probably know, that there is this Synodal Way, we call it Synodaler Weg, a process of change in the German Church going on. Do you think this process can be a way to strengthen the Church in Germany? Or is it the other way around? And why? [Anna Giordano - German ARD Radio]
[Pope Leo XIV:] The Synodal Way is not unique to Germany, the whole Church has celebrated a synod and synodality over the past several years. There are some great similarities but there are also some marked differences between how the Synodaler Weg in Germany has been carried forward and how it may well continue in the universal Church.
Goodbye to Catholic Family News
Another print publication goes under, unfortunately.
CFN had a great run, and we pray for the soul of John Vennari and Fr. Gruner, and we thank all those who kept it going.
Neoplatonism and the Antichrist: Against "Christian Hermeticism" - by Dr. John Lamont
[Rorate Note: This is part of an ongoing debate; if you wish to contribute or rebut, just send us your view for consideration: newcatholic@gmail.com.]
***
Neoplatonism and the Antichrist
by John R. T. Lamont
Sebastian Morello's promotion of 'Christian Hermeticism' has met with severe criticism from a number of sources, as promoting occultism (cf. here). Surprisingly, Morello’ views have been defended by a certain number of Catholics. The criticisms that have been made of his ‘Christian Hermeticism’ are substantially accurate, but the accuracy of these criticisms rests upon facts about complex philosophical systems and historical developments that are little known even to the well-educated reader. It is important to fill in the historical background for the average Catholic, in order to show that Morello's views are irrational and cannot be reconciled with Catholicism.
Tucho's Marian Kerfuffle - by Roberto de Mattei
The Consequences of the Marian Note of Cardinal Fernandez
by Roberto de Mattei
for Corrispondenza Romana
On November 4, 2025, the doctrinal note Mater Populi Fidelis was published, with which the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith sought to clarify the meaning and limits of certain Marian titles referring to Mary's cooperation in the work of salvation. The statement caused dismay and consternation among the faithful, but also among Mariologists, because it represents an objective diminution of the privileges traditionally reserved for Our Lady by the Tradition of the Church. One wonders now what the practical consequences will be.
Vatican II Springtime: Chapel of the Ursulines in Québec City deconsecrated
On November 6th, 2025, a glorious history came to an end: the chapel of the Ursulines in the city of Quebec was deconsecrated.
The Ursulines first arrived in New France in 1639, founded by Saint Mary of the Incarnation, and their monastery became the first institution for the teaching of women in all of North America (north of New Spain).
They survived the bitter cold, famine, wars, the British conquest, the upheavals of the American Revolution, the two world wars in which Canada played so noble a part -- they survived everything, except Vatican II.
Towards the Francis Dream of an Extermination of Opus Dei?
When Summorum Pontificum was promulgated, we had great hopes for a liturgical renewal of Opus Dei, the particular order founded by Josemaría Escrivá and later transformed in the only Personal Prelature, a novel figure created (for them, apparently) in the new Code of Canon Law.
We knew many priests of "The Work" loved the Traditional Mass, that Escrivá celebrated until the end of his life. But the order from above, as far as we could discern, was that the priests of Opus should, whenever possible, refrain from the Traditional Mass, and celebrate "the mass of the pope," that is, the novus ordo promulgated by Paul VI.
Leo XIV at the Tomb of Saint Charbel, the Miracle-Worker: "Saint Charbel has never ceased to intercede for us."
Pope Leo XIV became today the first Bishop of Rome to ever visit the tomb of one of the greatest Catholic miracle-workers, Saint Charbel.
Excerpt from his words:
Saint Charbel has never ceased to intercede for us before our Heavenly Father, the source of every good and grace. Even during his earthly life, many went to him to receive comfort, forgiveness and advice from the Lord. After Saint Charbel’s death, his work multiplied and became like a river of mercy. For this reason, on the twenty-second of every month, thousands of pilgrims from different countries come here to spend a day in prayer and to renew their souls and bodies.
“Today's Modernism is more subtle, more camouflaged, more forceful and more hypocritical.”
Mons. Luigi Carlo Borromeo (1893 – 1975)
Theological Audacity and Confusion: On the Marian Document
The Bishops have so much love for neighbor that they applaud themselves -- but some of them don't seem to love their own Faithful
Love for Neighbor
by Fr. Richard Cipolla
The American bishops Special Message on immigration recently promulgated is certainly to be welcomed as an authentic and moderate Catholic response to and observation of the current state of attitude and response to the often callous and certainly unchristian behavior of those who are empowered to enforce immigration law. This way of enforcing immigration law may often be inhumane and contrary to the American ethos.
A Sign of the Times: Leo XIV undoes important Francis Motu Proprio about the City of Rome
The Pope -- Bishop of Rome. While his concerns are mainly with the Universal Church, the Pope remains of course the Bishop of Rome, which is the central reason of why he is the Pastor of the Universal Church in the first place.
But since for many centuries, they have been so busy with the Church outside the City, they have for many centuries kept a Cardinal-Vicar, who administer the diocese.
Also for many decades, especially since Rome became once again a bustling modern metropolis, the central area of the City (which includes most of what the ancient, the modern, and the pilgrims and tourists identify as Rome proper) has been administered as a whole: the map below, from the pontificate of Benedict XVI, identifies this area, the Settore Centro, in red (the Vatican itself appears in yellow). The exact limits at the time had been defined by John Paul II.
The Upcoming Curial Rearrangements of Leo XIV: Bergoglianists and Papal Ceremonies; New Regulations; Latin Language no longer standard for Curial documents
Main excerpts of the new piece by Vaticanist Andrea Gagliarducci -- including an important update on the major "Bergoglianist" Cardinal Czerny and also changes in the personnel of pontifical liturgical ceremonies:
Pope Leo XIV has initiated a major generational change in the Church’s central governing apparatus, the Roman Curia.
Apostolic Letter IN UNITATE FIDEI of Pope Leo XIV -- On the 1700th Anniversary of the Council of Nicaea
1. In the unity of faith, proclaimed since the beginning of the Church, Christians have been called to walk in harmony, guarding and transmitting the gift they have received with love and joy. This is expressed in the words of the Creed, “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God… for our salvation he came down from heaven,” that were formulated 1700 years ago by the Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical gathering in the history of Christianity.
Leo and the American Bishops - the USCCB Election and Fake News Pushed by American Liberals
by Serre Verweij
The USCCB has elected its new leaders. A new president, vice-president, secretary and committee heads. There have been spins and interpretations on both sides, as usual, with the typical questions of what it says or does not say about President Trump and whether the elections reflect any influence of Pope Leo XIV.
It might be best to take inspiration from the Pope to reject fake news, search for the truth, and approach the recent developments through a mathematical lens.
Indicative numbers
Latin Mass Ordo 2026 available for download
The 2026 liturgical year starts next Sunday (November 29th, First Sunday in Advent), and there is an ordo available online for the Traditional Roman Rite.
No, there is no news about Leo XIV and Traditionis custodes
Some online sources have apparently inflated the leak first reported by the Catholic News Service of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (mentioned by us here last week), that is, that the Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain had mentioned to local bishops that the Dicastery of Divine Worship, under the new pontificate, would grant 2-year-extensions of local diocesan Traditional Latin Masses, if requested by the local Ordinary.
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