Padre Peregrino – Theology from a wandering priest

18 09, 2026

Month-Long Retreat Offline.
Month-Long Retreat Offline.

Month-Long Retreat Offline.

By Father David Nix|2026-09-18T01:34:18+00:00September 18th, 2026|Theology|

The short version of this article is that I am taking this next month offline, unless we (God-forbid) have another 9/11 or something. I am not only going to try to avoid posting and scrolling on FB, IG, X, and TG. I’m even going to do my best to refrain from writing articles or making videos and podcasts from 19 Sept 2026 to 19 Oct 2026. This includes Substack. Even though this media blackout will not involve me being more secluded than my current life, I am still going to call this “a retreat” so I can go deeper into prayer. As I say to friends frequently, “This whole hermit [...]

17 09, 2026

From One Bishop to Another.
From One Bishop to Another.

From One Bishop to Another.

By Father David Nix|2026-09-17T11:35:24+00:00September 17th, 2026|Theology|

p/c Pietro Torrigiano, John Fisher as a Young Man, Wikipedia. This is a letter I composed from one real bishop to another—the Bishop of Durham to St. John Fisher of England—but fictionally, some time in the 16th century. Your Lordship Bishop John Fisher, I greet you in the name of God, the most Blessed Trinity. And I, Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall, the Bishop of Durham, have been asked by Our Lord and King in his great mercy to grant you one last chance for you to re-consider your way of thinking, nay, for you to fall in line with the guidance of God under every bishop in England, except yourself. As [...]

15 09, 2026

A Niece’s Letter From Jerusalem.
A Niece’s Letter From Jerusalem.

A Niece’s Letter From Jerusalem.

By Father David Nix|2026-09-15T19:33:18+00:00September 15th, 2026|Theology|

This is a fictional letter I imagined from niece to uncle somewhere around the Mediterranean in the first century. My dearest beloved Uncle John, I write you in the love of God who is One, and our family who misses you greatly. At least, most of the family misses you. As you know, it has been four years since I have seen you. My mother (your beloved sister) tells me you are living across the Great Sea with the mother of the rabbi. But there are also horrible rumors you have been taken prisoner to a strange island of the Hellenists. If this rumor is true, who is taking care [...]

10 09, 2026

Five Things Catholics Missed in the Clancy Trial.
Five Things Catholics Missed in the Clancy Trial.

Five Things Catholics Missed in the Clancy Trial.

By Father David Nix|2026-09-10T10:01:56+00:00September 10th, 2026|Theology|

p/c Greg Derr, AP and Patriot Ledger. Politics and law are downstream of theology and philosophy. For better or for worse. It is currently September 2026 and the Lindsay Clancy trial was just declared a “mistrial.” As you probably know, in 2023, Clancy killed her three children, aged 5 years old, three years old and eight months old. That mother strangled her three children in Massachusetts, and she did it on purpose while her husband was running errands for her. She and her husband were apparently baptized Catholics. The trial has obviously entered the national spotlight due to the gruesomeness of the crime, the hung jury (one lone male standing [...]

8 09, 2026

Letter from a Catholic Mother About the TLM.
Letter from a Catholic Mother About the TLM.

Letter from a Catholic Mother About the TLM.

By Father David Nix|2026-09-13T14:54:03+00:00September 8th, 2026|Theology|

p/c Álex Zea, Europa Press, Andalusia, Spain. Below is a letter I received from a mother of a large family. She and her husband gave me permission to publish it. I am keeping them anonymous, as well as their bishop and diocese. The TLM community in my diocese is suffering greatly. We are still mourning the loss of our Latin Mass; that school of holiness, valor, beauty, and love. It was our identity; the light of our families and the means of constant conversion in which we were all deeply happy and experienced such sweet holiness. Totally erased in the blink of an eye. It has been viciously torn away [...]

3 09, 2026

The City on a Hill Is Countercultural.
The City on a Hill Is Countercultural.

The City on a Hill Is Countercultural.

By Father David Nix|2026-09-01T23:35:18+00:00September 3rd, 2026|Theology|

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.—Our Lord Jesus Christ in Saint Matthew 5:14-16. Young Christians today claim they want an “aura” that “goes hard.” That’s good, but then why do boomer Catholic influencers still insist on being relevant? Older Catholic influencers may claim their “humanity is a [...]

27 08, 2026

Race Relations Part 2: The Church.
Race Relations Part 2: The Church.

Race Relations Part 2: The Church.

By Father David Nix|2026-08-27T12:34:04+00:00August 27th, 2026|Theology|

p/c NYT. Middle-Eastern military-aged men entering Spain. In part 1, Race Relations Part 1: The State, we discussed "dialectical racism" at the level of the State, namely, the deceit of modern Marxists to overturn Western civilization under the pretext of being "non-racists." Today, we will see how something similar happens within (or rather, against) the true Catholic Church. Neo-modernists often cloak their heresy of religious indifferentism (the error that all religions lead to heaven) under a fake missionary spirit so as to remain immune from criticism from the right. Section A will be The Problem and Section B will be The Solution. At the risk of being self-centered, I am [...]

25 08, 2026

Race Relations Part 1: The State.
Race Relations Part 1: The State.

Race Relations Part 1: The State.

By Father David Nix|2026-08-25T13:12:25+00:00August 25th, 2026|Theology|

It's not 'reverse racism.' It's just racism. If it didn’t take the Holy Name of Jesus in vain, I would say that Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino would be one of my top ten favorite movies. The main character, Walt Kowalski is played by Eastwood in that 2008 flick (see picture above.) Walt is a grumpy old white man disgusted by the shallowness and selfishness of his children and grandchildren. Meanwhile, he has good friends of many different races to whom he shows affection by endless racial slurs against them. They happily return the favor with insults to him. Real men often show affection by ripping on each other. Spoiler alert: [...]

20 08, 2026

Was the Immaculata Pre-Existent?
Was the Immaculata Pre-Existent?

Was the Immaculata Pre-Existent?

By Father David Nix|2026-08-20T12:23:12+00:00August 20th, 2026|Theology|

Did Mary exist before time? No... But the blueprint for her Immaculate body and soul was planned above all time in the mind of God. Some people new to the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) might be surprised that the Old Testament reading in many of the Masses in honor of Our Lady seems to imply she was pre-existent. The Latin reads: Ab initio et ante sæcula creata sum, et usque ad futurum sæculum non desinam, et in habitatione sancta coram ipso ministravi.—Ecc 24:14. Or, in English: From the beginning, and before the world, was I created, and unto the world to come I shall not cease to be, and in [...]

18 08, 2026

Projecting Transient Errors On Past Orthodoxy.
Projecting Transient Errors On Past Orthodoxy.

Projecting Transient Errors On Past Orthodoxy.

By Father David Nix|2026-08-18T19:46:10+00:00August 18th, 2026|Theology|

Many serious Christians today (Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants) are interested in discovering how the early Christians lived and worshipped. Many scholars today astutely investigate the early Church, considering the first three centuries following the Passion and Resurrection of Christ before all else. This investigation into the early Church is highly laudable, especially when using primary sources. Of course, authentic research into any form of history must refrain from both cherry-picking and excluding evidence that might be contrary to a desired outcome. But heretics have always attempted to foist their own errors upon the early Church in order to pretend like their new theories are, in fact, very old. In other [...]