Padre Peregrino – Theology from a wandering priest

7 05, 2026

Three Ages of Martyrs.
Three Ages of Martyrs.

Three Ages of Martyrs.

By Father David Nix|2026-05-06T18:47:03+00:00May 7th, 2026|Theology|

The men of that [last] generation will have no deeds whatever, but there will come upon them temptation, and those who are worthy in this temptation will be higher than us and our fathers.—St. Ischyrion of Egypt, early Desert Father. Recently, I was thumbing through my friend’s Saint Andrew Daily Missal. The middle of that layman’s missal has a surprising history of the Catholic Church’s saints and martyrs. It describes the early Church saints in these shocking terms: “With very few exceptions, such as St. Gregory the Wonderworker (November 17th), St. Mary Magdalene (July 22nd), St. Martha (July 29th) and St. Petronilla (May 31st) the saints of the first four [...]

30 04, 2026

Why Do We Need Two Judgments?
Why Do We Need Two Judgments?

Why Do We Need Two Judgments?

By Father David Nix|2026-04-30T18:59:39+00:00April 30th, 2026|Theology|

Last week, I got this email, and I was given permission to publish it: What does “judge the living and the dead” really mean? We face particular judgement and that is final (correct?). So what happens to the already dead at the second coming? Especially those in hell? Or, as Tom puts it, Why are You coming to judge the already judged? I feel as though I should know this at my age but alas…drawing a blank. Thank you!!! Here was my response: Yes, so Jesus will judge you at your death as worthy of heaven or hell. But at the end of time, He also comes to judge the [...]

28 04, 2026

The USCCB’s Bible Translations.
The USCCB’s Bible Translations.

The USCCB’s Bible Translations.

By Father David Nix|2026-04-28T11:06:52+00:00April 28th, 2026|Theology|

One can always detect the preferred heresy of the age by what is removed from the Bible. So, before we look at the USCCB’s Bible translations, let’s look at two examples of what heretics over the last 500 years have removed from their own versions of the Bible. 1) The Protestant rebels removed Maccabees because of Purgatory. Maccabees is like the Braveheart of the Old Testament. It's one of the most exciting books of the Bible, so no one should have removed it. But the 16th century heretics like Martin Luther removed 1 and 2 Maccabees because it showed Purgatory and the necessity of sacrifice for the dead. Here's [...]

23 04, 2026

Love and Respect by St. John Chrysostom.
Love and Respect by St. John Chrysostom.

Love and Respect by St. John Chrysostom.

By Father David Nix|2026-04-23T13:30:42+00:00April 23rd, 2026|Theology|

Many couples have been helped by a book called Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs. It was written in 2004 by Emerson Eggerichs, a non-Catholic but Christian author. Here’s the basic online description: Women primarily need love, whereas men primarily need respect. Husbands and wives are wired differently, so misunderstandings often arise not from malice, but from missing the other’s core need. According to Eggerichs, the “Crazy Cycle” is when a wife feels unloved, she reacts in ways that feel disrespectful to her husband. In response, he reacts in ways that feel unloving to her, causing a destructive cycle. The “Energizing Cycle,” on [...]

21 04, 2026

The Resurrected Bodies of the Elect.
The Resurrected Bodies of the Elect.

The Resurrected Bodies of the Elect.

By Father David Nix|2026-04-25T14:01:29+00:00April 21st, 2026|Theology|

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.—St. John 20:19-20. Notice in the above passage about the Resurrection, Christ is able to walk through walls (hence, the doors being locked and yet He comes to the disciples.) But the reason we know this is not a ghost passing through the walls is precisely because St. John [...]

16 04, 2026

21 Reasons to Reject ‘Sola Scriptura,’ by Joel Peters.
21 Reasons to Reject ‘Sola Scriptura,’ by Joel Peters.

21 Reasons to Reject ‘Sola Scriptura,’ by Joel Peters.

By Father David Nix|2026-04-07T21:07:16+00:00April 16th, 2026|Theology|

In my last article Debating Protestants, I discussed how and why I used to debate Protestants on a nearly-daily basis with open-Bible verse-wars when I was in my early 20s. After learning that these verse-wars rarely make converts, I learned the best way to disprove Protestantism is by simply overturning their completely non-Biblical notion of Sola Scriptura. The little pamphlet in the above picture is called Scripture Alone? 21 Reasons to Reject Sola Scriptura by Mr. Joel Peters. It is the very best book I have ever seen to aid Catholics in immediately sidelining the intellectual errors of Protestantism. But it's very difficult to find on the internet now. Thus, I [...]

14 04, 2026

Debating Protestants.
Debating Protestants.

Debating Protestants.

By Father David Nix|2026-04-18T18:33:47+00:00April 14th, 2026|Theology|

Happy Easter, Christ is Risen! Christ is Truly Risen! Χριστὸς ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη! As you probably know, I currently spend more time attacking the heresy of Modernism than Protestantism. Why? Because the former is a cancer that any traditionalist Catholic will admit is more hidden, ubiquitous and destructive than the latter. So, I will keep defending the original Apostolic Faith against modernists who control the buildings. But I first cut my teeth on defending the True Faith by doing open-Bible debates with Protestants in my world travels starting 30 years ago. Before getting to how I did this, let’s define terms. Even National Geographic or a secular Social Studies book [...]

9 04, 2026

More Conversions (and Departures.)
More Conversions (and Departures.)

More Conversions (and Departures.)

By Father David Nix|2026-04-12T22:41:21+00:00April 9th, 2026|Theology|

p/c University of Notre Dame. Doubtless by this point you have seen the news of massive amounts of conversions of non-Catholic young adults coming into American Catholic parishes. This news has been covered by both religious outlets as well as secular ones. Many of these conversions are in unlikely places, like New York City. NCR/EWTN recently reported on a Dominican parish in lower Manhattan serving NYU: "88 people received the sacraments of baptism or confirmation at the Easter vigil this year." Part of this was due to current events: "Many of those coming into the Church, he said, have told him that conservative Christian influencer Charlie Kirk’s murder had a [...]

2 04, 2026

St. John and the Synoptics in the Triduum.
St. John and the Synoptics in the Triduum.

St. John and the Synoptics in the Triduum.

By Father David Nix|2026-04-02T13:46:46+00:00April 2nd, 2026|Theology|

Every Triduum, thousands of Catholics (including me) ask the following question: Why do the Synoptic Gospels (Saints Matthew, Mark and Luke) place the Passover on one date and it seems that St. John places it on a different date? The answer I gave for several years was the calendar of the Pharisees was different from that of the Essenes. However, I discovered that that answer leads to more problems than solutions. Before we look at the real answer, I want to remind you of a definition known to most traditional Catholics. Archaeologism is a modernist fad found in Church history and liturgical studies, often used by charismatics. One aspect of [...]

31 03, 2026

Trads Behind the Iron Curtain.
Trads Behind the Iron Curtain.

Trads Behind the Iron Curtain.

By Father David Nix|2026-03-31T19:04:41+00:00March 31st, 2026|Theology|

The only novel I have read since ordination was Michael O'Brien's Island of the World. It's a gripping and grinding historical-fiction account about a man named Josip who grows up in Croatia in the 1940s. His family and community is then destroyed by Tito's communism. Josip is sent to a gulag called Goli Otok in real life. There, he is tortured and loses his faith. After escaping, he wanders Italy and finally ends up a janitor in NYC. Does he regain his faith? You'll have to read the book. It was so good I read it twice since ordination. Since reading Island of the World, I have had a healthy [...]