PIP 4: Rules #7-8.
-Fr. David Nix continues "Peregrino Ignatian Pathways" (PIP) #4: Rules no. 7 and 8 of discernment from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. -Donate with updated status (see first bullet point:) https://www.padreperegrino.org/donate/ -Suscipe: “Take, Lord, receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will. All I have and call my own, You have given all to me. To You, Lord, I return it. Everything is Yours: do with it what You will. Give me only Your love and Your grace, that is enough for me.”
Conquering Death Upon the Burial Site of Adam.
I didn't publicize this much on social media, but I took July 2025 as a retreat in the Holy City of Jerusalem. I knew that (due to the war) there wouldn't be many tourists there. And I was right. I lived in the Old City with some Eastern Catholics, only about 250 meters from the Church of the Resurrection (aka the Church of the Anastasis, aka the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.) The above picture is the stunning view from my balcony at night. From that balcony I could see everything from the Anastasis to the Mount of Olives. The grey dome in the middle of the picture is the Church of the Anastasis. It's the actual site of Christ's Resurrection. Most people who have never been to the Holy Land do not realize that Church has about twenty different [...]
Cardinal Newman and “the Development of Doctrine.”
John Henry Cardinal Newman was a 19th century British convert from Anglicanism to Catholicism. In full transparency, I should be clear that today I am not going to assess his controversial views of the inerrancy of Scripture or evolution. Also, the topic of whether Newman be a good candidate for a future valid canonization is better tackled by the WM Review here. Today, I am only going to assess his teaching on the "Development of Doctrine" and what that means for Catholics in the 21st century. As a Jesuit-educated 20 year old in the late 1990s, I had been told by many in my life at that point that all the dogmatic and liturgical changes that followed Vatican II were all bona-fide "developments of doctrine." I wanted to see if that was true, so the first book I could [...]
RCT 64: The Form of the Eucharist.
-The Roman Catechism of Trent (RCT.) -Sacraments episode 16. -Donate: https://www.padreperegrino.org/donate/
What If an Apostle Had Denied the Crucifixion?
Many traditional priests tell lay people to mind their own sins, not the Church crisis. Similarly, many anonymous traditional accounts online who stood against the last Vatican regime now promote the current one. The overlap between the two groups of trads is this: Don't pay attention to the new Church crisis. Yet both groups still (thankfully!) espouse the analogy that as Christ the Bridegroom had to go to Calvary, so also must the Catholic Church (as Christ's bride) go through her final Passion. However, that puts us in a very awkward situation, because the same people who tell us the crisis ended following the 2025 Conclave can point to no Resurrection of the Church. Do we not believe the Passion of the Church must be followed by the Resurrection? Has Russia converted yet? Where's the Resurrection to the Passion of [...]
Mt. Olivet and Mt. Zion Connections.
Theological, Geographical and Historical connections between Our Lord and Our Lady that converge on two hills outside the walls of Jerusalem, namely, Mt. Olivet and Mt. Zion. https://youtu.be/yepHbYXdO0A?si=mnra6iVlUGq_5n6E
AI and the Final-Deceit.
The only R-rated movie my Dad ever took me to in the theatre as a kid was Terminator 2. To this day it remains one of my favorite movies, except for the misuse of Our Lord's name, which is thankfully infrequent in the movie. It is still one of my favorite movies because there is something Biblical about its apocalyptic import. We watch the unbelieved prophet (and his mother) warning humanity about the self-destruction towards which they are cruising. The kid John Connor asks, "We're not gonna make it, are we? People, I mean." The Terminator replies, "It's in your nature to destroy yourselves." Of course, theologically, it's not in our nature to destroy ourselves. From the beginning, God made us for life and multiplication. Even after the Fall, we Catholics are not Calvinists who believe in total-depravity. But [...]
PIP 3: Rules #5-6.
-Fr. David Nix continues "Peregrino Ignatian Pathway" (PIP) #3. Today we discuss rules no. 5 and 6 of discernment from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. -Suscipe prayer of St. Ignatius: “Take, Lord, receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will. All I have and call my own, You have given all to me. To You, Lord, I return it. Everything is Yours: do with it what You will. Give me only Your love and Your grace, that is enough for me.”
Annulment Blues
A guest poem, half-serious, half-joking from a friend we'll call "POB." I thought that I was married to you, But I got a case of the annulment blues. And even Francis decided to disparage The vast majority of Catholic marriage. I thought that you were the cutest dame, Then they told me I had toxic shame. They said it was clearly evident That I never formed true consent. I said "I do," and I started kissing. Then they said that my discretion was missing. And I asked the tribunal for its intercession, But they said, "Boy, you lack due discretion." My daddy drank and my mom would chew, And so I can't be married to you. And nothing at all now at this junction'll Make my family less dysfunctional. My mom and dad, I'll have to phone'em And say we [...]
Jerusalem’s Own Stations of the Cross: Where to Find Them.
We walk through the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem (including a hidden passageway through two Eastern Monasteries) to trace the footsteps of Christ's Passion. https://youtu.be/vN-m9jlTHTg