Kensiderations

My latest, in @catholicthing, on Evelyn Waugh's travels to America and the works they inspired. thecatholicthing.org/2026/04/13/eve…

@shagbark_hick frontporchrepublic.com/2025/02/the-ma…

I frankly mistrust any man who: 1. Is hopelessly reliant on Google Maps to get around 2. Appears to lack knowledge of basic US and world geography 3. Isn't regularly spending "a little too much" time looking at maps 4. Has an abysmal sense of direction

@JoshPhillipsPhD Facebook Marketplace often teems with these.

“The Great Books of the Western World” collection used to be sold through door-to-door salesmen. 54-volumes in total. (6 additional resource books added later)

@JoshPhillipsPhD Not perfect but oh what it started! My favorite is the older clothbound set.

@TLiterarian Hardback > Trade PB >> Mass PB. Kindle for travel.

Do people really like hardback? What’s the reason? I almost never buy them when I can avoid it bc they are, in fact, cumbersome imo 🤷 didn’t think this was controversial

@julie_kelly2 Curious who the priest mentioned is.

Here are text messages between JP Cooney and Molly Gaston—who along with Tom Windom—ran the J6 case against the president. Their anti Catholic bias on full display as Cooney says he wants to prosecute any nun who still wears a habit.

@father_rmv I prefer this to perpetual adoration at parishes. Am I odd?

The Forty Hours Devotion represents one of the most solemn and continuous forms of Eucharistic adoration within the Catholic liturgical tradition. Instituted in the sixteenth century, this practice involves the public exposition of the Blessed Sacrament upon the altar in a monstrance for a period of forty consecutive hours. The devotion invites the faithful to maintain a vigil of prayer, contemplation, and reparation before the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. The origins of the Forty Hours Devotion trace to the efforts of Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria and the Barnabite order in Milan around 1537, though similar practices of extended Eucharistic exposition existed earlier. The number forty carries profound biblical symbolism, evoking the forty days of the Flood, the forty years of Israel’s wandering in the desert, the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai, and above all, the forty hours that Christ’s body lay in the tomb between His crucifixion and resurrection. By structuring the devotion around this duration, the Church seeks to unite the faithful spiritually with the Passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. In its classical form, the devotion proceeds as a continuous cycle across three days. It typically begins with a solemn Mass of Exposition, during which the Blessed Sacrament is placed in the monstrance and incensed with reverence. Priests, religious, and laity then take turns in adoration, ensuring that the Sacrament is never left unattended. The period concludes with a solemn Mass of Reposition, often accompanied by a procession, hymns such as the Pange Lingua, and the singing of the Te Deum in thanksgiving. Special indulgences have historically been attached to participation, underscoring the devotion’s importance in fostering deeper faith and spiritual renewal. The Forty Hours Devotion serves multiple spiritual purposes. It offers an opportunity for intense personal prayer and communal worship, encourages acts of reparation for sins committed against the Eucharist, and strengthens belief in the Real Presence. During times of crisis, such as wars, plagues, or moral decay in past centuries, bishops often prescribed the devotion for entire dioceses as a powerful intercessory practice. Even today, many parishes observe it annually, adapting the schedule to modern pastoral needs while preserving the core elements of uninterrupted adoration. Through its disciplined rhythm and profound focus on the hidden Lord in the tabernacle, the Forty Hours Devotion continues to nurture the contemplative dimension of Catholic life. It reminds us that true Christian discipleship flows from intimate union with Jesus Christ, Whose sacrificial love remains perpetually present and accessible in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. Photo: Forty Hours Devotion, Morrissey Hall, University of Notre Dame, 2016.

@BackwardsFeet Our parish does this. It’s popular with Boomer conservatives. Makes me a little uncomfortable.

praying a rosary for your country is good, but daily reminder that the "patriotic rosary for America" was created by a Qanon Medjugorje guy who has written such books as "Big Q, Little Q" ("big Q" is Mary and "little Q" is, well, Q)

@archi_tradition Weird. I’m reading a novel right now where the protagonist just ended up there after fleeing Milan.

Bergamo, Italy 🇮🇹

@AuditeInsulae What is the quote where he said they are not Catholic?

Head of the SSPX Fr Pagliarani said “...in an ordinary parish, the faithful no longer find the means necessary to ensure their eternal salvation." He says those at 'ordinary' parishes are not Catholics. How is this compatible with real experience? Two of my children praying the Rosary before N.O. Mass today

@Empty_America Driving through Iowa last week I was struck by the number of farmhouses that were old and majestic, in great condition.

Going to a wedding in rural Wisconsin was one of the more shocking experiences of my life. No junk, no trailers, everyone looked healthy.

@alancornett Unpopular opinion: Both were great, but Belloc > Chesterton

This is the correct vibe for a home library.

@shagbark_hick You will see these particularly where the suburban population was expanding in a certain timeframe when modernist architecture was on the rise, 1970s to 1990s. And it depends on the taste of the local bishop at the time.

Just fulfilled my Sunday obligation at a giant "spaceship" or "Protestant barn" style Church in the Diocese of the infamous modernist Bishop Michael Martin. Incredibly strange experience. Almost nothing about it visually registered as "Catholic." Why are Churches like this so often in the suburban South? It reminds me of how Catholicism feels in Anglo Canada. Lots of giant "barn" type Churches, megachurch-esque homily, bizarre artwork, insane geometrical architecture, altar girls (no boys), a dozen EMHC's, sprawling Parish campuses with huge parking lots etc. No babies (??), lots of old white people, a handful of devout-looking Mexicans. Quite a far cry from even the most modernist Parishes I've been to in the Northeast, really. Feels incredibly different somehow. I guess I can understand why there are so many "rad trads" and Eastern Convertodox in the South, at least in some sort of way. If I was discerning the Faith and this was the only expression of the Roman Rite in my area, I'll admit that it could be a hard sell. It just seems straightaway that these kinds of Parishes represent an awkward moment in Church history. Feels as if they're trying their hardest to ape the local Evangelical Churches...? And while the pews were pretty packed, I didn't see too many souls under 45 or 50. I quite wonder if these kinds of Churches are long for this world.

@Eric_Erins Thanks!

@kensiderations Ludwig

They’re calling it the most worth it 4 hour movie of all time

@JeremyTate41 Why did he stop saying Mass?

You probably didn't know this, but Antonio Vivaldi was an ordained Catholic priest. He stopped saying Mass within a year, though he remained devout for the rest of his life, and spent the next four decades writing 500 concertos and teaching music at a Venetian orphanage.

@jarvis_best @annbauerwriter Fargo is in Minnesota?

Minnesota is a problem. Let’s talk about it. When people think of Minnesota they probably think of the great film FARGO in which the average resident is portrayed as either a low class low IQ drunk or a serial killer. You know what? Fargo was being NICE. The real Minnesota is far worse. It was worse back then and it’s WAY worse now.

@dlongenecker1 Yes.

Am I getting more and more paranoid, self righteous, resentful and angry or is it my Twitter feed?

@AnalogRules61 @DSchonhardt1 @lambeth981 @BowieTheus Are you saying that Protestants are offended to not be considered Catholic?

Genuine question for a Roman Catholic. Can you explain to me why a Roman Catholic bishop wouldn't want people kneeling at the altar rail to recieve communion? Given Roman teaching about the eucharist, you'd think nobody should ever stand at all ever after the institution.

@DSchonhardt1 @lambeth981 @BowieTheus There are other Catholic rites that are not Roman. Don’t be too offended by his remark.

@lambeth981 @BowieTheus I don't care what you accept. It's offensive.

@CatholicPods I know several with it as a middle name.

How many people will actually name their son Fulton? Maybe as a middle name?