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A video of the story of the first ever Nativity scene created by St. Francis. See more...

Staff Sgt. Heriberto Gonzalez, a force protection escort for the 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, holds the American flag his father and grandfather both carried during wartime. Photo courtesy of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing. JOINT BASE BALAD — Staff Sgt. Heriberto Gonzalez, 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, possesses an American flag that was carried by both his father and grandfather during wartime. "Gonzo," as he is referred to by his flight line coworkers, is on his eighth deployment since joining the Air Force. An avionics craftsman by trade, he volunteered to deploy to Iraq to provide security for local...

Happy Eid al-Adna, America Pagan Holiday Upstages Thanksgiving & Christmas Electronics Giant Celebrates Islam thelastcrusade.org Is America becoming a Muslim nation? Has the tide of history turned against the Christians and Jews living in the land of the free and the home of the brave? Will Islamic law eventually become the law of the land?The answer to all of the above is yes.Proof comes with the holiday ads from Best Buy that will be inserted in every leading newspaper throughout the country this Thanksgiving.The ad makes scant mention of Thanksgiving, other than to urge people to “Shop Thanksgiving Day”....

[T]radition and [t]radition By Dr. Jeff Mirus | October 23, 2009 11:18 AM Yes, I know you’re tired of hearing about it, but one of our most faithful supporters, and a man whose opinion I deeply respect, has posted two highly critical comments in Sound Off in response to my In Depth Analysis from September 23rd, On Waffling, Tradition, and the Magisterium. Both posts challenge not just this particular article but more generally the manner in which I have always portrayed the conflict between Traditionalists and the Church.The posted criticisms assert three points: First, that my use of the term...

Who do you say that Jesus is? Do your thoughts, upbringing, religious background, or personal beliefs about Jesus line up with God’s Christ of the HOLY SCRIPTURES? You might ask, “Well, does it make a difference? My friend, I say unto you, it surely does! TAKE THE JESUS CHALLENGE The Bible is the final AUTHORITY on who Jesus Christ is. It is God’s absolute instruction manual and blueprint for life. If you reject the authority of the Word of God, my friend, you are doomed. There is no hope for your lost, sinful condition. The Bible teaches that “All have...

CHURCH FATHERS Protestantism is closer than Catholicism to the beliefs of the Church fathers Many Catholic doctrines were only introduced centuries later and were corruptions Initial reply In fact, the exact opposite is true: the fathers as a whole were much more "Catholic" in their beliefs than they were some kind of primitive "Protestants", and this is amply confirmed by Protestant Church historians themselves. Extensive reply Ten major "distinctively Catholic" doctrines will be supported by documentation (that early Church fathers largely agreed) from the Protestant historians listed below: Bible, Church, and Tradition, not Bible Alone (sola Scriptura) as the...

One basic rule of thumb to understand in Catholic/Protestant conversations is that it is not the case that Catholics rely on Sacred Tradition and Protestants don't. Rather, Catholics (and by this I mean "educated Catholics speaking out of the Magisterial teaching of the Church") rely on Sacred Tradition and know they do, while Protestants rely on (parts) of Sacred Tradition and (usually) don't know they do. So, for instance, despite Paul's prescriptions (directed only at clergy of his day) that a man must be the husband of but one wife, nowhere in the text of Scripture is it made...

Robert Nisbet’s Quest Seattle, WA Robert Nisbet’s 1953 book The Quest for Community has rightfully achieved that rare and estimable status of “classic.” What Nisbet saw more clearly than most of his contemporaries - or ours - is that one of the deepest flaws of the modern era was its hostility to the reality of groups. Modern liberalism (developed, among others by Thomas Hobbes, and later John Locke - and, at its root, Nisbet argued, in developments of Protestant theology) was broadly conceived in the backdrop of a hostility to organizations, institutions, communities and groups by which people defined their...

Excerpt from John Adams' famous letter of July 3, 1776, in which he wrote to his wife Abigail what his thoughts were about celebrating the Fourth of July: "I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think...

One of our fans sent in this video link. For our Catholic readers, we are told that the Pope's focus on traditional ceremony is gaining both old and young alike. Perhaps, something is to be learned politically from this religious trend. Attached is the video recommended. I must say, there is something to be said for a return to tradition and in Western Christian pride. It is inspiring.

Above is the Doonesbury cartoon that ran this past Sunday. What's different about it from previous Memorial Day Doonesbury 'toons? Well, in 2004, a new tradition began to "honor" Memorial Day and the recently fallen: Cartoonist Garry B. Trudeau on Memorial Day will devote his comic strip "Doonesbury" to listing U.S. military personnel who have been killed during the war in Iraq. More than 700 names will appear in tiny type over six panels in the Sunday strip. A note beneath the final panel will say, "List as of April 23, 2004 Comic strip historians say it is the...

110 brides and brides-to-be march to promote family values in Bucharest (NECN/APTV) - Dozens of women sporting full bridal regalia took part in a parade in Bucharest on Sunday, to promote the institution of marriage in Romanian society. Organizers of the "Bride Parade" said they intend to promote marriage as a way of maintaining traditional family values in this Orthodox country. The atmosphere was celebratory as dozens of women dressed in various white dresses, veils and tiaras marched to the sounds of trumpeters playing wedding songs. One woman called the event "unique" and one that "emphasizes the importance of the...

She's young, beautiful, articulate, patriotic, Christian, and most importantly, courageous. To many on the left however Carrie Prejean, the current Miss California, is a bigoted, shameful, and intolerant homophobe. What Carrie Prejean represents, in other words, is a modern day inkblot test of inestimable value to America's frustrated and exiled GOP. If there was ever a time in this modern day Alice in Wonderland cultural climate for conservatives to take a stand on something and shake the political world upside down, that time is now. What can Carrie Prejean do for America and the GOP? For starters, she can drive...

After more than five centuries protecting popes, the Swiss Guard may consider opening the ranks of the world's smallest army to women, its commander said Tuesday. "I can imagine them for one role or another. Certainly we can think about this," Daniel Anrig, who took over the post late last year, told Italian television program "Studio Aperto." Anrig's remarks could represent a major change in position regarding the future of the elite corps composed entirely of 19- to 30-year-old Catholic men hailing from the Swiss Army. Anrig's predecessor argued that mixing the sexes could be more trouble than it was...

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. — The Laguna Niguel City Council wants to eclipse the annual ritual of mooning Amtrak trains and encourage thousands of partiers to pull up their pants. The council voted Tuesday to ban consuming alcohol in public and urinating in public to crack down on the 30-year-old tradition. City officials said the vote does not ban mooning but is meant to discourage rowdy behavior. -- "Most of the people who come aren't locals. Because of the Internet, it's gone worldwide," city spokeswoman Meg Waters said. "It's not a local family event. It's just gotten bigger and bigger."

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 3, 2009 – As U.S. forces and their NATO counterparts here were thinking recently about ways to win the trust and cooperation of local people in their fight against radical insurgents, village elders suggested a way to come together in common interest: a sporting event. Two do-rah teams battle it out while an Afghan police officer pulls security during a goodwill tournament of the traditional Afghan game in the Deh Rawood district of Oruzgan province, Afghanistan, Feb. 20, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Joseph A. Wilson.   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Such was...

Tradition is the next big idea in politics. But why stop at banking? The Prime Minister should extend his focus on old-fashioned values to schools and crime, says Janet Daley. Janet Daley Last Updated: 4:53PM GMT 22 Feb 2009 How did that go again? Did Gordon Brown really say that he wanted to see the return of "traditional" savings and investment banks? Traditional? Now there's a word I'll bet you thought you would never hear from a New Labour politician, at least not as a term of approbation. I can remember when "tradition" itself was one of the main obstacles...

The tradition of marriage has come under attack in recent years. Social progressives, under the banner of "civil rights," have begun a campaign to destroy the sanctity of marriage by redefining what the tradition of marriage is. Most everyone recognizes the malicious arguments of these self-proclaimed “social progressives.” It is not as if the tradition of marriage has ever been anything but between one man and one woman. Marriage is a grand narrative, a story of a man and a woman coming together as one. The tradition of marriage has been present throughout all of human history and has always...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Dec. 18, 2008 – Although far from home, a deployed soldier here will continue a long-standing holiday tradition with his family in Louisiana. Army Lt. Col. Stephen Jeselink, Task Force Warrior deputy commander, is recorded while reading the poem “The Night Before Christmas” at the USO at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, Dec. 16, 2008. Through the United Through Reading military program, the Jeselink family in Louisiana will be able to continue a long-standing holiday tradition of listening to Stephen read the poem on Christmas Eve. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Every Christmas Eve,...

In the following article, adapted with permission from his book "By What Authority?: An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition" (Our Sunday Visitor Books), Mark recounts his thought processes when he was an Evangelical considering the role of tradition, which Evangelicals supposedly reject in belief and practice.I wondered: Is it really true that we Evangelicals never treat extra-biblical tradition as authoritative revelation? Is it really the case that all Evangelical belief is derived from the clear and unambiguous teaching of the Bible alone? Do we really speak forth only what Scripture speaks, keep silent where Scripture is silent, and never bind the...

Let's try for a minute to take the religious conservatives at their word and define marriage as the Bible does. Shall we look to Abraham, the great patriarch, who slept with his servant when he discovered his beloved wife Sarah was infertile? Or to Jacob, who fathered children with four different women (two sisters and their servants)? Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon and the kings of Judah and Israel—all these fathers and heroes were polygamists. The New Testament model of marriage is hardly better. Jesus himself was single and preached an indifference to earthly attachments—especially family. The apostle Paul (also single)...

Cardinal Says Scripture Inseparably United to Tradition Synod Considers Word of God as More Than Bible VATICAN CITY, OCT. 7, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Scripture and Tradition are inseparably united since they both come from the same source, says the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Cardinal William Levada, a delegate president of the synod on the word of God, affirmed this Monday when he addressed the 12th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. "As the dogmatic constitution 'Dei Verbum' reminds us, there exists an indissoluble unity between sacred Scripture and Tradition since both flow from...

Candidates who are willing to say "enough is enough" on these matters - and related ones such as affirmative action - are likely to find that they have tapped into an undercurrent of discontent that can sweep them along towards victory in November. More importantly in the long run, they will also find themselves at the forefront of the defence of American liberty in regards to freedom of speech, academic freedom, freedom of worship and parental rights. In other words, they will be doing the right thing.

Question: Recently a Catholic friend of mine posed a question that had me perplexed and I was hoping you could explain. As you probably know, Catholics believe in Sacred Tradition. My friend told me that the Bible supports Sacred Tradition in 2 Thessalonians 3:15 when it states "Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours." Could you please explain this? Answer: Thank you for your question about 2 Thessalonians 2:15. When Paul uses the word traditions in this verse, he is referring to...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – As Islam makes inroads in the United States, American Muslims are setting up mega-mosques that combine religious tradition with typical American convenience. Modelled on the huge, non-Catholic churches that offer their congregations of at least 2,000 members several different sites for worship, US mega-mosques have become a necessity in some places. "Frequently, we have buildings designed for the Friday prayer, which is the largest, for 1,000 people and you have 2,000 to 3,000 show up," said Corey Saylor of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). To accommodate the overflow, which also results in traffic jams when...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A Pakistani lawmaker defended a decision by northwestern tribesmen to bury five women alive because they wanted to choose their own husbands, telling stunned members of Parliament to spare him their outrage. "These are centuries-old traditions, and I will continue to defend them," Israr Ullah Zehri, who represents Baluchistan province, told The Associated Press Saturday. "Only those who indulge in immoral acts should be afraid." The women, three of whom were teenagers, were first shot and then thrown into a ditch. They were still breathing as mud was shoveled over their bodies, according to media reports, which...

An argument FOR Perpetual Virginity from Epiphanius of Salamis (1) I finally had some time to closely work through the argumentation in favor of Mary's perpetual virginity from Epiphanius of Salamis (310/320-403). I'd like to present some of his arguments. With the one below, I'm not going to comment on it, but let it stand as it is. The argument though concludes, "the holy Virgin cannot have had marital relations." 12.1 But if we need to take the matter [Mary's perpetual virginity] up from another point of view, let's examine the findings of the naturalists. They say that a lioness...

Q. Tradition is condemned in the Bible so why does the Cathlic Church base some of its doctrines on it?A. Some people think the verses below condemn tradition and therefore, the Catholic Church. Matthew 15:3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? Mark 7: 9 And he said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe[a] your own traditions! Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human...

WASHINGTON, July 29, 2008 – Order 9981 on July 26, 1948, he set the end to segregation and the integration of the armed forces into motion. For the Brunson family of Fayetteville, N.C., Truman’s order paved the way for Army service to become a family tradition. Six members of the Brunson family -- retired Sgt. Maj. Albert Brunson; his sons, Lt. Col. Xavier Brunson, and Majs. LaHavie Brunson and Tavi Brunson; and his daughters-in law, Lt. Col. Kirsten Brunson and Capt. Miryam Brunson -- have made a career of Army service. Five members of the family came together last week...

A friend just phoned to tell me about a discussion on a "trad" forum.  I went there and read for a while. In this discussion some people were publicly bad mouthing priests who have been celebrating the TLM and denigrating their ministry.They claim these priests not Catholic enough, not fully or really Catholic.  Not Catholic like they are. Thus, they who have no authority in the Church, laymen who have no jurisdiction, no credentials other than that they are hobbyists of the older form of the Roman Rite (sincere as their devotion may be), they who have read some encyclicals...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, June 17, 2008 – Army Staff Sgt. Dimas Estrada uses taekwondo to keep himself and other soldiers busy, teaching classes in the sport five days a week at the Paul R. Smith Fitness Center here. Army Staff Sgt. Dimas Estrada, left, engages Ukrainian Army 1st Lt. Andrey in a sparring match during a taekwondo class June 10, 2008, on Camp Victory, Iraq. Estrada, an air and missile defense operations sergeant for Task Force Mountain, is carrying on his family's taekwondo tradition while deployed. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Sophia Lopez  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. While...

Pilgrims sing the praises of Latin The Tridentine Mass is being revived by young Catholics while walking to Chartres Cathedral Greg Watts Religion may well be in decline among European youth but it is by no means dead. This weekend about 6,000 young Catholics will set off on a 75-mile walk from Paris to Chartres Cathedral — and as they walk they will all be praying and singing in Latin. Pope Benedict XVI’s decision last year in his apostolic letter, Summorum pontificum, to revive the Tridentine Latin Mass, was seen as a turning back of the clock by some liberal...

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter is granted a personal parish in RomeIt is with great joy that the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter announces the opening of a personal parish in the Diocese of Rome.  The decree of erection of the parish, which is dated Easter day of 2008, states that in conformity with art. 10 of Summorum Pontificum, "and after having received the proposal of the Cardinal Vicar, the Holy Father has established that in the central sector of the Diocese of Rome, in the 1st District, and in a fitting place of worship, namely, the Church of...

Other than the Holy Bible, what writings should every Christian try to find and read, in your opinion? For example: The Didache, writings by early Christian apologetics like Justin Matyr, St. Augustine's books, The Nicene Creed, the works of C.S. Lewis, Pope Benedict's book "Jesus of Nazareth", the Dead Sea Scrolls....etc. These can be any book, writing or article that you think was essential to your understanding of Christianity, theology or to your interpretation of the Bible.

Maundy Thursday On the night before his death Jesus had a final meal with his friends. This meal was one of the festival meals for Passover. Before the meal Jesus did something which surprised his friends. He washed the feet of every person, a task which was normally done by a servant. By doing this he wanted to show his followers that they should love one another in humble ways. Later in the meal which is known to Christians as 'The Last Supper', Jesus passed round bread and wine. He said the bread was his body broken for them...

"Catholics who remain faithful to Tradition, even if they are reduced to but a handful, they are THE TRUE CHURCH. They've got the churches, but we've got the faith" -- Saint Athanasius, "Apostle of Tradition", 373 Anno DominiThe Holy Tridentine Roman Rite Mass The Tridentine Mass takes its name from the Council of Trent ( 1545-63 ), under the watchful eye of Pope Saint Pius V. The "Tridentine Rite" is, therefore, more properly called the Ancient or Traditional Roman Rite. The last edition of its missal was published in 1962.The traditional Roman Rite differs from the new rite --...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2008 – Pvt. Raymond Loree has become the first Army National Guard soldier to graduate directly into the active Army’s ranks through a new program called “Active First,” in which recruits commit to service in the active-duty Army followed by service in the National Guard. Army Pvt. Raymond Loree is the first soldier to graduate from the Army National Guard’s “Active First” program. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Loree, who enlisted Oct. 18, graduated from one-station unit training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., on Feb. 22. Active First recruits enlist in the...

Politics and the street fight between Hillary and Barack Obama aren't the only games in town. A bachelor acquaintance of mine, a prosperous man in his 40s, was new in town and wanted to meet the love of his life, to marry, and become a father and citizen (and voter). So, I organized a small cocktail party and invited several attractive women in their late 30s who are still looking for Mr. Right (and might be willing to settle for Mr. Good Enough). They're women with professional careers but want marriage and family, too. They feel a mild panic that...

So the secret is out. What Phil Woolas, a former race relations minister, called the “elephant in the room” in The Sunday Times last week is in full trumpet. Some of us realised a long time ago that the tradition of first-cousin marriages within the Asian community resulted in a worrying number of birth defects, but now we know the full, shocking extent of the problem. British Pakistanis, for instance, give birth to just 3% of the babies born in Britain, but account for one in three babies born with genetic illnesses. As a nonexecutive director of a local health...

The Future Lies in the Past -- Why evangelicals are connecting with the early church as they move into the 21st century.Many 20- and 30-something evangelicals are uneasy and alienated in mall-like church environments; high-energy, entertainment-oriented worship; and boomer-era ministry strategies and structures modeled on the business world. Increasingly, they are asking just how these culturally camouflaged churches can help them rise above the values of the consumerist world around them. For younger evangelicals, traditional churches are too centered on words and propositions. And pragmatic churches are compromising authentic Christianity by tailoring their ministries to the marketplace and pop culture....

Brown banishes 300-year-old tradition by removing Britannia from our 50p coinBy SIMON McGEE and GLEN OWEN - More by this author » Last updated at 21:14pm on 26th January 2008  Gordon Brown's campaign to promote British values was exposed as a sham last night after it was revealed he personally approved a decision to remove Britannia from the 50p coin.   The patriotic symbol - based on a Roman goddess - will no longer be on any British coin for the first time in more than 300 years, as part of a redesign by the Royal Mint. An overhaul of...

The Council of Laodiceaby DouglasKC When examining some of the doctrines that the church of God holds, we should understand how and why traditional Christianity has veered away from these doctrines which we hold to be biblical and truthful. In most cases this departure from the truth wasn't a sudden thing. Rather, it was a slow “evolution” of religious thought caused by subtle changes in culture, society or the traditional church. Because it was such a slow process these changes can sometimes be hard to pinpoint. But there are tools we can use to track and study these changes....

IS BENEDICT XVI launching a liturgical reform to restore tradition and reverence in Catholic worship? Having permitted the use of the ’62 Missal as the “Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite,” is he now trying to make New Mass itself “more traditional”? Conservative bloggers who devote themselves following liturgical matters in the post-Vatican II Church would answer yes, and they are positively ecstatic. Members of this group refer to themselves as a “new liturgical movement” and call for “a reform of the reform,” by which they mean a reworking of the Novus Ordo. Recently they have started to attach great...

Worshipers come to St. Mary, Mother of God in downtown Washington, D.C., for various reasons, but many say that a big draw is the Tridentine Latin mass that is said here every Sunday. Soon, St. Mary may be less well known for that distinctive liturgical offering than for the number of big-name government and media types that occupy its pews. Now that Pope Benedict XVI has loosened the restrictions on churches that want to observe the pre-Vatican II rite, more parishes are availing themselves of the option. Call it part of a larger conservative shift within the church—one that...

It is Halloween again, and to be frank, I really don’t look forward to talking about it on “BreakPoint” every year. At best, Halloween has become an excuse to ask total strangers for candy. At worst, it is a celebration of the mindless paganism our ancestors wisely turned their backs on. So this year, I would like to turn your attention to the often-overlooked celebration that Halloween calls to mind. In case you have missed it before, the name Halloween is a shortening of All Hallow’s Eve and signifies the night before All Saints’ Day. For centuries on All Saints’...

"Hold fast to the traditions you received" (2 Thess. 2:15).Why do you Catholics add all those traditions to the Bible? Jesus told the Pharisees, "You nullify the word of God in favor of your traditions that you have handed on" (Mark 7:13). This is a typical question posed to Catholics by Protestants. When a Protestant objects to a Catholic teaching, such as purgatory, the Eucharist, or infant baptism, the typical question he asks the Catholic is, "Where is that taught in the Bible?" Tragically, many Catholics leave the Church as a result of questions like these from well meaning...

Monday night marked the Democrats' most interesting debate to date – which is to say, the audience fell unconscious about halfway through, as opposed to during the opening statements. But amid all of the technological hubbub and political jockeying, there was one question that stood out. The questioner was Rev. Reggie Longcrier, pastor of Exodus Mission and Outreach Church in Hickory, N.C. "Sen. Edwards said his opposition to gay marriage is influenced by his Southern Baptist background," Longcrier stated. "Most Americans agree it was wrong and unconstitutional to use religion to justify slavery, segregation and denying women the right to...

Elevated to the papacy at 78, Benedict XVI will take no action greater in significance for the Catholic Church than his motu proprio declaring that the Latin Mass must be said in every diocese – on the request of the faithful. Dissenting bishops must comply. "What earlier generations held as sacred remains sacred and great for us, too," said the Holy Father in his apostolic letter, as he authorized the universal use of the sole official version of the mass allowed in the four centuries between the Council of Trent and Vatican II. To which many Catholics will respond: "Alleluia!...

EDITORIALLiturgical Majesty & SolemnityMay 2007 By Dale Vree Dale Vree is Editor of New Oxford Review. This Editorial must be written in the first person. When your Editor was a Protestant at the rough-and-tumble Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, I happened to walk into a Catholic church for the first time. This was in my senior year in 1961 before Vatican II. It was a weekday about 4 PM (no Mass in process), and not in a good part of town. I was mesmerized. It was dark, but there were many votive candles lit. There were several people praying...

WASHINGTON, June 20, 2007 – As the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks approaches, America Supports You is gearing up for its third annual Freedom Walk on Sept. 9 in the nation’s capital. Thousands of people gather at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to participate in the second annual America Supports You Freedom Walk, Sept. 10, 2006. The walk began at the National Mall and ended with a light display at the Pentagon. Plans are under way for the third annual Freedom Walk, scheduled for Sept. 9, 2007. Photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen,...