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[Catholic Caucus] “The True Meaning of Our Liturgies” (and the Meaning of Chartres, the Largest Pilgrimage in Europe) - by Fr. Luc de BellescizeIn this beautiful meditation, Father Luc de Bellescize, a priest of the Diocese of Paris, looks back on the difficult post-conciliar years and their abuses, on the extraordinary success of the Chartres Pilgrimage, on the thirst for transcendence, on the mystery of the Trinity, and on the true meaning of the liturgy. La NefJune 6, 2023My grandfather was a Lefebvrist. He was not present at my baptism or ordination. He had organized dozens of retreats for men....

[Catholic Caucus] Thousands of Catholics make 3-day pilgrimage in France for freedom, restoration of Latin MassMany young Catholics were among the 20,000 who made the journey on foot from Paris to Chartres.CHARTRES, France (LifeSiteNews) — Over 20,000 Catholic pilgrims filled to overflowing the magnificent, iconic gothic Cathedral of Notre Dame du Chartres in France on Pentecost Monday, after walking three days from Paris as witness to their love for the Traditional Latin Mass, while praying for full freedom to be granted for the celebration of the Church’s ancient apostolic liturgy.READ: Half of the traditional Catholics on the Chartres pilgrimage were...

[Catholic Caucus] Pentin: Chartres’ Record Number of Pilgrims Is a ‘Stunning Testimony to the TLM’s Popularity This article is from EdwardPentin.co.ok: More pilgrims than ever will be participating in the traditional Chartres pilgrimage this year — so many that, despite Traditionis Custodes and Pope Francis’ restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass, for the first time the organizers had to close registrations ten days early.Over 16,000 pilgrims will be walking the route from St Sulpice Church in Paris to Notre-Dame Cathedral in Chartres over the Pentecost weekend, May 27-29 — a distance of about 60 miles.The traditional and deeply historic pilgrimage...

Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire." So said St Catherine of Siena whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves. Many are full of fear for the future of the prospects of our world but the message of the celebrations in this country and far beyond its shores is the right one – this is a joyful day! It is good that people in...

23-year-old man from the eastern French city of Strasbourg has been identified as the third bomber involved in the Nov. 13 attacks at Paris's Bataclan music hall, police sources said Wednesday. Foued Mohamed Aggad went to Syria with his brother and a group of friends at the end of 2013, according to a source close to the investigation. Most of the others were arrested in spring last year upon their return to France but Aggad stayed on in Syria, the source said. The Bataclan shootings were part of a co-ordinated attack that killed 130 people in Paris and which was...

If you have not been following the art and architecture comentariat of late—and after all, that’s what you read me for—then you may be unaware of a tempest brewing around the restoration of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Chartres, France. Universally considered to be one of the greatest works of architecture on the planet, the Medieval architecture of Chartres and its magnificent stained-glass windows have inspired writers, artists and composers, as well as many imitators. Beginning in 2008 the French government began to restore the building and in the process has removed much of the soot, dust and...

Madison, WI, Mar 16, 2007 / 10:41 am (CNA).- Cathedrals should be a "catechism in stone that represents the whole diocese," said architect Duncan Stroik at a recent lecture on church architecture. The associate professor of architecture at the University of Notre Dame spoke at the Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center in Madison March 8th, as part of the St. Thérèse of Lisieux Lecture Series. His talk addressed an imminent concern for the diocese. St. Raphael Cathedral in Madison was destroyed by fire in March 2005 and the diocese is currently discussing plans for a new cathedral. According to the...

In our last “class” on Greco-Roman, Early Christian and Byzantine Art, we saw how the realism of Greece and Rome was repudiated for more spiritual abstraction. The Christians saw the soul as more important than the weighty, physical body, and thus their works were flat and filled with the gold of paradise. My connection to spiritual twentieth century abstraction received mixed results, but that’s fine. Today, we’ll see how artists gradually added some bulk and realism to their work from 1000-1400. Then in the next “class,” we’ll study how the Italian Renaissance united a rebirth of Greco-Roman realism with Christian...

A few hours from now I will board an airplane bound for France. On Pentecost weekend, we will be walking the grand Pilgrimage of Notre Dame de Chretiente from Paris to Chartres, France. I ask readers to please keep Gerry Matatics, Chris Ferrara, Fr. McDonald, myself and 50 fellow Americans in your prayers as we undertake this journey and the difficult 3-day, 70-mile walking Pilgrimage across France. I will certainly remember all the readers and friends of this apostolate in my prayers during this time. I also ask readers to be patient as our next issue may be delayed by...

CANAL DU MIDI, France--It's high summer in France: bikinis blossom on the beach at St. Tropez and lovers stroll in lingering twilight beneath the Eiffel Tower. The only things missing from these postcard-perfect scenes are Americans. Still fuming over French President Jacques Chirac's active opposition to the war in Iraq, Americans are taking out their ire by staying home or vacationing elsewhere. "I doubt I'll ever set foot in France again," a hawkish friend from Kansas e-mailed me. Other friends who are veterans echoed the same sentiment. "France?" You couldn't pay me to go there!" snorted one. Well, somebody did...