“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.”

–C.S. Lewis

Ann,

Podcast 230 is among your finest work.

The local archdiocesan seminary offers masters in theology programs to lay people. There were orthodox rumblings at the time. Benedict was Pope. It was pre-Francis. I was in my early 50s.

A female theology professor (then married, since divorced) taught the class that married couples can do pretty much anything so long as they’re both on board with the given act and that the session… consummated in the customary way. I challenged her in class and was told that I exhibited “pre-Vatican II antiquarianism.”

In a not-so-unrelated episode, the seminary had an auction every year to raise money. Among the biggest draws at the auction was the “Scratch Ticket Tree” where students would buy lottery scratch tickets, donate them to the seminary, and the seminary ladies would clip the tickets to this big metal table top tree like thing. It became by far the most discussed auction item. Never mind Our Lord. “All ya need is a dollar and a dream.”

The head seminary lady came in to the beginning of a class one day to make announcements, including about the upcoming auction and, naturally, the Scratch Ticket Tree. Seeing my disapproving reaction, she singled me out exclaiming in front of the class, “So, Steve! Have you brought in YOUR scratch tickets?”

I replied, “Professor, I’m old enough to remember when that was a mortal sin.”

Thank you, Ann, for your great work and a particularly outstanding episode.

God bless you.

S

Celibacy is to not be married, which must now be explained to be between one human male and one human female.

Chastity is to not sin with regards to sex, both inside and outside of marriage.

Continence is to abstain from the marital embrace by mutual consent in perfect chastity.

Sex is the reproductive act. Tab A into Slot B. Sex means “the act of sexual reproduction”. Nothing else. Every other genital act is…

Sodomy. Let me repeat that. EVERY GENITAL ACT BETWEEN PERSONS OR DONE SOLITARILY THAT IS NOT PENILE-VAGINAL INTERCOURSE TO UNOBSTRUCTED (mechanically or chemically), INTERNAL COMPLETION IS SODOMY.

When a man and woman who are not married to each other engage in the marital embrace, that is, sexual intercourse, this is the mortal sin of fornication.

These concepts, while related, are different from each other and cannot be used interchangeably.

Sodomite priests often snarkily claim that they are not breaking their vows of celibacy because they are not married, and that sodomy is therefore licit for them. They often say this to their victims when they are grooming them. “The only vow I took was to not marry a woman. No problem! Eeew!”

“Chaste sodomy” is an ontological impossibility, as is “homosexual marriage” (pseudogamy).

The only way for a celibate to be chaste is to not engage in any genital activity whatsoever. Period. No spouse, no sex. And obviously all forms of sodomy are mortally sinful always and everywhere, including sodomitical acts between a married man and his wife, no matter how “common” and “normalized” those acts have become in today’s utterly pornographied culture.

Remember this simple phrase: THAT DOESN’T GO THERE. If “that”, say for example a penis, doesn’t have a natural function “there”, say, in a mouth, then that act is sodomy and it is always and everywhere a mortal sin not only against the Sixth Commandment (Divine Law), but primordially against THE NATURAL LAW, meaning that it is cooked into our natures as human beings to know that it is wrong, in the same way that everyone knows that willful murder of innocent persons wrong. No Ph.D. in moral theology needed.

Married couples are called to chastity by only engaging in licit sex with each other which is open to the transmission of life. Sexually active married couples therefore should be and are expected to be chaste.

Continence is to not engage in the marital embrace. Married couples can together choose to be continent, either for a phase or season, or perpetually.

All of the Apostles except St. John were almost certainly married, but upon being ordained priests and bishops by Our Lord immediately entered into perfect perpetual continence with their wives. Thus only St. John was celibate, but all of the Apostles were chaste and continent.

All married priests and deacons were understood to be perfectly and perpetually continent. It went without saying, because it was obvious that a man who offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass or served on the altar as a deacon was espoused to Christ and His Church. It is a testament to how far gone a culture is that clerical continence is not instantly understood and naturally assumed with married priests and deacons, and even elicits rage when mentioned.

These terms, especially “celibacy“, are misused today almost as a rule across the board. Words have meaning and are not interchangeable. We should use these words correctly ourselves, and charitably correct others when they misuse them.

I hope this helps.

[This note came appended to a donation. -AB]

Hi Ann,

Can you please ask your readers for their prayers for repose of the soul of baby boy born 25 weeks premature in California, and then left to die?

I don’t have the baby’s name as its not being reported. His surrogate mother was Brittney Pearson who had to be induced early as she was diagnosed with cancer and required treatment.

The “fathers” (plural) did not want the baby, as it could have had heath complications from being born prematurely. They also refused offers of adoption. The story has multiple levels of horror. But the boy was born alive and the mother got to hold him before he died so there is a chance that he was baptised.

Can I please ask for your prayers to Our Holy Mother for her intercession for the baptism and salvation of this little boy? This could be also one for St. Tiny Princess.

Thank you,
Michael

PS May the abomination of IVF be ended.

It ought to be considered a great misfortune, not only for individuals, but also for Houses and Congregations, to have everything in conformity with their wishes; to go on quietly, and to suffer nothing for the love of God. Yes, consider it certain that a person or a Congregation that does not suffer and is applauded by all the world is near a fall.
-St. Vincent de Paul

Man, I want to cross-post this in full, but I’ll limit myself to my favorite sixteen of the forty-eight, and then you have to click through to read the rest. Absolutely spot-on. I wanna be whoever this Chris Jackson is when I grow up. (Please, Lord Jesus, let this guy be normal, or at least “crazy” in the good way.) The full list can and should function as an examination of conscience for anyone with a “Donate” button. Including especially yours truly. —AB

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https://bigmodernism.substack.com/p/how-to-tell-if-you-are-trad-inc

If two months in, you are still not sure what to think about Leo XIV, after condemning Francis as soon as he was elected, you might be Trad Inc.

If you watch the LifeSite board stage a coup to oust John Henry-Westen for being too Trad Catholic, and say, “Well, they had to make money,” you might be Trad Inc.

If you made YouTube videos warning of Prevost as one of the worst case scenarios before the conclave, and 24 hours later you are praising him as a refreshing change, you might be Trad. Inc.

If you write articles praising Leo for dressing like a pope and chanting Latin while ignoring him telling new priests to say “for all” in the consecration, you might be Trad Inc.

If you bashed synodality for 10 years under Francis and now tell us Leo understands it differently and we need to be nuanced, you might be Trad Inc.

If you railed on Francis cutting a deal with the CCP but haven’t said a word as Leo continues to sell out Chinese Catholics you might be Trad Inc. 

If you only tweet boldly about Vatican scandals after someone else does it first and you’ve checked your speaking calendar, you might be Trad Inc.

If you think fighting for Tradition is the hill to die on…until you saw the wine list in Rome, you might be Trad Inc.

If you warned us Francis would destroy the faith, but now say Leo’s “tone” is refreshing, you might be Trad Inc.

If you’ve ever said “prudential silence” when you meant “I like being invited to Rome,” you might be Trad Inc.

If you mocked Michael Voris as a hypocrite for criticizing every aspect of the Church except Francis and now you are doing the exact same thing, you might be Trad Inc.

If you rail against prosperity gospel preachers while monetizing docility, you might be Trad Inc.

If you believe Leo is restoring orthodoxy by continuing the exact policies of Francis, you might be Trad Inc.

If you went to war against Fiducia Supplicans under Francis, but you haven’t said a word since Leo reaffirmed it, you might be Trad Inc.

If you think Leo XIV is the solution to the crisis he’s actively perpetuating, you might be Trad Inc.

If you know deep down Leo is Francis in a nicer cassock, but it’s just not “financially strategic” to say that out loud, you might be Trad Inc.

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Click through and ready the other THIRTY-TWO.

Chris Jackson (and I) hope it helps. 👍🏻

https://bigmodernism.substack.com/p/how-to-tell-if-you-are-trad-inc

The Lesson from the Mass of St. Alexius of Rome reminded me of the Porter Wagoner song, “A Satisfied Mind”…

1 Timothy 6: 6-12

But godliness with contentment is great gain.
Est autem quaestus magnus pietas cum sufficientia.

For we brought nothing into this world: and certainly we can carry nothing out.
Nihil enim intulimus in hunc mundum : haud dubium quod nec auferre quid possumus.

But having food, and wherewith to be covered, with these we are content.
Habentes autem alimenta, et quibus tegamur, his contenti simus.

For they that will become rich, fall into temptation, and into the snare of the devil, and into many unprofitable and hurtful desires, which drown men into destruction and perdition.
Nam qui volunt divites fieri, incidunt in tentationem, et in laqueum diaboli, et desideria multa inutilia, et nociva, quae mergunt homines in interitum et perditionem.

For the desire of money is the root of all evils; which some coveting have erred from the faith, and have entangled themselves in many sorrows.
Radix enim omnium malorum est cupiditas : quam quidam appetentes erraverunt a fide, et inseruerunt se doloribus malis.

But thou, O man of God, fly these things: and pursue justice, godliness, faith, charity, patience, mildness.
Tu autem, o homo Dei, haec fuge : sectare vero justitiam, pietatem, fidem, caritatem, patientiam, mansuetudinem.

Fight the good fight of faith: lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art called, and hast confessed a good confession before many witnesses.
Certa bonum certamen fidei, apprehende vitam aeternam, in qua vocatus es, et confessus bonam confessionem coram multis testibus.

St. Alexius of Rome, pray for us.

One of the last photos taken of Pope Benedict XVI, where the massive edema in his ankles indicated the renal failure which would soon cause his death.

Methinks somewhere JD “Palantir” Vance is sharpening his eyeliner pencil….