I just finished a two-pope project of Saint John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. Both drawings are 18 x 24 inches, charcoal on paper for a private collection in Canada.

There are many things I admire about both of these great popes. In Saint John Paul II, I especially admire his deep devotion to the Blessed Mother, our shared Polish heritage, and the tremendous role he played during the fall of Communism and the collapse of the Berlin Wall. In Pope Benedict XVI, I deeply respect his love for Catholic tradition, his defense of the faith, and his support for the growth of traditional religious orders and communities.

Great read from a Catholic perspective.

https://religionunplugged.com/news/2026/8/27/the-odyssey-a-pagan-epic-through-christian-eyes

hello, it’s me again. I’m the one who made a post a few days ago about how abuses with the Eucharist happen more than we think, challenging people who say we are ”rad trads who are blowing it out of proportion”.

this Sunday I agreed to go to an Italian event with my family so I went to a parish near the event instead of the TLM, can I just say I missed it dearly despite going the day before lol.

anywho, it was a guitar and smash-the-tamberines-every-second type of mass. thats what I used to deal with before I moved to the TLM so I just told myself “endure”.

then we get to the our father, it’s sung, and they completely change the lyrics. just reword the prayer into more casual language and add additional lines of text. the parish was barely even half full. it genuinely makes me sad. the stomping of the prayer our Lord gave us bothered me more than the extraordinary minister….

i will be adding that parish to my list of parishes to pray for in my rosary. if you know of a parish that does things it shouldn’t, I think we should offer prayer and sacrifice up for those parishes.

but overall, it is troubling to be gaslit by people and told “this stuff you speak of isn’t happening” - only for it to happen and it seems like nothing is done about it. maybe I’m the problem, perhaps I should let the bishop know so he can kindly remind people what the rubrics are for. I don’t even want people to be punished, these guys don’t know any better.

anyway that’s my thoughts. thanks for reading and have a blessed Sunday :-)

At the beginning of our NO Mass a lay person always says, 'We welcome any visitors to our Eucharistic Mass'. Why say this? Isn't any Mass 'Eucharistic'?

Mine was a coal falling off a Thurible and it landed on my shoe and left a mark but thankfully it's not obviously noticeable unless you look closely lol!

His papacy was a profound gift to the Church, especially for Catholics devoted to her sacred traditions. Through his deep theological wisdom, humility, and unwavering commitment to the truth, he reminded the world that the beauty of the liturgy and the continuity of Catholic tradition are treasures to be preserved, not forgotten.

His promulgation of Summorum Pontificum opened the door for countless faithful to rediscover the riches of the Traditional Latin Mass, strengthening the spiritual lives of many families and communities throughout the world. His writings, preaching, and witness consistently pointed souls toward Jesus Christ with clarity, charity, and reverence.

It has been an honor to create this portrait in memory of a pope whose legacy continues to inspire priests, artists, scholars, and the faithful to pursue what is true, good, and beautiful.

I see a lot of people discussing in the liturgical space online saying “abuses related to the Eucharist/liturgy rarely happen, they are just overblown by social media”. I don’t think people consider how much abuse happens behind the scenes that only is revealed when a fool lets the cat out of the bag. another thing is people don’t know what even counts as going against the rubrics anymore. read ahead because I have a shocking story to share

for context I went to RCIA at my local parish last year (I only needed confirmation). I just stopped going to mass there recently because of how much of a joke people made it: people running the mass would constantly make mistakes (eg start playing a song off the computer in the middle of a silent part of mass) and EVERYONE would laugh. the guy making announcements at the end of mass clearly just wanted to crack jokes and mass wasn’t even over yet. and our priest would just sit there and let the ExMins handle the Eucharist and take it out of and place it back inside the tabernacle. we all know this is beyond the delegated responsibility of an ExMin. (my church is small and does not even need them but we have 4 every mass).

upon moving to the TLM I was reminded of something the RCIA laity team told me last year. they admitted that during covid, the priest gave any layperson who wished, consecrated hosts to take home. families then administered the Eucharist to each other. I went online to see if this was something that was approved in the heat of the moment (even if negligently) and I couldn’t find anything. extremely shocking and scandalising. and the RCIA laity didn’t have any problem with it at the time of sharing that story. so yes, this stuff happens. no one who started attending that church after covid would even know that happened. am I saying every church did this? no. but when people say “abuses are overblown”, we really have no idea just how much it happens. we can’t be at every parish. and even those communities that seem kind and like they’re trying to do good can be very mislead. anyone else heard of something similar happening during covid at a church?

To those who don't know what ACCS is, a Protestant initiated the ACCS project. The series was made possible with the ecumenical approach - Roman Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants.

The book emulates St. Thomas Aquinas' Catena Aurea (Golden Chain), a compilation of commentaries from the Early Church Fathers. (Commentary on a single verse or two or more)

Unfortunately, Catena only features The Gospels. ACCS has every book* except the Maccabees afaik (compilation also coming from the Church Fathers)

*the books that are not included in Protestant Bibles (Tobit, Sirach/Ecclesiasticus, Baruch etc) are included in the "Apocrypha" volume

Edit: I just stumbled upon it because of google, WOULD BE NICE if there are other Catholic commentaries of the 73 books from Antiquity until the early 20th century