Hello,

I was reading the article by Dr. Horvat. In the section describing food in the Middle Ages it mentioned that pumpkins were being consumed as peasant fare. Rather it listed pumpkins as a garden vegetable in the article.

However I believe that pumpkins originated in the Americas and were not part of Medieval Europe. Although I think certain squash were.

I just wanted to point that out to make sure the article is accurate. I could very well be wrong however, but from what I have always read, pumpkins came from this side of the Pond.

     Thank you. Best regards,

     K.H.



Dr. Horvat responds:

K.H.,

Thank you for your e-mail and your observation regarding pumpkins. You are correct that pumpkins are a New World food. The French source (translated to English) I used for the article had incorrectly translated squash as pumpkin. It seems that this is a not an unusual mistake found in medieval cooking books with modernized recipes.

I have made the correction in the article. Thank you very much for your assistance.

     Cordially,

     Marian T. Horvat

Hi Dr. Guimaraes,

I'd like to commend you for an excellent website, you have several interesting pieces. But I think you are mistaken in this regard, that the decrees of Vatican II or of the recent Popes contain doctrines contrary to the previous Magisterium.

Since you seem to be open to polemics, I assert that I can disprove the claim that there is any such contrary material in the documents of Vatican II or any documents issued by the recent Popes. I can prove that they are fully consistent with the previous Magisterium, the scholastics, and the early Fathers.

I am not a cleric or seminarian, I am just a lay graduate student - but if am wrong, at least it will help you refine your arguments. Let me know if you are interested.

     Praise be to Jesus Christ,

     R.E.

PS. I am a friend of R.M.



Mr. Guimarães responds:

Hello R.E.,

Thank you for your reserved praise of our website.

After admiring your youthful vitality and courage, I accept your challenge.

Since you offered to prove that all things that the Conciliar Popes did "are fully consistent with the previous Magisterium, the scholastics, and the early Fathers," could you start by doing this regarding the visit John Paul II made to the synagogue of Rome?

He delivered there a short speech; its text as well as my analysis of it are here.

Send my regards to our common friend R.M.

     Cordially,

     A.S. Guimarães

TIA,

Actually, many years ago, in one of his recorded talks, Fr. DePauw explained the reason for the then new communion formula 'Body of Christ' in the Novus Ordo Mass somewhat differently than you did.

According to him, this formula, which replaced the unambiguous formula in the Traditional Latin Mass, was taken directly from Presbyterianism, wherein 'Body of Christ' is actually a question the minister asks the communicant.

In their theology, the communion bread only becomes the Body of Christ if the communicant believes it is; the communicant affirms this by answering 'Amen,' as in the Novus Ordo formula. Of course, this is not Roman Catholic theology, which teaches that the validly Consecrated Host is objectively the Body of Christ, regardless of what the communicant (or anyone else) believes.

For this reason, Fr. DePauw rejected the 'Body of Christ' Novus Ordo communion formula.

     E.B.

Hi!

I stumbled across your article on Blessed Charles the Good and I am deeply fascinated by this saint. I was wondering if there were any references/footnotes you could send me that would help me learn more about him?

I greatly appreciate your help!

     God Bless.

     A.T.



TIA responds:

Hello A.T.,

We are glad that those comments by Prof. Plinio did some good to you.

You may find other references to Blessed Charles the Good here, here and here. We hope this will provide you a good start for a long and useful study.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

My friend Atila,

I have attached a link of a video that shows just how much respect the Bishops of Germany have for the Roman Pontiff. I hope this can be useful for your great work. Please keep on working to spread the truth.

The video can be watched here.

     In Maria,

     F.C.

Dear TIA,

Thank you for publishing the Pathe Newsreel of the Holy Father meeting the world's youth.

What a pity it was so short. I would love to see the full version. What a contrast between that meeting and those of recent years. It appears boys and girls had the privilege of being in the presence of the Pope on separate days, so there was an appropriate separation of the sexes. Catholic Action had apparently over one million members in Italy of which one quarter came to Rome. What a glorious sight to see the disciplined ranks of uniformed Catholic girls, proud of their religion and ready to defend it against the godless doctrine being proposed for their country.

This was true Catholic militancy at its best and these young ladies, quite obviously, responded excellently to the military discipline required of them. The veiled girls in Saint Peter's square show another side of Catholicism; the obedience and docility demanded of Catholic girls in the presence of their superiors and, in particular, the presence of the Holy Father and so many Princes of the True Church.

May God grant us the courage to, once more, establish militant Catholic organizations for our young people, so they may be trained to defend their church against it's many enemies.

I believe we need to challenge our young people, to give them firm leadership, to restore discipline in homes and schools and to use our God- given authority wisely. Only then will we be in a position to defeat the revolutionary forces ranged against us.

May God Bless you TIA and all who labor with you, to restore the glory of the True Faith and Catholic Civilization.

     Your sincerely

     C.M.

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