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Galgano’s Sword & Western Illusion about China
Departure or Resistance
+ PAX
Your correspondent Professor V.S.N. recently described the Church as, "like a cathedral whose walls still stand, but whose light, echo and heartbeat have long since slipped through the cracks."
Speaking almost certainly about our own parlous times, Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich said in 1820, "I found myself near the Church of St. Mary Major and I saw many poor people who were greatly distressed and worried.... These people did not seem to expect the church doors to open; they only wanted to pray outside, but I was in the church and I opened the doors.... There was no (Divine) Office in the church, but the sanctuary lamps were lit. The people prayed quite peacefully."
In Part 1, Chapter 3 of his work An Introduction to the Devout Life St. Francis de Sales writes, "Is the solitary life of a Carthusian suited to a bishop? Should those who are married practice the poverty of a Capuchin? If workmen spent as much time in church as religious, ... such devotion would be ridiculous and cause intolerable disorder."
I would like to suggest that all of us could read these words of the saintly Bishop in a way that he did not envisage and ask ourselves how we can make use of the time, energy and resources that Providence has given to us in order devoutly to resist or even struggle against the destructive forces that are at work in the Church and indeed in the world.
For example, it is possible to print off one of Dr. Horvat's pieces about Our Lady of Good Success and anonymously post it to a parish priest at the other end of the country.
Think creatively, think eccentrically! The sanctuary lamps are still lit. Every one of us has our own tiny part to play in the terrible and awesome drama of the salvation of souls.
Please be assured of my prayers.
In Christo,,
Br. M.J., OSB, England
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Praising the Blessed Sacrament
This is the closing passage of that 13th century prayer. Please share this and do yourself a favor and study the life of Mother Mechtilde of the Blessed Sacrament. What a woman!
L.W.
The Word that is God’s two-edged sword
Will wound to cut me free!
He’ll carve a room within my heart
To welcome Him as king,
He’ll lead me to a place apart
Where heavenly voices sing.
He’ll build a throne inside my mind
Upon which He can rest.
The pillars of His hall will find
Foundation in my breast.
The inner castle He will build
Until it looks like Him.
A glorious temple wholly filled
With beauty to its brim.
And this is why I do not fret
To be so poor a host:
Your mercy and Your truth have met,
Have seized this lowly post,
Have made it such a bower of bliss
That frosty scruples cease,
And there, within the chamber, kiss
God’s righteousness and peace.
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Traditional Catholic Reading List
I have a question regarding Mass attendance at SSPX chapels. Do you believe it is permissible to attend Mass at their chapels? Also, I was wondering if you could provide me with a reading list regarding Traditional Catholicism.
It goes without saying that I plan to get Professor Guimarães 11 volume magnum opus; I am also wondering what Missal you would recommend as well?
Thanks so much for all that you do & best wishes for a grace filled Lent.
.In Domino et Domina,
C.B.
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TIA responds:
Hello C.B.,
Until SSPX puts into action its decision to consecrate bishops without the Pope’s permission, their Masses are approved by the Vatican. So, you may attend them at your discretion.
A list of counter-revolutionary books can be found here, here, here, here and at this page, its last section titled:" General Book Recommendations."
We recommend the Missals before 1955 as long they are duly approved by the Church.
Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk
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Western Illusion about China
I am passing on to you and your readers a good analysis of China’s prosperity made by the U.S. and the West with the stupid illusion that pouring mountains of money there it would embrace Capitalism and reject Communism.
We created a monster that can devour us...
Regards,
P.M.
If you thought that capitalism and the rise of Chinese billionaires would soften the Communist Party’s totalitarian rule, now you need to think again.
Massimo Introvigne
Chinese-American political scientist Pei Minxin’s The Broken China Dream: How Reform Revived Totalitarianism (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2026) is an autopsy report on a failing idea that few were willing to address: the belief that markets would weaken authoritarianism, that billionaires would push the Chinese Communist Party toward democracy, and that a rising middle class would seek elections rather than larger apartments. Pei dissects the myth with scholarly precision and the dry humor of someone who has watched Western policymakers cling to the same fantasies for 40 years.
The book starts in the 1980s, a brief moment when China seemed to be moving toward more freedom. Pei reminds us that even then, the reform era was not a smooth journey toward openness but rather a struggle behind the Zhongnanhai walls. Deng Xiaoping’s coalition, united only by the desire to marginalize Hua Guofeng, quickly split into reformists who wanted to ease the system and conservatives who wanted to revive the command economy with better lighting. The decade concludes, inevitably, with tanks on Chang’an Avenue and a message that would define the next 30 years: economic experimentation is acceptable, but political experimentation is not.
Pei then shows how the CCP [China Communist Party] learned to grow wealthy without loosening its control. The rural reforms of the 1980s sparked entrepreneurial energy, but always at the fringes and under the watchful eye of a party intent on keeping power. China’s mixed economy – part market, part state, all political – became the engine of the “miracle” but also the source of contradictions that would later suffocate it. Growth was allowed, even promoted, as long as it posed no threat to the monopoly on power.
Read more here
Posted March 12, 2026
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The opinions expressed in this section - What People Are Commenting - do not necessarily express those of TIA
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A friend sent this to me today. Wonderful.
P.O.B.
Galgano Guidotti was a 12th-century knight who purportedly thrust a sword into a boulder in Tuscany after having a religious vision, a feat that led to his sainthood after his death.
Giorces/Wikimedia Commons
Everyone knows the story of the future King Arthur pulling a sword from a stone, proving his worth as the ruler of England. But few are aware that there’s a real sword in the stone tucked away inside an Italian chapel.
As the legend goes, a medieval knight named Galgano Guidotti thrust his blade into a boulder on a hilltop in Tuscany after having a divine vision in the 12th century. Guidotti was later declared a Saint, and Montesiepi Chapel was built around the stone where he performed his feat.
It remains on display today, with the knight’s sword still stuck inside. Other extraordinary stories surrounding the relic have emerged over the centuries, and religious pilgrims and curious visitors alike continue to flock to the chapel to see it for themselves.
Read mor here