This fall has been a busy time. I'm pleased to share videos of three recent lectures that are now on my YouTube channel; given the liturgical themes they are likely to be of interest to NLM readers.
Why Divine Worship Needs the Power of Non-Verbal Language
Description: The traditional Mass, despite its supposed "disadvantages" such as the lack of the vernacular, seems to be surprisingly effective at leading souls to communion with God—and that is, in part, because it is so effective in communicating what can never be fully put into words. For the crucial thing is not hearing about God, but somehow encountering God Himself, seeing Him, tasting Him. In this talk I explore the power of “non-verbal language”: the sacred atmosphere, the eastward orientation, the sonic iconostasis, and the abundant symbolism of the old rite.
This lecture was given in Burr Ridge, Illinois, on September 30, 2026. The event was sponsored by the Sag Bridge Mission Society.
Description: The traditional Mass, despite its supposed "disadvantages" such as the lack of the vernacular, seems to be surprisingly effective at leading souls to communion with God—and that is, in part, because it is so effective in communicating what can never be fully put into words. For the crucial thing is not hearing about God, but somehow encountering God Himself, seeing Him, tasting Him. In this talk I explore the power of “non-verbal language”: the sacred atmosphere, the eastward orientation, the sonic iconostasis, and the abundant symbolism of the old rite.
This lecture was given in Burr Ridge, Illinois, on September 30, 2026. The event was sponsored by the Sag Bridge Mission Society.
Mystic of the Mass and Defender of the Eucharist: Discovering the True St. Francis of Assisi
Excerpt: «Even as Our Lord has been re-interpreted in a thousand ways to serve the agendas of various heresies or ideologies over the centuries, so too has St. Francis been made a mascot or spokesman of causes that have little or nothing to do with the historic saint.
For example, Franco Zefferelli’s 1972 film "Brother Sun, Sister Moon," presents Francis as if he were, in the words of Augustine Thompson, “a free spirit, a wild religious genius, a kind of medieval hippie, misunderstood and then exploited by the medieval Church”—quite as if he would have fit right in at the Woodstock Festival of 1969. Other writers have presented him as an environmentalist or ecologist before his time, a lover of animals, a pacifist, a feminist, a revolutionary for the poor, even a herald of South American Liberation Theology.
While there’s a hint of truth in some of these depictions—Francis did, in fact, love the natural world and was delighted with birds in particular; he did care for the poorest and most downtrodden, especially lepers; and he was a peace-maker in the context of the volatile Italian city-state politics of his day—the fact is, they are distortions and diminishments of his true greatness as the intensely mystical, Eucharistic, liturgical, and dogmatic Catholic he was. And this true portrait is what I will share with you tonight.»
Lecture given on October 4, 2026, in honor of the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis, in Carmel, Indiana, sponsored by Corpus Christi for Unity and Peace.
Excerpt: «Even as Our Lord has been re-interpreted in a thousand ways to serve the agendas of various heresies or ideologies over the centuries, so too has St. Francis been made a mascot or spokesman of causes that have little or nothing to do with the historic saint.
For example, Franco Zefferelli’s 1972 film "Brother Sun, Sister Moon," presents Francis as if he were, in the words of Augustine Thompson, “a free spirit, a wild religious genius, a kind of medieval hippie, misunderstood and then exploited by the medieval Church”—quite as if he would have fit right in at the Woodstock Festival of 1969. Other writers have presented him as an environmentalist or ecologist before his time, a lover of animals, a pacifist, a feminist, a revolutionary for the poor, even a herald of South American Liberation Theology.
While there’s a hint of truth in some of these depictions—Francis did, in fact, love the natural world and was delighted with birds in particular; he did care for the poorest and most downtrodden, especially lepers; and he was a peace-maker in the context of the volatile Italian city-state politics of his day—the fact is, they are distortions and diminishments of his true greatness as the intensely mystical, Eucharistic, liturgical, and dogmatic Catholic he was. And this true portrait is what I will share with you tonight.»
Lecture given on October 4, 2026, in honor of the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis, in Carmel, Indiana, sponsored by Corpus Christi for Unity and Peace.
The Traditional Latin Mass—What Truly Unites All the Clans
Excerpt: «The unity of Catholicism comes not from blind obedience to superiors but from professing one and the same faith, from being orthodox. The term “orthodoxy” means both right worship and right belief. It means worshiping God in a traditional apostolic rite and holding the deposit of faith....
Unity does not mean and has never meant uniformity. And in a time of crisis, we actually need “all hands on deck.” Whatever our differences as traditionalists may be—some of them legitimate, some of them debatable, some of them regrettable—now is not a time to wage war against one another, when we are threatened with liquidation at the hands of the worshipers of modernity.
Now is a time for mutual charity, as of brothers baptized into Christ, soldiering for their King; mutual toleration, as of patriots who disagree about civic policy but love their fatherland and are willing to die for it; mutual understanding, as of sympathetic souls enflamed by the same longing for divine beauty and holiness; and, last but not least, friendly cooperation in common endeavors.
This is not to promote a “lowest common denominator” approach; I would prefer to call it a “highest common good” approach! For God is the common good of the entire universe, as St. Thomas Aquinas says, and in the Holy Eucharist is contained the Real Presence of that common good, to which, or rather, to Whom, God’s mercy unites us. Nothing could be more important to focus on and prioritize than this Divine Fire of Charity—and how we approach Him, praise, adore, and receive Him.»
This lecture was given on October 2, 2026, at the Catholic Identity Conference in Pittsburgh.
Visit Dr. Kwasniewski’s Substack “Tradition & Sanity”; personal site; composer site; publishing house Os Justi Press and YouTube, SoundCloud, and Spotify pages.
Excerpt: «The unity of Catholicism comes not from blind obedience to superiors but from professing one and the same faith, from being orthodox. The term “orthodoxy” means both right worship and right belief. It means worshiping God in a traditional apostolic rite and holding the deposit of faith....
Unity does not mean and has never meant uniformity. And in a time of crisis, we actually need “all hands on deck.” Whatever our differences as traditionalists may be—some of them legitimate, some of them debatable, some of them regrettable—now is not a time to wage war against one another, when we are threatened with liquidation at the hands of the worshipers of modernity.
Now is a time for mutual charity, as of brothers baptized into Christ, soldiering for their King; mutual toleration, as of patriots who disagree about civic policy but love their fatherland and are willing to die for it; mutual understanding, as of sympathetic souls enflamed by the same longing for divine beauty and holiness; and, last but not least, friendly cooperation in common endeavors.
This is not to promote a “lowest common denominator” approach; I would prefer to call it a “highest common good” approach! For God is the common good of the entire universe, as St. Thomas Aquinas says, and in the Holy Eucharist is contained the Real Presence of that common good, to which, or rather, to Whom, God’s mercy unites us. Nothing could be more important to focus on and prioritize than this Divine Fire of Charity—and how we approach Him, praise, adore, and receive Him.»
This lecture was given on October 2, 2026, at the Catholic Identity Conference in Pittsburgh.
Visit Dr. Kwasniewski’s Substack “Tradition & Sanity”; personal site; composer site; publishing house Os Justi Press and YouTube, SoundCloud, and Spotify pages.
