Holy Smoke

Undergraduate student of theology exploring the extraordinary beauty and intellectual brilliance of Catholic theology, culture, and tradition.

[Holy Smoke @TradicalCath]

@HabitualLinest I have been reasonably assured trans women are women.

[Holy Smoke @TradicalCath]

@TyJohnsonNews If you are hoping for a playoff berth, you are not sick of the Phillies enough.

[Holy Smoke @TradicalCath]

@TyJohnsonNews Kevin Long has been at the helm of this dumpster fire the entire time and is the most untouchable man in MLB. Truly incredible.

[Edward Feser @FeserEdward]

“Whoever has the children, has the future"

Yes. Christians who practice contraception have no business complaining about becoming a minority in their own country. Their grave violation of ancient Christian morality is the primary cause of the situation. Immigration is secondary.

This is true even though there is no doubt that liberal immigration policy has greatly exacerbated the situation. For if Christians obeyed the moral demands of their religion, and thereby had large families who did the same, there would never be enough voters to support such bad policies.

[Building Catholic Men | Husbands | Fathers @BldgCatholicMen]

Happy Labor Day!

“O Glorious Saint Joseph, model of all those who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work in a spirit of penance for the expiation of my many sins; to work conscientiously, putting the call of duty above my natural inclinations; to work with thankfulness and joy, considering it an honor to employ and develop by means of labor the gifts received from God; to work with order, peace, moderation, and patience, never shrinking from weariness and trials; to work above all with purity of intention and detachment from self, keeping unceasingly before my eyes death and the account that I must give of time lost, talents unused, good omitted, and vain complacency in success, so fatal to the work of God.
All for Jesus, all through Mary, all after thy example, O Patriarch, Saint Joseph. Such shall be my watch-word in life and in death. Amen.”

[Dr Taylor Marshall™️ @TaylorRMarshall]

“The guilt of abortion”

[Robby Starbuck @robbystarbuck]

This has been going on for a while but understand this: There’s no demographic that attends football games that wants this. Maybe a dozen or so people want it and they’re nightmare customers you don’t want. At the same time it also turns off millions of fans while some are neutral but don’t enjoy it. So why do they do it? Because they know there’s no competitor league so they can shove it down your throat, fully comfortable that not enough people will cancel their season tickets or NFLRedzons over it. It’s an annoyance like a gnat for many but the woke folks are fully aware it’s making micro-impressions on kids who watch it. That’s the real target audience: kids. They want to make the next generation more like them one impression at a time. At some point they’ll miscalculate though and go too far with something and they’ll have a real problem on their hands…

[BARITUS Catholic Illustration @BaritusCatholic]

I used to wonder how the mothers of ancient Rome left their babies on the street to die as they so often did.

But lately I've wiped the delusion of living in a "Christian" country and society out of my mind and eyes, and I've come to think I'm actually witnessing the tail end of a rubber-band effect.

Taking account of the state of things, it's easy to deduce that Christianity peaked at some point, many may say the Reformation and I'd probably agree, though all of that is debatable.

We've since declined back into our pre-Christian ways, like a rubber band once it hits the extreme limits of it's ability to stretch, pulling back on itself with double-force.

The things that Christianity once conquered in truth, and in grace, through it's witnesses, through it's testimony, through it's blood and through it's ways of living in Christ, seem to be antiquated now in many places of this country that we used to call "Christian".

And so a once antiquated Roman mind, now seems, oddly, familiar if you are paying attention. The ancient Roman practice of casual infanticide is not so strange anymore.

And if you look closer, neither are any of it's other eccentricities whether it be the odd religious cults, homosexuality, blood sport, and so on. Niche groups have been taking their cut of the Christian pie for decades, centuries, picking their poison, and with all of the hallmarks of Satan further dividing any kind of coherent understanding of the person, of family, of society, and of country, creating, niches of chaos.

The only thing unfamiliar to us living all of this now in the model of that ancient world, is that we just film it all, and then stream it to the world, further intoxicating mindless gluttons, and inspiring their imaginations to something we once agreed on in a Christian society to be wicked, to now be something honored, celebrated, and God-forbid, made "viral" or mimicked.

The question is, if the rubber band has already snapped back, and there is no going further into the peace that Christianity once afforded when we recognized it as something that directed all that is true in the world, where are we in that rush back to where we started, and how fast will it be? I get the sense it's going faster than anyone is really able to comprehend, and we're probably further along than we realize.

I hope this is not the case, and of course connections with the world at large on a platform like this are obviously skewed. But there is so much darkness out there, it's really unbelievable.

And yet, to end this thought with some light, when I find those instances of hope, they are truly amazing. And if nothing else it reminds me, as hopefully it reminded the ancient Christians when they were in the midst of turmoil and in their darkest hours, looking around and seeing so many others who also loved Christ, facing the same darkness with them, that we are not alone.

Lord have mercy on us.
+++

[Bishop Robert Barron @BishopBarron]

Friends, Fulton Sheen observed that Simon Peter had a dual nature signified by his name—a nature that also applies to his successors and to the Church as a whole.

The Simon side—unsure, unreliable, vacillating, impetuous—stands for the fallen, flawed, and scandal-ridden side of the Church.

But the Peter side, Fulton Sheen insisted—Peter, Petrus, Cephas, the Rock—stands for the Church knowing who Jesus is and embodying that knowledge in its sacramental life and the witness of its saints. 

The Church has a Simon dimension, sure, but it also has this Petrine dimension. This is why it endures through the ages, and why the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

[Joshua Charles🇻🇦 @JoshuaTCharles]

“The modern world is undergoing an extraordinary spiritual crisis. People are searching for meaning. Young people are searching for an identity. Loneliness is on the rise. Families are breaking down. Technology is penetrating ever more deeply into human existence. Pornography distorts sexuality. Materialism fails to satisfy. Climate change is becoming a surrogate religion for many. People are afraid of death, yet they hardly know what they are living for anymore.

And in the midst of that world, the Church possesses something extraordinary. It possesses the Gospel. The sacraments. The Eucharist. Confession. Two thousand years of wisdom. Scripture. The Church Fathers. Thomas Aquinas. Augustine. The mystics. The saints. An unrivalled tradition of art, music, philosophy, morality and spirituality. And above all: Jesus Christ.

The world is not waiting for yet another organization to listen to it. There are already enough of those. The world is waiting for someone to tell it why it was created.”

Bishop Robert Mutsaerts (August 13, 2026)

[Joshua Charles🇻🇦 @JoshuaTCharles]

I feel sadness for the countless lonely and isolated people I meet and hear about all the time.

A lot of people out there are hurting. Many have lost their families. Many don’t have friends—or certainly not the kind that help make life worth living.

A lot of men, in particular, seem to feel very lonely and isolated. They desire brotherhood at a deep level.

Praying for Holy Spirit inspired endeavors that can help address these poverties of the soul that seem to be spreading at an alarming rate.

[Holy Smoke @TradicalCath]

@FiatLuxGenesis Some heroes don't wear capes.

[Holy Smoke @TradicalCath]

@libsoftiktok @IfindRetards Found one.

[Holy Smoke @TradicalCath]

100% he is addicted to porn.

[The Moonlight Warrior 🌙 @BlackMajikMan90]

In all seriousness, this is a big problem for cinema.

I can’t remember the last time I saw actual nudity or good sex in a Hollywood feature film in a long time.

The Gen Z preference for platonic relationships and friendship instead of actual romance is severely hurting filmmaking.

[Holy Smoke @TradicalCath]

@DomShow1210 Bucks County just cannot rid itself of the Fitzpatrick scourge.

[Holy Smoke @TradicalCath]

@DeaceOnline Looking forward to Pope Smug's encyclical "Homosexualitis Golfii" - On man's idol of effeminacy.

[Father V @father_rmv]

The same standards must be applied to all dissenters, not only so-called ‘Catholic traditionalists’. The Catholic Church’s requirement of communion rests on acceptance of the deposit of faith as proposed by the living Magisterium, including the authority of ecumenical councils and the legitimacy of liturgical rites promulgated by the Supreme Pontiff. This norm must be applied universally—whichever the circumstance—or risk the charge of hypocrisy and causing further alienation.

[Holy Smoke @TradicalCath]

@6abc

[Holy Smoke @TradicalCath]

@DomShow1210 Arkham Asylum without Batman.

[☩ 𝕁𝕄𝕋 ☩ @SecretFire79]

On this significant day, June 11, 2026, the Catholic Bishops of the United States are consecrating our nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus during a special Mass at Mary, Queen of the Universe Basilica in Orlando, Florida (4PM EDT).

This historic act marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence (coming July 4) and is the first formal national consecration of the United States to the Sacred Heart.

It comes as the USCCB Spring Plenary Assembly gathers, with the bishops entrusting America to the loving Heart of Christ for healing, unity, peace, and a renewed commitment to the Gospel.

The Sacred Heart devotion, rooted in the revelations to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, reminds us of God’s infinite love and mercy. In a polarized time, it calls us to place our families, communities, and nation under Christ’s care.

The USCCB encourages parishes, families, and individuals to join in this consecration through prayer, the Novena to the Sacred Heart, and enthroning the Sacred Heart in homes.