St. Anthony's Tongue

This Sunday’s Gospel (Matthew 22:15–21) gives us the famous command to render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar. But what if the most important part of this passage isn't about Caesar at all?

Jesus asks whose image is stamped upon a coin. But we, too, bear an image: the image of God.

In this week's Mystical Mass Prep, we're exploring what it means to belong to God, why our dignity goes deeper than anything the world can tell us, and how holiness transforms us into the likeness of Christ.

Tonight, you will be visited by three ghosts.Can the dead really return to the living? And what does the Catholic Church teach about ghosts?In this episode of St. Anthony's Tongue, we explore the strange Catholic theology of ghosts, drawing on St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Jerome, and St. Gregory the Great to understand why God might permit souls from heaven, hell, and purgatory to appear.Along the way, I'll share three ghost stories from the latest issue of *The Margins: A Catholic's Guide to Ghosts*, featuring St. Thomas Aquinas, Bl. Richard of St. Ann, and Padre Pio.We'll...

💀Resources:💀

Grab a Copy of The Margins Here: https://www.stanthonystongue.com/margins/ 

Buy My Book, A Catechism of the Strange, here: 

https://www.amazon.com/Catechism-Strange-Stigmata-Relics-Miracles/dp/0829460683 

Join my Patreon here: 

http://www.patreon.com/anthonystongue  

Episode on Relics:

https://youtu.be/CLdhj6b-AtM

Episode on Theosis: https://youtu.be/TRbknjxcA5U 

What happens when a saint's body refuses to decay?

In this special October episode of St. Anthony's Tongue, we're returning to some old-school strange Catholic storytelling...

In this week's Mass Prep, we reflect on Matthew 22:1–14, where Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a wedding feast.

Why a wedding? Because God desires more than our obedience. He desires union with us.

We'll explore the bridal mystery of Christianity, the danger of becoming too busy for God, the meaning of the wedding garment, and how the Eucharist offers us a foretaste of the heavenly wedding feast.

🐺 FROM THE CRYPT: I'm resurrecting a few of my favorite spooky episodes this October. Starting with werewolves.

Werewolves have haunted folklore for centuries, but they also have a surprisingly strange history within Christianity. So what happens when Catholicism, saints, theology, and the legend of the werewolf collide?

Welcome back to A Catholic's Guide to Werewolves.

And stay tuned, here's plenty of brand-new strange and spooky Catholicism coming this October.

Resources:

Grab a Copy of Issue 6 - Strange Catholicism here: https://www.stanthonystongue.com/margins/p/issue-vi-strange-catholicism 

In Matthew 21, the tenants reject servant after servant—and somehow, the owner keeps sending more.

In this Mass Prep, we look at the strange persistence of God, the Bridegroom who keeps coming closer, and what it means that divine love ultimately takes on flesh.

Grab a Copy of Issue 6 - Strange Catholicism here: https://www.stanthonystongue.com/margins/p/issue-vi-strange-catholicism 

Buy My Book, A Catechism of the Strange, here: 

https://www.amazon.com/Catechism-Strange-Stigmata-Relics-Miracles/dp/0829460683 

Join my Patreon here: 

http://www.patreon.com/anthonystongue  

Episode on the Mysticism of the Stigmata:

https://youtu.be/Apc3Ifl1n5o 

Irving Houle was a husband, father, grandfather—and a reported stigmatist who experienced the wounds and Passion of Christ nightly...

Check out Issue 6 here: https://www.stanthonystongue.com/margins/p/issue-vi-strange-catholicism

A grandpa with the stigmata. A mystic who healed a future Catholic icon. Glowing saints, strange relics, visions, miracles, and more.

Welcome to Strange Catholicism, Issue 6 of The Margins — an exploration of the strange, beautiful, and sometimes downright weird corners of the Catholic faith.

Jesus tells a story about two sons: one says yes and never moves, the other says no — then gets up and goes.

In Matthew 21:28–32, we look at a faith that has to become physical: feet in the vineyard, hands in the dirt, sweat on the body.

Because God doesn’t just want the yes on your lips.

He wants your body where your yes is.

🕊️Resources 🕊️

Episode on Theosis: https://youtu.be/TRbknjxcA5U

My Catholic Zine, The Margins: ⁠www.stanthonystongue.com/margins⁠ 

My Book, A Catechism of the Strange: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/Catechism-Strange-Stigmata-Relics-Miracles/dp/0829460683⁠ 

My Patreon: ⁠http://www.patreon.com/anthonystongue⁠ 

Why do Catholics keep bones?

In this episode, we look at relics, the Bible, theosis, resurrection, and what all of this says about the human body. Relics aren’t just strange Catholic objects—they’re a reminder that grace reaches deeper than we think.

Bas...

🕊️Resources 🕊️

My Catholic Zine, The Margins: ⁠www.stanthonystongue.com/margins⁠ 

My Book, A Catechism of the Strange: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/Catechism-Strange-Stigmata-Relics-Miracles/dp/0829460683⁠ 

My Patreon: ⁠http://www.patreon.com/anthonystongue⁠ 

Absolutely — keep it simple, searchable, and not stuffed:

Description:

On the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, we sit with Mary as the wounded Bride: the woman whose heart was pierced, who stayed near the wounds of Christ, and whose love became something bodily, tangible, and costly.

This episode explores Our Lady of Sorrows, the wound of lo...

In this episode, we look at Jesus’ parable of the unforgiving servant, the Greek phrase splagchnistheis—to be moved in the guts—and the way Scripture repeatedly connects holiness with a heart that can still be affected by suffering.

Compassion is not the enemy of truth. The question is whether the mercy we receive from Christ actually makes us more merciful.

Some saints were said to literally glow.

In this episode, we look at the strange stories of luminous saints, the Transfiguration, theosis, and what it might mean for a human life to become radiant with Christ.

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🕊️Resources 🕊️

Mysticism, Word By Word -- Theosis: https://youtu.be/TRbknjxcA5U?si=BzlYg2gZhzG9V8xz

My Catholic Zine, The Margins: www.stanthonystongue.com/margins 

My Book, A Catechism of the Strange: https://www.amazon.com/Catechism-Strange-Stigmata-Relics-Miracles/dp/0829460683 

My Patreon: http://www.patreon...

What if heaven is closer than we think?

In this Mass Prep, we explore Matthew 18:15–20, communal prayer, the Bride of Christ, and Jesus’ strange promise to be in the midst of us.

What happens when Silicon Valley’s values start shaping the Catholic imagination?In this episode, I’m talking about optimization, branding, algorithms, prayer streaks, Catholic AI, “frictionless faith,” and the danger of treating holiness like something that can be measured on a dashboard.This isn’t an anti-tech rant. It’s a plea for a messier, more embodied, more human Church — one where people still have faces, names, wounds, and time for one another.I just want to see her face.

🤖Resources 🕊️

Essay - Against Silicon Valley Catholicism: https://stanthonystongue.substack.com/p/against-silicon-vall...

Join my Patreon

Check Out my Zine

Order my Book

In this week’s Mass Prep, we look at Matthew 16:21–27: Peter trying to correct Jesus, what it means to actually follow Christ, and the strange call to lose your life in order to find it.

What if the spiritual life is less about finding God, and more about realizing that God has been chasing you the whole time?

In this episode, we look at Francis Thompson’s The Hound of Heaven, the conversion of Jacques Fesch, Jonah, the lost sheep, and the strange, relentless mercy of a God who refuses to stop coming after us.

God Chases You Like a Dog (Essay)

The Margins: A Catholic Zine

Buy My Book, A Catechism of the Strange

Order my book here.

Buy a zine here.

In Matthew 16:13–20, Jesus asks Peter one of the most important questions in the Gospel: “Who do you say that I am?”

This week, we’re reflecting on faith becoming personal, learning to recognize Christ, and the beautiful moment when Peter names Jesus—and Jesus names Peter.

Order my book, A Catechism of the Strange here: https://www.amazon.com/Catechism-Strange-Stigmata-Relics-Miracles/dp/0829460683

In this episode of Mysticism, Word by Word, we explore the Christian idea of becoming more like God through grace, where it appears in Scripture, how the mystics understood it, and what it looks like in everyday spiritual life.

In this episode of From the Margins, I’m talking about why I wrote Beware of Catholic Robots — my new manifesto on Catholic AI, prayer apps, digital spirituality, human dignity, work, and what happens when faith becomes optimized, monetized, and frictionless.

We’ll get into Catholic AI companies, spiritual formation, AI and pastoral care, the gamification of prayer, ethical labor, and why the Church should remain stubbornly human.

Get Issue V: Beware of Catholic Robots
https://www.stanthonystongue.com/margins/p/issue-v-beware-of-catholic-robots

Order My Book, A Catechism of the Strange

What is the stigmata — and more importantly, what does it mean?In this episode, we explore the strange Catholic phenomenon of the stigmata, the wounds of Christ appearing on the bodies of saints and mystics. We’ll talk about St. Francis of Assisi, redemptive suffering, victim souls, “offering it up,” and why these mysterious wounds reveal something deeper about suffering, sacrifice, and union with Christ.This is also one of the central ideas behind my new book, *A Catechism of the Strange*: strange Catholic phenomena aren’t just curiosities — they teach u...

Matthew 14 gives us two banquets, and two very different kinds of kings.

Herod feasts inside a palace, surrounded by wealth, spectacle, and powerful guests. By the end of the night, John the Baptist’s head is carried into the room on a platter.

Then Jesus gathers the hungry in the wilderness.

No palace. No guest list. No VIP section. Just grass, hunger, compassion, and bread placed into the hands of God.

In this Mass Prep, we explore what these two feasts reveal about power, Catholic leadership, luxury spiritual experiences, and the un...

Pre-order A Catechism of the Strange here: https://www.amazon.com/Catechism-Strange-Stigmata-Relics-Miracles/dp/0829460683

Catholicism is full of wounds, bones, dreams, incorrupt bodies, visions, relics, and saints who seemed to glow with the presence of God.

But these strange things are not merely spooky trivia. They reveal something essential about the Christian life: grace does not simply forgive us from a distance. It enters us, transforms us, and conforms us to Christ.

In this episode, I talk about why I wrote A Catechism of the Strange, how wonder helped lead me back to the...

We live in a world that constantly tells us we need one more thing. One more book. One more devotion. One more answer. So on and so on.

But in Sunday's Gospel, Jesus tells a different story. The merchant finds one pearl—and stops searching.

In this week's mass prep, let's talk about what it means to stop shopping for God, why the Kingdom can't be mass-produced, and how Christ is the treasure that changes everything.

This episode connects with Issue IV of The Margins, God in the Gutters, available now.

Dorothy Day was a journalist, anarchist, Catholic convert, founder of the Catholic Worker—and perhaps the only saint to ever land on an FBI watchlist.

In this episode, we look at Dorothy through the lens of mysticism: a transformative awareness of God’s presence that increases our love of God and neighbor. For Dorothy, that awareness became prayer, hospitality, protest, breadlines, and a life spent finding Christ among the poor.

Buy a Zine: www.stanthonystongue.com/margins

What does the Church mean when it calls itself the Mystical Body of Christ?

In this episode of Mysticism Word by Word, we explore how Christ joins us to Himself—and to one another—so deeply that His life begins to move between us. The Mystical Body is not merely a metaphor. It means grace transforms us, love binds us together, and Christ remains present in the wounded members of His Body.

Keeping this brief this week as I am recording the audio version of my book!

But let's talk Matthew 13!
Last week, Jesus spoke about the seed. This week, He shows us what happens when it begins growing in a messy field.

The weeds do not mean the wheat has failed. The field is unfinished—but God is still at work.

Buy a Zine: www.stanthonystongue.com/margins

Buy a Zine: http://www.stanthonystongue.com/margins

Join the Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/anthonystongue

What does Matthew 25 reveal about mercy, judgment, and the way we see people on the margins?

In this episode, we talk about the saints we have sanitized, the difficult human beings they chose to love, and the Christ who identifies himself with the hungry, the sick, the imprisoned, the wounded, and the forgotten. Because mercy is not optional decoration for the Christian life—and grace should change which people we are ca...

Mass Prep for Matthew 13:1–23, the Parable of the Sower.

God is not waiting for the perfect soul before He speaks. He throws the Word into distracted hearts, wounded hearts, hard hearts, and overgrown hearts.

The soul is not a machine. It is dirt. And grace is a seed with dirt under its fingernails.

The devil hates soup.Not because soup is magic, but because mercy makes the love of Christ tangible.In this video, I talk about the works of mercy as mysticism, spiritual warfare, and a way of making our faith become flesh.This idea comes from Issue IV of The Margins: God in the Gutters.Learn more / subscribe: www.stanthonystongue.com/margins

What’s the difference between meditation and contemplation—and why do Catholics so often confuse them?

In this episode of Mysticism, Word by Word, we unpack what the Church means by both, how meditation can open into contemplation, and why dry prayer is still fruitful.

In this week’s Mass Prep, we sit with Matthew 11:25–30 and explore the mysticism of being little, the meek and humble heart of Jesus, and what it really means when Christ says, “My yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

What do we do when we are misunderstood?

In this video, I talk about the ache of being misread, the temptation to become false, and the strange mercy of learning to be seen by God instead of constantly seeking the approval of every room.

The Gospel does not promise that everyone will understand your heart.

It promises that God already does.

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A new series exploring Catholic mysticism through the words and phrases that show up again and again in the mystical tradition: union with God, the dark night, meditation, contemplation, the wound of love, and more.

But before we can talk about any of those, we have to start with the most obvious and maybe most misunderstood word of all:

Mysticism.

In this episode, we talk about what Catholic mysticism is, what it is not, why it is not just spiritual fireworks, and how...

In this Mass Prep for Matthew 10:37–42, we reflect on what it means to put Christ first, take up the cross, and trust that even the smallest hidden act of love is seen by God.

Jesus is not calling us to love less, but to love in the right order. He is not asking for empty suffering, but for the cross that leads to freedom. And He reminds us that even a cup of cold water given in love will not be forgotten.

Grab a copy here: stanthonystongue.com/margins

In this episode, I walk through Issue III of The Margins, my Catholic zine on the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

This issue is about the Heart against the machine: Christ’s burning love against cold religion, mechanical faith, spiritual numbness, and bloodless Catholicism.

We also talk about Emmaus, Christ’s wounds, adoration, Scripture, saints, mystical heartache, and why the Sacred Heart is not just something to admire, but something we are called to imitate.

Physical copies are available now:

stanthonystongue.com/margins

Support my Patreon!

Buy a Zine!

How do you know if something is from God, your own mind, or even the devil? In this episode, we talk about spiritual discernment through the wisdom of St. Ignatius of Loyola, especially when it comes to dreams, consolations, inner words, coincidences, and strange little moments in prayer.

Catholic discernment is not about overthinking every grace or becoming spiritually paranoid. It is about receiving what leads us toward God, testing the fruit, and staying rooted in Christ, the sacraments, and the wisdom of the Church.

...

In this Mass Prep, we sit with Jesus’ words: “Fear no one.”

Matthew 10 reminds us that Christian courage does not come from pretending life is easy, but from remembering that the Father sees us, knows us, and holds us. Not even a sparrow falls without His care — and we are worth more than many sparrows.

A simple reflection on fear, courage, trust, and acknowledging Christ before the world.

Ordinary Time is not filler.

In this episode, we explore the mysticism of Ordinary Time and why this long green season of the Church year teaches us how to live the mysteries of Christ in everyday life. After Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost, Ordinary Time asks: now what does it mean to follow Jesus?

We’ll look at Matthew 9:36, the moved Heart of Christ, discipleship, the hidden Kingdom of God, the mission of mercy, and how Catholic mysticism is found not only in ecstasies and visions, but in ordinary life, daily prayer, mercy, work, fa...

Support the channel on Patreon: patreon.com/anthonystongue
Get The Margins Catholic zine: stanthonystongue.com/margins

Why did Catholics become so obsessed with the Heart of Jesus?

In this episode, we explore the forgotten mysticism of the Sacred Heart—from St. Augustine and the restless heart, to medieval devotion to Christ's wounds, to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and the Sacred Heart revelations. Along the way, we'll look at how the Sacred Heart challenges a cold, purely intellectual faith and calls us into a deeper life of love, mercy, and transformation.

The Sacred He...