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St. Anthony's Tongue

Rediscovering the beauty of Catholicism through mysticism, saints and folklore.

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Today · 11 min
Moved in the Guts: Why Christianity Should Make Us More Tender
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.
Tuesday · 25 min
Why Did Some Saints Glow?
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. --- 🕊️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.com/anthonystongue
September 4 · 7 min
Mass Prep | The Christ Between Us
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.
August 31 · 34 min
Against Silicon Valley Catholicism
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-valley-catholicism Issue V - Beware of Catholic Robots: https://www.stanthonystongue.com/margins/p/issue-v-beware-of-catholic-robots 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
August 28 · 18 min
Mass Prep | The Jesus We Try to Edit (Matthew 16:21–27)
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.
August 26 · 28 min
God Hunts You Like a Dog
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
August 21 · 10 min
[Early/Ad-Free] Mass Prep | WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM? (Matthew 16:13–20)
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.
August 17 · 32 min
Mysticism, Word by Word: THEOSIS — Becoming Like God
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.
August 14 · 30 min
Beware of Catholic Robots: The Catholic Tech Industry Has a Problem
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
August 12 · 34 min
Stigmata: Why Do Saints Bear the Wounds of Christ?
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 us something about God, holiness, and the human soul.
July 31 · 18 min
Mass Prep | Two Banquets, Two Kingdoms: Herod’s Feast vs. Jesus on the Grass
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 uncomfortable question of whether we sometimes look more like Herod at the banquet than Christ among the hungry. Every kingdom eventually sets a table. The question is what it eats.
July 29 · 25 min
I Wrote a Book on Strange Catholicism
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 faith, and what the strangest corners of Catholic tradition reveal about what every human person was created to become.
July 24 · 23 min
Mass Prep | Stop Shopping for God: The Pearl Cannot Be Mass-Produced
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.
July 22 · 29 min
The Dangerous Mysticism of Dorothy Day
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.
July 20 · 15 min
The "Mystical" Body of Christ? | Mysticism, Word by Word
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.
July 17 · 8 min
Mass Prep | The Mysticism of Weeds (Matthew 13)
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
July 14 · 26 min
From The Margins | God in the Gutter
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 capable of seeing. This episode also explores the themes behind Issue IV of The Margins: God in the Gutters, featuring Dorothy Day, Francis of Assisi, Josephine Bakhita, Damien of Molokai, Benedict Joseph Labre, John of God, and more.
July 10 · 12 min
[Mass Prep] The Reckless Sower
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.
July 9 · 24 min
The Devil Hates Soup: Works of Mercy as Spiritual Warfare
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
July 7 · 20 min
Meditation & Contemplation | Mysticism, Word by Word
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.

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