The animating principle of medieval culture, insofar as it is distinct from Antiquity or Modernity, is the conviction that the ultimate and highest reality is found in the unseen realm—which means that the most fundamental and fruitful way to embrace the medieval spirit is to practice the Faith more like an ordinary Christian of the [...]
"The 'contact' between seen and unseen is not a secret formula but a person," says artist Martin Earle. "The ultimate justification for Christian art is that the infinite God has taken the initiative, revealing Himself in a finite form. This is the form we encounter sacramentally in the Mass, and it is the form sacred [...]
The purity of a soul adorned with virtues—this, then, is the deepest motivation behind the discipline, asceticism, and mortifications practiced by the saints of all ages. This purity, which signifies the imitation of the thrice-holy God, represents the very core of Saint Charles’s moral life. I am convinced that no one who is aware of [...]
Thomas Honegger Born in Zürich (Switzerland) in 1965, Dr. Thomas Honegger is a specialist in Medieval Germanic languages and a noted Tolkien scholar. After completing all levels of academic training at the University of Zürich, where in 1996 he earned his doctorate with a thesis entitled Animals in Medieval English Literature, he worked [...]
Today, threatened by the new barbarism and the new paganism, we would be wise to postpone speculative reasoning and look to Thomas Aquinas for his example of true reverence before the Holy Eucharist, concentration and recollection in prayer, perfect obedience, love of poverty, and passion for sacred music. The Story A few months before his [...]
Each of us needs to be living courageously in goodness, truth and beauty, remembering at all times that sanity and sanctity are ultimately synonymous. With respect to literature, we need to preserve and promote the legacy of Christendom, of Christian Civilization, by promoting the reading and teaching of the Great Books. Robert Lazu Kmita interviews [...]
Why would Christoph Schönborn—a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church and a theologian who specialized in Patristic studies—dedicate so many essays and conferences to a doctrine that appears to overlook the Christian faith? Theology in The New York Times In the context of the debates caused by the “Intelligent Design” movement, an important Catholic contribution [...]
Often placed, more or less justifiably, in the lineage of John Courtney Murray S.J. (1904–1967), Michael Novak (1933–2017) distinguished himself through systematic efforts in the direction of building a theology of economics. At the risk of making a statement that may seem too daring, I believe that Michael Novak’s work can be considered one of [...]
Ernest Hemingway's spiritual sensibilities were the foundation of everything he wrote. Indeed, despite his own weaknesses and flaws, his Catholic spirituality infused his writing. Robert Lazu Kmita: Dear Ms. Mary Claire Kendall, thank you for agreeing to engage in this dialogue. For our readers, I specify that it relates to your recently launched volume, shortly [...]
Although Pythagorean mathematics bears little resemblance to what we find in today’s textbooks, its foundation was laid by ancient lovers of wisdom. By rediscovering its original significance, mathematics might guide our minds not toward engineering aimed at mastering nature, but toward contemplation, preparing us for deeper contact with the realm of spirit and its magnificent, [...]
Cristina Neagu Cristina Neagu specializes in the literature and arts of the Renaissance. She has a doctorate from the University of Oxford. The fields in which most of her work has been conducted include Neo-Latin literature, rhetoric, art history and history of the book. From 2003 until 2023 she was Keeper of Special [...]
The Revelation of Sophia Born in Moscow on January 28, 1853, Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov—one of the most exotic Russian converts to Catholicism—was marked from childhood by a strange and controversial spiritual experience: the mystical vision of the divine Sophia. With a personal revelation of such magnitude at the core of his thinking, he became one [...]
During the last few centuries, while exploring the material world more deeply, many people have lost the way towards their own self, that inner sanctum where they can meet the Creator of both Man and of World. Thus the symbolic universe seems to have been forgotten, even though it is always there to be discovered. [...]
Moderns often believe they are great discoverers and inventors, yet they remain ignorant of the meaning and significance of the ancient intellectual monuments of Antiquity and the Middle Ages. This is a lesson upon which we can never meditate enough and a good argument in favor of seriously undertaking classical studies and ancient history. We [...]