Each of us belongs to two States—a terrestrial State whose end is the common temporal good, and the universal State of the Church whose end is eternal life. The Primacy of the Spiritual, by Jacques Maritain (Cluny Media, 254 pages) 1. Nothing is more important for the freedom of souls and the good of mankind [...]
It’s not often that one experiences the exhilarating shock and overwhelming satisfaction of discovering a new classic. When one does, it is only right that such satisfaction and exhilaration should be shared with others. It is, therefore, without the least hesitation that I recommend Michael Kent's "The Mass of Brother Michel." The Mass of Brother [...]
As I read Matthew Crawford's "Why We Drive," I was struck by the book, not so much as an ode to awesome driving— which it is—but as a long observation of two modes of being in the world, two political stances that I have increasingly come to identify as Liberalism and Catholicism. Why We Drive: [...]
If spiritual poverty is not to sink on the one hand into resentment or nihilism, on the other into a greedy enjoyment—and in either event into despair—two enormous and closely connected truths must dominate it: first, that God transcends the world, and second, that happiness is not to be found on earth. Poverty, by Pie-Raymond [...]
There is something immoderate about Sibelius’ Violin Concerto—something vulnerable and unspeakably beautiful, right there along something dark and brooding. The piece illustrates that not only do darkness and beauty coexist, they enhance each other. It’s complex, gripping, devilishly complicated, and sounds like no other concerto in the violin repertoire. Listening to Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’ violin concerto, [...]
The reinforcement of the moral precepts of the Law made Jesus many friends, especially among the simple, God-fearing people. But it also made Him many and perhaps more enemies amongst those who, like the Pharisee of the parable, thought themselves God-fearing people. The Book of the Saviour, Volume Two: The Proclamation of the Kingdom, assembled [...]
The doctrine of the Precious Blood means this, for Catholic and for Protestant alike—it means that you and I had something done for us which we could never have done for ourselves. Deny that doctrine, obscure that doctrine, and you have fatally altered the whole content of the Christian message. He has proved his love [...]
In William of Tocco’s biography of Thomas Aquinas, I was presented with the sketch of a man who was totally consumed by love of divine things. It became obvious to me that the most important title Thomas ever received was not Master of Theology, not Conventual Lector, but Saint. The Life of St. Thomas Aquinas by William [...]
God inspires, authorizes, demands our love; love of what sort? The Layman and His Conscience, by Ronald Knox (Cluny Media, 206 pages) Shall we venture to make a meditation on the love of God? Such a vital subject, for where should we be, if God didn’t love us? And what use are we, if we [...]
The Enlightenment may well be the end of an old story rather than the beginning of a new one. The philosophy of insatiable appetites changed the Christian-Aristotelian moral order into the modern world, but now that the change is just about complete, what purpose does its catalyst serve? Power, Pleasure, and Profit: Insatiable Appetites From [...]
No work of Christian theology has left such an impact on the world and biblical interpretation and understanding as St. Augustine’s “City of God.” We who read the Bible do so, often unknowingly, through the eyes of the bishop of Hippo. In 410 A.D., the city of Rome was sacked by the Visigoths. Rome was [...]
We cannot run away from human life because we are human, and yet, precisely in attempting to run away from human life we cease to be human, we become cowards. The martyrs were much more careful of the supreme act of fortitude. They were the supremely brave men of our race; they continue to be [...]
There are few twentieth-century intellectual figures to whom one might apply the adjective “essential.” One of the earliest is Paul Elmer More, perhaps the last century’s greatest Christian apologist. The final appeal of the humanist is not to any historical convention but to intuition. —Irving Babbitt, “Humanism: An Essay at Definition” in Norman Forester, Humanism [...]
Our Blessed Mother’s appearances and message at Tepeyac show God’s love and mercy as much to us today as she did almost 500 years ago. It is a loving appearance and message for which we all hunger and which can draw us all to the fount of life and grace in our Lord Jesus Christ. [...]