A Single-Minded Saint

By |2024-03-18T05:26:27-05:00March 17th, 2024|Categories: Catholicism, Christianity, Saint Patrick, Sainthood, Uncategorized|

Let us imitate St. Patrick’s single-minded love for Christ, which was made possible through his humility. By being humble like children, we can hope to one day be great in the kingdom of God, with Patrick and all the saints. Few people want to be described as “narrow-minded.” Narrow-minded people, neglecting key information, can miss [...]

The Catholic Literary Revival

By |2024-03-16T20:38:00-05:00March 16th, 2024|Categories: Books, Catholicism, Christianity, Literature|

Catholic literature, when we discover it coming into being in the mid-nineteenth century, is a literature of protest against the course being followed by European society. Its writers were not very numerous, nor did the typical Victorian man see any particular significance in their opposition to Liberalism, the anti-intellectual Romantic aesthetic, scientific naturalism, and the [...]

Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus

By |2024-03-17T08:59:03-05:00March 16th, 2024|Categories: Christianity, Culture, History, Religion, Saint Patrick, Theology, Timeless Essays|

With my own hand I have written and put together these words to be given and handed on and sent to the soldiers of Coroticus. I cannot say that they are my fellow-citizens, nor fellow-citizens of the saints of Rome, but fellow-citizens of demons, because of their evil works. They are blood-stained: blood-stained with the [...]

Tomie and the Saints

By |2024-03-15T16:35:32-05:00March 15th, 2024|Categories: Art, Beauty, Books, Catholicism, Christianity, David Deavel, Sainthood, Senior Contributors|

Tomie DePaola may not have been a saint himself, but he recognized them, venerated the love of God in their lives, and drew them in such a way that we can see that love shining through his friendly folk art icons. Through the Year with Tomie DePaola, text by Catherine Harmon and John Herreid, illustrations [...]

Jane Austen, C.S. Lewis, Laughter, & Lent

By |2024-03-11T21:37:40-05:00March 11th, 2024|Categories: C.S. Lewis, Christianity, Dwight Longenecker, Jane Austen, Lent, Literature, Senior Contributors, Timeless Essays|

C.S. Lewis' obscure essay, ‘A Note on Jane Austen,’ shows that it is Austen’s humor and humility that captures Lewis’ fancy and that directs us to a Lenten lesson. In his rule Saint Benedict advises that each monk should have a holy book to read during Lent. When searching for a holy book, we are [...]

Depicting the Whole Christ: Von Balthasar & Sacred Architecture

By |2024-03-10T14:44:45-05:00March 10th, 2024|Categories: Architecture, Beauty, Catholicism, Christianity, Communio, Culture, Featured, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Timeless Essays|

Architecture, just like sacred music or art, must fulfill its highest calling, aiding the participant in seeing the glory of God. An architecture that is ordered to fulfill only its human, or even liturgical use, fails its higher purpose. The theological work of twentieth-century theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar has only recently begun to take [...]

Christopher Dawson’s “Beyond Politics”

By |2024-03-10T18:20:24-05:00March 9th, 2024|Categories: Books, Christianity, Christopher Dawson, History|

“Old books” speak to the times, often in more profound ways than “new books.” Christopher Dawson's "Beyond Politics" is just such a book. It diagnosed in 1939 the cultural situation in which the book appeared, and its diagnosis is apropos to the cultural situation today. Here’s the front story followed by the more important back [...]

Beauty, Nature, & the Quest for Meaning in Sigrid Undset’s “The Wild Orchid”

By |2024-03-09T15:42:51-06:00March 8th, 2024|Categories: Beauty, Books, Christianity, Nature|

Sigrid Undset understood how experiences of joy alongside unfulfilled longings can break the spell of modernity and open a window into the spiritual life. "The Wild Orchid" explores the possibility of spiritual awakening in society that has grown bored with the Christian faith and is seeking new ways to re-enchant the natural world. In Sigrid [...]

Pharaohs Who Know Not Jesus

By |2024-03-08T18:59:32-06:00March 8th, 2024|Categories: Christendom, Christian Living, Christianity, Gospel Reflection, Lent, Timeless Essays|

As fallen human beings, we live with the threat of sin and temptation, and we can easily choose to follow these rather than Christ. Sins become the “pharaohs” in our lives—those thoughts, words, deeds, and omissions that are foreign to a life in Christ. Like the Pharaoh who knew not Joseph, these sins know not [...]

Liberals and the Libel of “Christian Nationalism”

By |2024-03-07T18:56:33-06:00March 7th, 2024|Categories: American Republic, Christianity, Civil Society, Civilization, Liberalism|

Christ gave His disciples the Divine Commission to go and teach all nations, baptizing them. Christians are called to change society—all society, every society. They pursue this goal with charity and zeal, respecting the free will of individuals. Wherever Christianity has gone, its charity has transformed nations and peoples. Whenever the extreme left is in [...]

Lent, Laughter, and the Joyful Soul

By |2024-03-06T20:37:21-06:00March 6th, 2024|Categories: Catholicism, Dwight Longenecker, Lent, Timeless Essays|

In this world darkened by the gloom of the seriously self-righteous, what is needed more than ever is the rumbustious, rollicking good humor of men and women who have seen the eternal perspective and have therefore put this world in its proper place. Before his sudden fall from the limelight last week, an interestingly entertaining [...]

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