As spring returns, the blossoms come back to life, mirroring the spiritual fruits of love, hope, and faith that grow from Jesus’ redemption. This is a truly sacred time of the year. And it brings with it a profound tranquility, repose, and promise of renewal such as the world cannot give. Trembling, Joy, and Wonder: [...]
Five years ago, when I was in Europe leading a pilgrimage tour to England with Joseph Pearce, I learned that the Shroud of Turin was to be on display for veneration in Turin. After the pilgrimage in England I made my way to Italy where I was joined by a friend. After a few days [...]
Love must not be, but take a body too Air and Angels —John Donne The primal metaphor has been transposed as sleep an affiance with death eludes for death defective is but sleep. Alludes to resurrection now: a dawning rosed […]
Let’s look at themes of resurrection in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," one of the greatest and most popular children’s stories ever written. Almost exactly a year ago, during last year’s Easter Octave, I wrote an essay focusing on themes of resurrection to be found in classic literature. Beginning with Tolkien’s invention of [...]
The mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection lends itself to, perhaps even demands, pictorial realization like no other story. To prove that the Easter spirit hasn’t left the silver screen, here are two more recent entries you may have missed. Movie-watching may not be as common a pastime at Easter as on other holidays, but [...]
"The Lord of the Rings" is not an allegorical story, nor should it be treated as such, but that does not mean that the story cannot be used to contemplate and plumb the depths of humanity and its relation to the divine. That J.R.R. Tolkien had a great dislike for his works being called “allegories” [...]
Just as Easter joy must animate the rigors of Lent, so too must the spirit of the desert and the Cross ground my celebration of Easter. To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour [...]
Many in our society consider religion merely an instrument of power, and they believe that the “correction” of inherited beliefs and practices can be forced upon the unwilling. But there’s an enormous difference between people who choose the real common good and people forced to submit to a state ideology. When I went into the [...]
George Herbert’s “Easter Wings” is a witty, surprising, and smart poem, which teaches a profound theological truth: Created with perfect blessings, it is man’s foolishness and fall that is to blame for his ending up poor and thin. I was college student afflicted with a serious case of Anglophilia when I discovered George Herbert and [...]
Hymns are a major source of our imaginative conception of the Christian faith. A good hymn focuses our mind on a memorable cluster of images that illuminate doctrine, preparing us to celebrate the liturgy or providing a respite during it. While the great hymn writers have often taken scripture as their starting point, they have not [...]
The Lord is Risen! He is risen indeed Alleluia! Heres is an extra ‘fifteenth’ sonnet for Easter Morning, which I dedicate to my friend Mary who asked me to write it, and to the memory of her husband Gavin. May he rest in peace and rise in glory. Later today I will publish another Easter [...]
Christ descended into hell to deliver His loved ones from their exile. He came to reward those who, from our first father, Adam, to His own foster-father, St. Joseph, had fought the good fight and had finished the race. The second reading from the Office of Readings for Holy Saturday is taken from an ancient homily on Christ’s [...]
The Stations of the Cross, which form the core of my book Sounding the Seasons, are intended to be read on Good Friday. We will read the 13th and 14th tomorrow on Holy Saturday and then on Easter Morning we will have the 15th’ resurrection’ station and also a new villanelle that I have written for [...]
During this Holy Week, perhaps we can pray that the uncanny pull so many feel toward the ever-after will lead to a deeper reflection on the paradises, earthly and heavenly, from which the fairy stories we enjoy get their point and purpose. One of my favorites passages in Dante’s Purgatorio is when Dante finally reaches [...]