As shocking as it might seem to those who knew Russell Kirk as a bad (in terms of practice) Catholic, he deserves sainthood. Here is my case for Saint Russell of Mecosta… When I first started reading the works of Russell Amos Augustine Kirk in the fall of 1989, that most joyously fateful of [...]
Wind from Heaven reminds us of the power of literature to renew the imagination, purify the language of the tribe, and inspire the noble pursuit of truth, beauty, and goodness… Wind from Heaven-John Paul II—The Poet Who Became Pope by Monika Jablonska (202 pages, Angelico Press, 2017) As we planned the construction of the new [...]
Our civilization needs zealous and dedicated young men and women to convert the barbarians. However, because the barbaric culture is pervasive, we are all barbarians now to a certain extent, and thus, we must first civilize our own souls… Nowadays the devil has made such a mess of everything in the system of life [...]
What are the historical roots of Halloween? Should Christians celebrate this holiday? And if so, how?… Not that the Mass of the day has mention of black cats, or the Divine Office of witches, but for so long Halloween meant nothing but parties and vandalism that when someone first proposed that it came out [...]
Augustine passed on to us, and all posterity, prescient words of wisdom: that even in the most disconcerting and dark of times, beauty, compassion, truth, love, and happiness abound… When the Visigoths sacked Rome in 410, the city that had taken the world captive had fallen into captivity. The event was a transformative moment [...]
By viewing Cervantes’ Don Quixote as a type of saintly hagiography, and Quixote’s actions and motives as following the example of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Don Quixote turns into San Quixote, a knight who fights not on the plains of Spain but on a spiritual plane, by means of his illuminating imagination… Gallivanting through the [...]
We choose our relationship with Death, much the way we choose our relationship with Life; is it going to be about taking or giving, fear or love?… Recently, late at night, I passed out twice. The first time, I wondered why my eye was suddenly in sharp contact with the edge of the bathroom [...]
The labors of Saint Patrick are among the greatest of those who have traveled far and wide for the discipleship of Christ. Although it is undoubtedly true that each and every one of the Church’s saints display a faith and virtue which is for all the ages of the world, I would especially believe [...]
Evelyn Waugh’s Helena is a saint for modern times—not an otherworldly ascetic or a heroic martyr, but a woman who “discovered what it was God had chosen for her to do and did it”… This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966), Catholic convert and novelist. I had never [...]
Modern England is so secular in her orientation and so narcissistic in her hedonism that she treats her own heritage with scornful and supercilious neglect. This was made painfully clear to me this January when I returned to my native land to film a documentary on the great Catholic poet, Francis Thompson. Described by [...]
Today’s offering in our Timeless Essay series affords readers the opportunity to join Dwight Longenecker as he explains the importance of applying St. Benedict’s Rule to the business world. —W. Winston Elliott III, Publisher It seems a far cry from a sixth-century hermitage to the world of twenty-first century business. But the outlines of [...]
It was utterly ludicrous, stepping out of a chauffeured White House limousine to go hear Mother Teresa. Even then I recognized that, as a twenty-something working at the locus of political power. Her simple sari and sandals were incongruous among the tailored suits and silk ties of the people who styled themselves as Masters [...]
I was an Anglican curate when I saw the sun spin. It happened like this. One of the teenagers in the parish had been to Medjugorje and suddenly got keen on the Blessed Virgin Mary. He joined a Medjugorje prayer group and twisted my arm to go with them on a visit to the [...]
In the fifth century B.C., Athens and her allies were at war with Sparta and her allies in the Peloponnesian War, made famous by the great historian Thucydides. In the first part of the war, Pericles, son of Xanthippus, was the leader of Athens; by all accounts, he was an able leader, not least [...]