In "The Fall of the House of Usher," Edgar Allan Poe takes the Gothic setting, with all its machinery and décor, and the preposterous Gothic hero, and transforms them into the material of serious literary art. “Commentary on Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher,” from The House of Fiction, edited by Caroline Gordon and [...]
On the most profound level, "Perelandra" deals with the mystery of freedom itself. How can a person with free will choose the good in the presence of seductive evil? My recent essay, “C.S. Lewis Goes to Mars”, discussed the deep philosophical underpinnings of Lewis’ novel, Out of the Silent Planet, which was the first of [...]
Great men shouldn’t have sons. This moral axiom is dubious, at best. It’s understandable why some say it. It’s even more understandable why sons of great men occasionally say it. Great men too often make terrible fathers. Even if apples don’t fall far from trees, they are too often bruised by the branches. Auberon Waugh, [...]
Philip Lawler rightly observes that the core problem in the Catholic Church, and at the heart of American Christianity in general, is a loss of faith. In his novel "Ghost Runner," he takes us into the corridors of power both in diocese and D.C., reminding us how venality, vanity, corruption, immorality, and lack of faith [...]
Now we’ve always been a happiness oriented culture. “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” and so forth. Right? But it’s taken a particularly interesting turn: the topic of “meaning” and “meaning in life” is coming to the fore. People, more and more, are talking about not just sheer contentedness, but what it is for [...]
"Out of the Silent Planet" invites us to see the way that each of the three main characters grasps, or fails to grasp, the radical new perspectives offered by the encounter with alien species in a physically strange place and a metaphysically stranger “space”; ultimately, it invites us to judge the philosophies which inform or [...]
What exactly is culture but an embodied religion, a faith that is given flesh and blood and bone in a visible and public way? Might it be possible, therefore, to build a culture where it is easier for men to be virtuous? I am looking at a couple of random lines lifted from a bleak little [...]
Joel J. Miller is as much a movement as a man. Of everything his new book "The Idea Machine" has to offer, I most appreciate his argument that books not only reflect our humanity, but they also, in dialogue with one another, teach us to be more humane. Joel J. Miller, The Idea Machine: How [...]
6th January The Epiphany of Our Lord “…the star beckoned the three wise men out of their distant country and led them to recognise and adore the King of heaven and earth. The obedience of the star calls us to imitate its humble service: to be servants, as best we can, of the grace that [...]
5th January Eve of the Epiphany of Our Lord Twelfth Night and the drawing to a close of the twelve days of Christmas and the vigil of the Feast of the Epiphany! 12 Days of Christmas Carol: On the twelfth day of Christmas, my True Love gave to me twelve Drummers Drumming: The twelve points [...]
12 Days of Christmas Carol: On the tenth day of Christmas, my True Love gave to me ten Lords a-Leaping: The Ten Commandments. Poem: Hilaire Belloc - "Courtesy" Of Courtesy, it is much less Than Courage of Heart or Holiness, Yet in my Walks it seems to me That the Grace of God is in [...]
12 Days of Christmas Carol: On the ninth day of Christmas, my True Love gave to me nine Ladies Dancing: The nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal 5:22-23). Poem: Ruth Pitter - "The Bird on the Tree" The tree, and its haunting bird, Are the [...]
1st January Day 8 of the Octave of Christmas Christ the Lord is born today; today, the Saviour has appeared. Earth echoes songs of angel choirs, archangels’ joyful praise. Today on earth his friends exult. Glory to God in the highest, alleluia 12 Days of Christmas Carol: On the eighth day of Christmas, my True [...]
31st December Day 7 of the Octave of Christmas Christ the Lord is born today; today, the Saviour has appeared. Earth echoes songs of angel choirs, archangels’ joyful praise. Today on earth his friends exult. Glory to God in the highest, alleluia 12 Days of Christmas Carol: On the seventh day of Christmas, my True [...]