If the Good, the True and the Beautiful, as a reflection of the Trinity, are the end to which we strive they are also, through their manifestation in love, reason and creativity, the means by which the end is achieved. Love is the path to goodness; reason is the path to truth; and creativity is [...]
Whereas Shakespeare’s virtuously iconic heroines are saints in the making, fighting the good fight for the Church Militant in the hope of heaven, Dante’s holy women have already won the fight and are in the eternal Presence of God in the Church Triumphant. They are not saints in the making but saints who have been [...]
There is a supernatural dimension to the unfolding of events in Middle-earth, in which Tolkien shows the mystical balance that exists between the promptings of grace or of demonic temptation and the response of the will to such promptings and temptations. This mystical relationship plays itself out in the form of transcendent Providence, which is [...]
In giving us Portia, Shakespeare has given us a holy woman who is the match for any of his male characters in terms of virtue, intelligence, wit and wisdom. He also shows us in his characterization of women their true dignity as human persons, as prone to weakness and wickedness as men but equally called [...]
As with many other charges brought against him, the claim that Shakespeare was somehow prejudiced against women is quite frankly absurd. A quick look at the Bard’s portrayal of the feminine half of the species will suffice to clear his name. Here I will look at the weak and the wicked among Shakespeare's women. Shakespeare [...]
When most of us think of Shakespeare we don’t immediately connect him with the saints. We might think of the play Sir Thomas More, on which he collaborated with other contemporary playwrights and which was banned during his lifetime for its volatile pro-Catholic perspective. We might connect him with the positive portrayal of Edward the [...]
Some of my best and oldest friends are paintings. They have accompanied me down the years. They lift my heart every time I see them. I never tire of them. They always remain fresh and new, as long as I allow them to refresh and renew me whenever we meet. Here are some of them. [...]
When the power of technology is put at the service of the power of pride, there can only be one outcome. Indeed, for those with eyes to see, the writing is already on the wall. “The high tide!” King Alfred cried. “The high tide and the turn!” G. K. Chesterton (The Ballad of the White [...]
The more that we learn the language that beauty speaks, which is ultimately the language of the Logos, the more will our subjective preferences converge into the objective presence of goodness, truth and beauty Himself. The claim that beauty is in the eye of the beholder is an expression of philosophical relativism. It confuses and [...]
How can the use of reason lead to so much wrong-headedness? The answer is that wrong-headedness is always connected to wrong-heartedness. It is pride, the absence of love, which poisons the intellectual faculties, thereby preventing reason from serving its purpose of pursuing objective truth. There is a world of difference between wisdom and cleverness. In [...]
Yes indeed. My dear friend and fellow imaginative conservative, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, is every inch a Dwight in shining armour. I was amused to discover, upon perusing the comments appended to my recent essay, “Dwight in Shining Armour”, that most readers had assumed that it would be about my friend and fellow contributor to the [...]
The TV series "Dwight in Shining Armor" needs to be seen to be believed. What is most delightful about the series is the freshness and innocence of the spirit which animates it. One imagines that the multifarious imaginary plots are akin to the sort of humorous adventure stories that would entertain real-life hobbits were we [...]
The whole point of "The Lord of the Rings" is that true heroism is inseparable from true humility, and that true humility is inseparable from true love. The spirit of Amazon’s "Rings of Power" is the very reverse of this. Heroism is inseparable from pride, and pride is inseparable from self-empowerment. What would happen if [...]
Insofar as the principle of subsidiarity enunciated by the late Queen Elizabeth represents a recognition of ancient wisdom and a “most neglected subject,” we can hope that the United Kingdom might move forward rooted in reinvigorated local government and local economies. This would indeed be a momentous move in the right direction. Any reference to [...]