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 on [...]
The Bible does not speak of “happiness” as such, though it often speaks of “joy,” one of the signal characteristics which Jesus bequeathed to his disciples… In The Mind of the Maker, her brilliant book about theology and art, Dorothy L. Sayers discusses the differences between the biblical and modern attitudes toward life as revealed in [...]
Lo! I am come to autumn, When all the leaves are gold; Grey hairs and golden leaves cry out The year and I are old. […]
If we do not understand words, through the apprehension and comprehension of their definitions, we cannot even begin to understand the wonders and glories of the cosmos that the Word Himself has brought forth… It seems that Mark Malvasi, in his latest essay on these pages, seeks to continue what he calls our “gentlemanly epistemological [...]
The Secret Battle of Ideas about God asks five simple questions that cut to the heart of what it means to be human: Am I loved? Why do I hurt? Does my life have meaning? Why can’t we just get along? Is there any hope for the world? The Secret Battle of Ideas about God: Overcoming [...]
When by thy scorn, O murd’ress, I am dead And that thou think’st thee free From all solicitation from me, […]
George Washington, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton are regularly referenced as Founders who embraced deism. Yet to my knowledge no writer has ever produced a public or private letter, journal entry, or text showing that these men rejected orthodox Christianity or embraced deism. “[The] significance of the Enlightenment and Deism for the birth of the American republic, [...]
The desire to belong to something greater than one’s self is simply human, transcending time, place, and space. It’s as natural as our need to breathe. In this sense, Aristotle put it correctly when he noted that man is meant to live in community… When the polis of classical Greece collapsed brutally in the final [...]
Antonio Vivaldi's Beatus Vir, RV 597, is a setting of Psalm 111 of the Latin Vulgate. The title of the piece comes from the first words of the Psalm ("Blessed be the man"), and the ninth movement of the work sets the words, "In memoria aeterna erit iustus, ab auditione mala non timebit" ("The just [...]
The liberal conservative must be discerning. For he believes in freedom as well as in order. He believes in individualism as well as in community. He believes in the equality of all men as well as in hierarchy, natural aristocracy, and excellence… After the trip to Washington, DC, where I thrilled at seeing the U.S. [...]
Written in 1777, the Missa Sancti Hieronymi (Saint Jerome Mass) in C major is scored for soloists, wind orchestra, and mixed choir. It is also known as the "Oboe Mass" for the prominent use of that instrument in the opening Kyrie and the Credo. It is one of many Masses that Michael Haydn wrote in honor [...]
T.H. White’s The Once and Future King is far more than a tale for children. It is also one of the more humble and respectful modern literary interpretations of medieval culture, as well as a source of poignant reflections on subjects as diverse as political and social mores, love, and religious faith… One of the [...]
While the Reformation divided the Church, it must be said that it was brought on by her own inability and unwillingness to repent and turn to the Gospel. We can see some of the same trends today in our society and Church. As a conservative and a Catholic it is all too easy to look [...]
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 of [...]