One hundred seventy years ago, on October 17, 1849, the Polish French composer and pianist who renewed the sound of the Romantic piano died: Frederic Chopin (1810–1849). His superhuman, sad, and passionate art is well summarized in the following words, beautiful and moving, which the Venerable Pope Pius XII addressed to a large group of…
The news of the supreme glorification, on October 13, of Saint John Henry Newman (1801–1890) reawakens interest in this British cardinal, theologian and apologist. Beatified by Benedict XVI on September 19, 2010 in Great Britain, he was born in London to an Anglican family. For 20 years, he was minister of the Anglican Communion at…
“Dad, guess what!” My eight-year-old son Joseph came home from a recent weekend stay with his grandparents. It was his first weekend spent away from his parents, and evidently, he had some exciting news. “Oh boy,” I thought, “what crazy codswallop did my dad teach him now?” “They sang ‘Companions on the Journey‘ at Grandpa’s…
Although active participation may have dissipated as a liturgical rallying call, it remains an unusually revealing and concise way to track how the Church has evolved over recent decades. This was a new concept in regards to liturgy, and its importance is paramount, as it is a frequently cited justification for the 20th-century liturgical reforms.…
“Vivaldi’s violins” — 12 of them, together with one viola, two cellos, and two double basses — left Venice for Cremona, to be studied, preserved, restored, and enhanced. The rare and precious collection is located in Venice’s ancient Ospedale della Pietà (today the Children’s Provincial Institute “Santa Maria della Pietà”), which has been the fulcrum…
Today on Twitter, I saw a diamond in the rough. A fellow Catholic by the name of Jacob Bauer posted the following image, with the caption: “I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of Thy house, and the place where Thy glory dwelleth.” As I looked at the image, I found it nearly perfect. By…
On October 4, 350 years will have passed since the death of the Dutch Baroque painter and printmaker who loved light, darkness, and mystery: Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669). The musical side of Rembrandt — his baptismal name and his signature — can be glamorous. In some of his paintings, he portrays himself as a singer,…
In my last article at OnePeterFive, I analyzed “The Dark Symbolism of California’s Christ Cathedral.” In the intervening weeks, only one response has been attempted from the other side. I use the word “attempted” deliberately, because it was not a refutation, but a repetition of the same three principles that have served as the progressive…
There was a time before my own married and family life that a friend of mine slyly described this vocation as “a beautiful bed of roses … only that somebody forgot to de-thorn the roses.” I am told that much like married and family life, clerical life also frequently gives a dose of prickling reality…
July 17, 2019 saw the dedication of the new “Christ Cathedral” of the Diocese of Orange, California. An originally Protestant work of high modernist architecture repurposed on a staggering budget, the cathedral has understandably been the subject of animated discussion among its ardent proponents (such as Rev. Msgr. Arthur A. Holquin, who offers a guide…
Viganò vs. the Vatican: The Uncensored Testimony of the Italian Journalist Who Helped Break the Story Marco Tosatti Sophia Institute Press 144 pages $14.95 paperback, $9.95 e-book August 26 marks the one-year anniversary of the explosive publication of the testimony of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò. It is a good moment to take stock of all…
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