190 years ago today, on August 18, 1830, His Apostolic Majesty Franz Joseph (1830-1916), the penultimate emperor of Austria and king of Hungary, was born in Schönbrunn Castle near Vienna. He reigned for 68 years, from 1848 until the First World War. Going through a portrait gallery of the members of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine,…
Reclaiming Our Roman Catholic Birthright: The Genius and Timeliness of the Traditional Latin Mass Peter Kwasniewski Angelico Press 388 pages $30 Hardcover; $19.95 Paperback; $8.99 Kindle Dr. Peter Kwasniewski’s newest book, Reclaiming Our Roman Catholic Birthright: The Genius and Timeliness of the Traditional Latin Mass, contains his trademark liturgical commentary, but in addition, it also…
Seventy-five years ago, at 7:15 A.M., on August 2, 1945, the composer and conductor from Livorno, considered by many to be the founder of that opera style marked by a strong realism that was verismo in music, died in Rome after a long illness: Pietro Mascagni (1863–1945). In 1940, the fiftieth anniversary of his most…
On July 18, 410 years ago, 1610, occurred the death of Caravaggio, byname of Michelangelo Merisi (1571–1610), at the age of only 38. He died in Porto d’Ercole, Tuscany, while he was trying to return to Rome. Called the “cursed” painter in the nineteenth century, he was in love with reality as it is and…
The Wit and Wisdom of Father George Rutler Ed. Edward Short Sophia Institute Press 317 pages $15.99 paperback, $9.99 e-book The great virtue of Edward Short’s new book is that it makes Father George Rutler accessible in terms of both content and price. The book is titled The Wit and Wisdom of Father George Rutler.…
I have lately witnessed some of the strongest Catholics I know shaken deeply by the visage of a society driving headlong into unnecessary strife and madness, and I would be lying if I did not number myself among them. This has pushed many toward conversations about the so-called “Benedict Option” and what types of withdrawal…
On July 7, 1860, 160 years ago, in Kaliště, a village on the border with Moravia, then part of the Austrian Empire, was born to a family of Jewish merchants of German origins the composer and conductor with whom the symphony experienced triumph and crisis: Gustav Mahler (1860–1911). Jewish by birth and in 1897 baptized,…
Back in 1994, my inquiry into the claims of the Catholic Church took a decisive turn. I transitioned from reading books in the safety of my own home to visiting actual parishes and signing up for RCIA. At this point, I found myself bombarded with kitsch. I didn’t know enough about the Mass itself to…
At the top of a grassy hill in St. Louis, Missouri, a bronze apotheosis of the city’s patron sits erect on a giant steed, keeping watch over the city. Recently, this work of art, which has inspired St. Louisans for over a century, has come under scrutiny. All over the world, beautiful, priceless monuments are…
Decades ago, when I was just getting started in my legal career, I was a law clerk for a six-foot, four-inch, immensely imposing judge. Everyone called him “Your Honor.” I was a very junior law clerk, but even the most senior of his clerks, a man who had been with the judge for over a…
It’s one thing to take a saintly cultural icon like Mister Rogers and bring him down to earth. It’s quite another — and, apparently, the sign of a really daring and accomplished actor — to take a despised public figure and render her not only sympathetic, but fascinating. Among the cult favorite TV series that…
