Sometimes, we get so used to war that we don’t remember what peace looks like. Sometimes, we fight so hard for every inch of ground we can’t quite remember home. This is why the question eats at me constantly: how can we find the energy to resist the enemy if we forget what we’re striving for, if we…
While the wicked are confounded, Doomed to flames of woe unbounded, Call me, with Thy saints surrounded. – from the Dies Irae, sequence of the Requiem Mass One of the most profound moments of religious experience in my life was the first time I attended a Requiem Mass. For those unfamiliar with the term, the Requiem is the…
Some months ago, Maestro Aurelio Porfiri approached me with the idea of authoring a statement in support of genuine sacred music, for the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Musicam Sacram. The statement would express in a clear and simple way our conviction of the continuing relevance of the great musical tradition of the Catholic…
Der Papst – Sendung und Auftrag (The Pope – Mission and Mandate) Cardinal Gerhard Müller Publisher Herder 608 pages € 29.99 Today, 20 February, the German publishing house, Herder Verlag (Freiburg), has released a new book written by Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. (Ignatius Press is already preparing an English…
Signs of the Holy One: Liturgy, Ritual, and Expression of the Sacred Fr. Uwe Michael Lang Ignatius Press, 2015 180 pages $9.99 Kindle; $19.95 Paperback In recent years Fr. Uwe Michael Lang’s talk on sacred art, music, and aesthetics has been one of the most effective such presentations available on the internet. Fr. Lang has since…
Die Botschaft der Hoffnung (The Message of Hope) Gerhard Ludwig Müller Publisher Herder 280 pages € 24.99 [Editor’s Note: We’ve had this review in the queue since October, but with all that is currently transpiring in Rome, it seemed appropriate to publish it now, insofar as it stands as a witness that Cardinal Müller, whose duty it…
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit and chat with a saint? Then I commend to you the new book, With God in America, featuring the writings of Servant of God Walter Ciszek, S.J....
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Catholicism John Zmirak Regnery Publishing, 2016 256 pages $13.45 Scurry out and buy two copies of John “Bad Catholic” Zmirak’s The Politically Incorrect Guide to Catholicism. Keep one for yourself, and give the other to your priest or clergyman (despite the title, this book is for all Christians). Be quick: get…
Puritan’s Empire Charles A. Coulombe Tumblar House 624 pages $35.95 Puritan’s Empire by Charles A. Coulombe is a unique tour de force of American history from a Catholic high traditionalist perspective, spanning the colonial period to the modern day. Although some sections are dry, the colorful and controversial personal analysis undergirding the volume’s rationale will keep the…
Fascism: The Career of a Concept Paul Gottfried Northern Illinois University Press, 2016 207 pages $45.00 A brief anecdote in the author’s introduction makes clear why tradition-conscious Catholics may find interesting this work by Jewish intellectual Paul Gottfried: As a young, impressionable person, I was told by a family friend that an opera singer whose…
Editor’s note: this is part two of a two-part essay. You can see part one here. Introduction After Norcia, my family visited Silverstream Priory in Stamullen, County Meath, Ireland, about a half hour’s drive from Dublin. Dedicated to Our Lady of the Cenacle, this new foundation represents a new haven and point of departure, steeped…
