“If I forget thee, Jerusalem,” cries the Psalmist, “may my right hand forget its skill!” (Ps 137:5). “Men have forgotten God,” Solzhenitsyn observed of the Soviet regime; “that’s why all this has happened.” In his 1982 article “Ship of Fools,” P.J. O’Rourke described sailing up the River Volga with a group of Western journalists and…
“The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint.” –Leon Bloy (1846-1917) Suppose someone contended that saints are conformists. Would we not shrink from that assertion, thinking it an insult against all holy men and women? The poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, for example, once…
I’ve always been a Black Coffee Christian kinda guy. “Yeah, I’d like some of your Dark Age Dogmatism, please… extra-extra-large, a triple-shot of Christ the King… and hold off on that sugar and spice and everything nice nonsense—seriously, I’m allergic to Modernism!” And whether it’s the fruit of my family tree or the soil of…
What is being much discussed today, as is often the case in mid-to-late October in Catholic circles, is “What to do with Halloween?” I discussed this in an article last week. But there is so much more to say… This year, the Feast of Christ the King, designated by Pope Pius XI to be celebrated…
It is once again that time of year that the late Ray Bradbury famously dubbed “the October Country.” The waning of the year brings to more temperate regions the closure of harvest, the falling leaves, and the preparation for the succession of holidays that close and open each year in every country. Just as regularly…
Every year, as a teacher, when Halloween approaches, I have struggled to thoroughly answer the question, “What do you think of Halloween?” Every year, then, I would research the traditions and history of Halloween and get closer to providing a more complete answer. My wayward youth of enjoying Halloween for evil purposes, which was tied to…
And in the end of the sabbath, when it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalen and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre. And behold there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and coming, rolled back the stone, and sat upon…
Today is Holy Thursday, also known colloquially as “Maundy Thursday,” which begins the Easter Triduum. What does “Maundy” mean? It’s a derivative of the language used in the “new commandment” given by Christ as he washed the feet of the apostles at the Last Supper. “Maundy” comes from “Mandatum” in the expression, “Mandatum novum do…
Imagine you’re in a movie theater watching the latest blockbuster, thoroughly captivated by the plots and subplots, the beautiful faces and lush scenery as the movie progresses inexorably toward its climax. Your cell phone alerts you to an incoming call. (Of course, you silenced the ringer before the movie began.) Much as you hate the…
Author’s note: there are many legends and stories of St. Patrick. In an attempt to view the saint from a different perspective, I offer a reflection on one of the most significant events in the life of the “Apostle to the Irish” as a creative non-fiction short story. The following is based on actual accounts…
If you’re a Catholic, you’ve probably seen it: a mysterious series of letters and numbers, looking for all the world like an equation, inscribed in chalk over a doorway at your parish, or at the home of a friend. Maybe you thought you could figure it out. Maybe you were too embarrassed to ask, “What…
