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Italy and the Italians have long had a well-deserved reputation for crafting goods of superior quality, from clothing and food to cultural artifacts such as painting and sculpture. The United States has never attained a similar status, instead being known for technological and mass-market innovations. In short, Italy leads in quality and the U.S. in…
What is interesting about the recent statement in the San Diego diocese banning homeschoolers from using parish facilities is that it opens with, “parents are the first teachers of their children,” yet it concludes with, “homeschooling is not inherently a ministry of the parish.” If parents are the first teachers of their children, shouldn’t that…
My favorite character in the Lord of the Rings has always been Boromir (although sometimes Samwise vies for the crown). I consider the fall of Boromir as perhaps the most emotional and gripping scene in the entire trilogy. Boromir represents the race of men, both in the book and in real life. He is strong…
We unshakably believe and profess what the ordinary and universal Magisterium of the Church has continuously and infallibly taught since the time of the Apostles, namely, We furthermore hold that Divine Revelation, faithfully transmitted by the Church’s perennial Magisterium, forbids affirming We hold, therefore, that Christians are not simply “travelling companions” along with… Source Read…
Above: St. Jerome Writing by Caravaggio (1605-6). Nothing is normal about this story. An academic goes from secular living to becoming radicalized by spending time in the catacombs of dead Christians, packs up his dearest possessions and heads out to the desert. He ends up settling in a 16×10 foot cave where he spends the…
At the beginning of his autobiography, Witness, which tells of his intellectual, spiritual, and political passage into communism and then out of it, as by a hair’s breadth escape from Hell, Whittaker Chambers addresses his children directly, trusting that someday they will read about their father and understand him, even if he is gone. He…
At the end of 1981, I thought that I had been sacked by the general of the Dominicans Sisters, whose Retreat Center at Chingford, in London, I had run for twelve years. But, two years later, I discovered that I had, in fact, been sacked by God. While I had been encouraging the sisters with…
We are at war. No one can be neutral without imperiling his soul. All around us combat is waged upon us by the Enemy of the soul, the Devil and the fallen angels. When at the end of a human life, that person winds up on the wrong side of God’s saving friendship, an unheard…
Perhaps the first and most obvious thing to be said about St. Augustine, the span of whose life was close to eighty years—from A.D. 354 to 430—is that he was one of only a handful of truly foundational figures of the Christian West. Not only does he stand in the company of men like Benedict,…
For Catholic medical professionals, the annual conference of the Catholic Medical Association provides much needed educational and spiritual sustenance. This year’s event, which was recently held in Orlando, was no exception. On my drive home, I reflected on the blessing of this much-anticipated autumnal event, which offers Catholic medical professionals an energizing blend of medical…
