Little by little he came to recognize the difference between the spirits that agitated him, one from the enemy and one from God. (Saint Ignatius of Loyola, +1556)
Month: July 2020
The Indianapolis and the Jaws of Death
In the early morning hours of July 30th, 1945 – fifteen minutes after midnight, to be precise – in the last days of the World War, an American aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Indianapolis, was struck by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine. Germany had already having surrendered the previous April, but the Asian theatre of[…]
Constance and the Vatican
The historian Roberto Mattei penned an article recently for LifeSiteNews, in which he argues that if sections of the ecumenical Council of Constance (1414-15) could be declared null and void –then so could the Second Vatican Council, “in part or en bloc”, in his own words. We should be clear that the two councils are[…]
Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world (Saint Martha, Jn 11:27)
Martha and Mary: The Good Part
Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her (Lk. 10: 42). ⧾ In Christian tradition Martha and Mary have been seen as a personification of the active and contemplative life. In truth, both aspects are necessary in the life of every Christian; work and prayer. We need to pray,[…]
Banting and Best’s Better Choice
Before we leave this July 27th in the rearview mirror, a brief note to commemorate the discovery of insulin on this day in 1921 by Dr. Frederick Banting, John James Macleod, Charles Best and and James Collip. I mention this largely since this has a personal dimension for me, with relatives suffering from the disease.[…]
Old Thunder: A Retrospective on Hilaire Belloc
(The following piece, if memory serves, was submitted and published by Carl Sundell a year or two ago, but I can find no record of it in our search engine. So here it is, a delightful and informative meditation on the great Hilaire Belloc, on the sesquicentennial of his birth on this day, in 1870).[…]
This and That
Hilaire Belloc was born on this day, July 27th, 1870, 150 years ago, making this his sesquicentennial birthday, which we hope is a bit more joyful for the reader than Canada’s own damp squib of a commemoration of that anniversary in 2017, led by the dull, bland, politically correct Trudeau. On the other end of[…]
The Church is a perpetually defeated thing that always outlives her conquerors (Hilaire Belloc, who was born on this day 150 years ago)
Blessed and Blessed
GREEK HAS A WORD FOR IT. That’s an expression that recognizes that there are subtle distinctions available in Greek that English lacks. For instance, Greek has two words for “blessed.” But in English we are forced to give the single word two senses. “Blessed” can mean “fortunate,” “by a lucky coincidence,” “serendipitous,” as when we[…]