I don’t put a penny’s value on this life if only our Lord will give me a tiny corner in Paradise. (Saint Camillus de Lellis, +1614)
Month: July 2021
Cardinal Gibbons’ Cure for Atheism
James Cardinal Gibbons (1834-1921) was twenty one when Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, and died not long after World War I. He attended the first Vatican Council (1869-70) and supported the decision of Pope Pius IX to declare the doctrine of papal infallibility. His final elevation was to Archbishop of Baltimore. Among his several publications[…]
Like a Tree Cut Back: Memoir of A Lost Ireland
Like a Tree Cut Back By Michael McCarthy The Poetry Business, Sheffield, England smith-doorstop, 2021 Father Michael McCarthy’s memoir, Like a Tree Cut Back, takes its title from the motto of his alma mter, Carlow College, where he prepared and studied for the priesthood. Rescissa vegetior assurgit – ‘that which is cut back burgeons forth[…]
If a rhinoceros were to enter this restaurant now, there is no denying he would have great power here. But I should be the first to rise and assure him that he had no authority whatever. (G.K. Chesterton)
Flagrant Flowers, Variants and the Tragedy of A Suicide
Is anyone else not surprised? The United States Supreme Court – stacked with six purportedly conservative appointees – recently refused to hear the case of Baronnelle Stutzman, a Washington, D.C. florist who in turn refused to make a make a flower arrangement with a pro-homosexual-wedding message. This seems a classic free-speech issue that needs desperately[…]
There is nothing better to display the truth in an excellent light, than a clear and simple statement of facts. (Saint Benedict, Abbot, +547)
Saint Benedict, and Finding God in the Here and Now
July 11th is the day we normally celebrate the feast of St Benedict. Even if the day this year is taken by the Sunday, we might still gain much benefit from asking who was St Benedict? And why is he a very important figure within the history of Western Christianity? As the history of consecrated[…]
The Holy Mass Part I: A Reflection on the Traditional Mass
Fifteenth Sunday Per Annum (B) This Sunday’s reflection begins a series of meditations on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, with specific references to the Ancient Rite of the Mass in an effort to introduce[…]
Historical and Present Perspective
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it, said George Santanyana in a speech before the House of Commons in Britain, in 1948, following Cicero’s quip that to be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. The gist of either is the sub-text of Douglas Farrow’s insightful take on the[…]
Every piece of my flesh, every drop of my blood will tell you that I am Christian (Chi Zhuzi, Chinese martyr, after they had cut off his right arm and were preparing to flay him alive)