See how he himself provides you with a way of singing. Do not search for words, as if you could find a lyric which would give God pleasure. Sing to him “with songs of joy.” This is singing well to God, just singing with songs of joy. (Saint Augustine)
Year: 2023
Christ the King
An Irish bull is a statement that is, strictly speaking, illogical and yet whose meaning is somehow clear. Yogi Berra, a baseball player of another generation, was famous for them, as when he said, “No one goes there anymore; it’s too crowded” and “Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours”[…]
Indeed the blessed Mary certainly did the Father’s will, and so it was for her a greater thing to have been Christ’s disciple than to have been his mother, and she was more blessed in her discipleship than in her motherhood. Hers was the happiness of first bearing in her womb him whom she would[…]
The Presentation of Mary
November 21st is normally the feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary at the temple (this year superseded by Christ the King, but a few thoughts may well be in order). This feast has its origins in the Eastern Church, introduced by Emperor Justinian himself, who erected a magnificent Church dedicated to Mary within[…]
Math and the Modern World
Many students – well, let’s broaden the genus, and say many former students, with haunted memories of vague equations and sine-curves and integrals – claim to ‘hate math’, that they were ‘never good at it’, and they’re just not a ‘math person’. Au contraire. Like music, anyone can, at some level, do math – it[…]
Hilary Hahn Plays Tschaikovsky
This is a tour de force, of one woman, her violin – Hilary Han is one of the modern greats – and an impressive orchestra and conductor – oh, and a genius composer, whatever his moral failings. The violin concerto in D major was composed in 1878, on the shores of Lake Geneva, as Tschaikovsky[…]
Let us bear our cross and leave it to God to determine the length and the weight – St. Rose Philippine Duchesne
Blessed Karolina and Anna, Martyrs for Chastity
Today, particularly in Poland, we recall the virgin-martyr, called the ‘Polish Maria Goretti’, Karolina Kózka, killed during the First World War, defending her chastity against a Russian soldier. Providential that she shares the same last name as another Polish saint, Stanislaus Kostka, of whom we wrote a few days ago. John Grondelski has a moving[…]
Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne
November 18th is also the optional memorial of Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne (1769 – 1852), a native of France, but who spent much of her life as a missionary in the American midwest, back when it was wild and wooly territory. She was from a noble family, whose fortunes somehow survived the persecutions of the[…]
Noah’s Ark as Spaceship
Noah (2014) Directed by Darren Aronofsky Written by Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel Has there ever been a successful adaptation of an episode from the Bible in a film? Probably not, and for a good reason. The artistic genius of the ancient Jews was primarily literary, not in painting, sculpture or architecture. Hence the scenes described in[…]