The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint (Leon Bloy, +1917)
Month: October 2024
Blessed Terence O’Brien and Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez
This penultimate day in October – all hallowe’ed eve’s eve – is the memorial of the Irish bishop and martyr, Terence O’Brien (1601-1651), put to a brutal death on October 30th for his hand in resisting the siege of the notorious Oliver Cromwell, grand-nephew of Thomas Cromwell. Both Cromwells were bitterly anti-Catholic ideologues, who dispatched[…]
The Courageous Legacy of Blessed Rosario Livatino
October 29th is the liturgical memorial of Blessed Rosario Angelo Livatino who was assassinated by the Sicilian mafia group Stidda on September 21, 1990. His name has become naturally synonymous with the fight against the Mafia. In just 38 years of life, thanks to his incredible dedication for justice and truth, Blessed Rosario Angelo managed[…]
Untrammeled Immigration: A Reply to a Reader
A reader sent in the following comment: Your stated goal “endeavours to foster the *culture of life* by reporting truthfully, critically, contextually, and … guided by a *cultural vision inspired by Catholic doctrine*” yet you link to a Twitter item posted by the TRUMP WAR ROOM? American politics? Trump War Room? Culture of life? I[…]
Saint Joseph, Head of The Holy Family
(In light of today’s first reading from the fifth chapter of Ephesians, on the headship of the husband in the family, here are some thoughts from Joshua Filipetto on Saint Joseph as the head of the Holy Family) Ed. There was a statement which I came across a while ago in my reading on the[…]
The Surreality of Reality
Things are surreal, and getting more so by the minute – or so it goes. In the first minute or so of his interview with Elon Musk, Donald Trump describes the recent attempt to assassinate him as ‘surreal’ multiple times. It’s used to describe wars, and rumours of wars; the state of the Church, and[…]
To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless. (G.K. Chesterton, +1936)
Exogenesis: A Review
Exogenesis, by Peco Gaskovksi Ignatius Press, 2023 ISBN/UPC: 9781621646341 One of the most difficult things in writing a ‘fantasy’ – any story which is not based on this present world – is constructing a realistic and believable ‘other world’. In his famous essay on Fairy Tales, J.R.R. Tolkien calls this a ‘sub-creation’, at which he was[…]
Bill Gates on the Hot Seat
There’s more than a little schadenfreude in seeing Bill Gates put through his paces by this doughty interviewer. The commentator is right when he says, ‘she’ll never be invited back’. Gates storms off in a huff when the seat gets too hot for his tender behind, ‘this interview’s over’. But she’s done her duty. We[…]
It is the best of all trades, to make songs, and the second best to sing them. (Hilaire Belloc, +1953)