It is the best of all trades, to make songs, and the second best to sing them. (Hilaire Belloc, +1953)
Year: 2024
Tallis, and Verily, Verily I Say Unto Thee
As we commemorated the other day the ‘Forty Martyrs of England and Wales’ – chosen amongst the countless host put to death for their Catholic Faith during the Protestant revolt – here is a symbolic motet by Thomas Tallis, ‘Verily, verily I say unto you’, which we are currently practising in our Schola. Tallis composed[…]
The Vanishing Ladder
The following thoughts were assembled as an aid for reflection and dialogue with the prisoners involved in the Catholic RCIA program at the Preston Smith State Prison near Lamesa, Texas. Prison is a place where men and women have time and opportunity to reflect on their lives, on the mistakes they have made, on the[…]
The man who burns with the fire of divine love is a son of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and wherever he goes, he enkindles that flame; he desires and works with all his strength to inflame all men with the fire of God’s love. Nothing deters him: he rejoices in poverty; he labours strenuously;[…]
Mere Christianity: A Critical Analysis
The signature work of the most iconic Christian writer of the 20th century, C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity is a powerful weapon in the arsenal of any intentional apologist. Few who read it are not touched in some way through its compelling approach. Personally speaking, Lewis’ work is refreshing, an exercise in depth of thought,[…]
Canceling Columbus
Christopher Columbus was a Catholic explorer. Some misguided historians would have us believe the Catholic Church sent him and the missionaries who accompanied him to destroy pagan civilizations wherever he found them. The point is never stated exactly that way, but the evidence non-Catholic historians bring to bear on the discovery of America leaves no[…]
A Fateful Choice, Forty Six Years Ago
As we celebrate the memorial of Pope Saint John Paul II on October 22nd, we should also recall that it was on the 16th that he was elected Pope, and is now the forty-sixth anniversary of that fateful and providential election. We may remember his words spoken from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, Monday[…]
The Incredible Gift of Pope Saint John Paul II
On October 22nd, the liturgy offers us the liturgical feast of Saint John Paul II. This great Polish Pope was one with whom many of us grew up. We know him. How many times we saw him on television, as well as had the privilege and grace of visiting our country. Looking back at this[…]
Catholic education aims not only to communicate facts but also to transmit a coherent, comprehensive vision of life, in the conviction that the truths contained in that vision liberate students in the most profound meaning of human freedom. (Pope Saint John Paul II, +2005)
Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko and Putting God First
The feast of Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko, which is celebrated October 19th, drives home an important point: God comes first in our lives, and that our earthly lives can never be an absolute value within themselves, but only in God. His martyrdom, which took place on that fateful October 19th in 1984 at the hands of[…]