The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Love; It signifies Love, It produces love. The Eucharist is the consummation of the whole spiritual life. (Saint Thomas Aquinas, +1274)
Year: 2024
Bees from Beelzebub
Beelzebub, mentioned in 2 Kings, was a prince of demons worshiped by the Philistines, whose most famous warrior was Goliath killed in battle with a slingshot to the head by the Jewish boy David. The Philistines probably occupied an area of modern Palestine. In 1714 the Dutch writer Bernard Mandeville (1670-1733) published in English his[…]
Warsaw Bans the Cross
The secularization of Poland continues apace: The mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, has now banned any public display of crosses (and any other ‘religious symbol’), including on one’s own desk at work. The Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, has called for such a ban nation-wide. I went on pilgrimage to Poland back in 2015 with my[…]
On Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Walsingham
(On this feast of the Visitation, it is fitting that we post this reflection from contributor Rebecca Jacobson on a pilgrimage she took to the primary Marian shrine in England, Our Lady of Walsingham. Wherever you live, make some sort of devotion – even if it cannot be a full pilgrimage! – to the blessed[…]
Every man gives his life for what he believes. Every woman gives her life for what she believes. Sometimes people believe in little or nothing, nevertheless they give up their lives to that little or nothing. One life is all we have, and we live it as we believe in living it, and then it’s[…]
Cocaine-Caloried-Coca-Cola
On this 29th of May in 1886, John Pemberton, a pharmacist, placed the first advertisement for a new drink he had invented, in the Atlanta Journal. Originally called Pemberton French Wine Coca, he took out the alcohol – due to temperance restrictions back then in force – but kept in a smidgen of cocaine, as[…]
G.K. Chesterton as Catholic Apologist
G.K. Chesterton is known as the most often quoted of any writer . . . and the least often read. It’s easy to see why that is so; merely consider these clever statements: A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.[1] It is terrible to contemplate[…]
“I say that a man must be certain of his morality for the simple reason that he has to suffer for it.” Illustrated London News, Aug. 4, 1906
Gilbert Keith Chesterton
(Today, May 29th, marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of G.K. Chesterton in 1936, and here is an endearing excerpt from his biographer, Maisie Ward): It may be remembered that Miss Dunham noted how Gilbert used to make a mysterious sign in the air as he lit his cigar. That sign, says Dorothy (Collins,[…]
Saint Bernard of Montjoux, or Menthon
The iconic Saint Bernard dogs take their name from today’s saint, Saint Bernard of Menthon – also known as of Montjoux – an 11th century Burgundian priest from a noble family, who was born in about 1020, and died in 1081. He evangelized the then largely pagan regions of Aosta and Lombardy, with numerous conversions[…]