Dear son, the first thing I admonish thee is that thou set thy heart to love God, for without that nothing else is of any worth. (King Saint Louis IX, +1274, in a letter to his son)
Day: August 25, 2025
Celebrating Our Baptismal Day
On this day, I was baptized in Saint Patrick’s church, in Dumbarton, Scotland, on the commemoration of King Saint Louis IX and Saint Joseph Calasanz, at least in the revised calendar. I recommend to Catholics to discover their baptismal day, and commemorate and celebrate it, for, in light of the ‘sacramental life’, that day is[…]
Saint Louis IX: A Most Christian King
St. Louis IX (1214-1270) has been considered by many to be the greatest king of medieval Christendom. As the quintessential Catholic monarch, he ruled over what contemporary popes called a “most Christian kingdom,”[1] a sacramental harmony in which the Catholic faith was the ordering and motivating principle for all levels of society. Louis was renowned[…]
On Chesterton and Children: Theology of Repetition
What am I doing here? Is this all there is to life? These questions occasionally surface as I sit at my desk, surrounded by beige walls, buzzing fluorescent lights, and the quiet hum of office routine. My cubicle isn’t bleak or terrible—it just feels… well, repetitive. Get up. Get dressed. Get the kids ready. Work.[…]
Saint Joseph Calasanz, a Radical Reformer
We would be remiss if we did not at least remark on this day on the great and sadly forgotten Saint Joseph Calasanz (+1648), a zealous priest, pastor, reformer and educator, who more or less set up what we now take for granted – universal basic education for all children, free of charge for the[…]