Catholicism.org contributor, Mrs. Eleonore Villarrubia, a graduate of Tulane University, left me a very interesting page from the university’s quarterly magazine (Fall, 2011) on the accidental discovery, in the rare book collection of the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, of a moveable-type printed edition of the Latin Vulgate Bible published in 1481. Read More »

John Bergsma, The Sacred Page: By far the most interesting session at the recent Society of Biblical Literature Congress in San Francisco was one I wandered into by chance. Read the rest here.

Catholic Culture: Father Athanasius McVay, a Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest in Canada, and Lubomyr Luciuk, a professor at the Royal Military College of Canada, have coauthored the newly published book The Holy See and the Holodomor: Documents from the Vatican Secret Archives on the Great Famine of 1932-1933 in Soviet Ukraine. Read more here.

After reading this short piece by Pat McNamara, I was stunned that the early Jesuit founders of Fordham never once, that we know of, asked the very troubled Edgar Allen Poe to become a Catholic. And this was when the Church was strong in America, winning many converts. I am sure that it would not have taken contemporary Father Arnold Damen much time to invite Poe to become Catholic.  The sacraments would have helped the poor man far more than just companionship and scholarly conversation. This is not what Saint Paul meant by “being all things to all men.” A priest, if he is a true father and friend, will not act like a wimp, putting human respect before the saving challenge of Faith.  Sorry, but I do not find this tribute to the early Jesuits of Fordham one bit inspiring. Rather, the opposite.  Read the article here.

There is a book titled Angels of the Battlefield that relates the incredible stories of the Sisters of Charity in ministering to the wounded of both sides of this devastating war between the states. It is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. But here is an interesting clip from Pat McNamara’s blog about just one of those hundreds of valiant women.

The current definition of the Middle Ages implies that they are an intermediary epoch between two civilizations, and, therefore, only a break in the course of civilization.

There is no term about whose definition there is more perfect agreement than “The Middle Ages.” We are told that the Middle Ages are an intermediary epoch between antiquity and modern times. This is the definition given by all dictionaries, encyclopedias, text-books and summaries. Read More »

As has already been noted on the SBC website, Archduke Otto von Habsburg, who in 1916 became heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, has died. I’d like to offer a couple of additional thoughts.

The Archduke passed away in his sleep at his home in Bavaria during the night of July 3-4. He was 98. He lived long enough to see his father, Emperor Karl I, beatified, and for a cause for the canonization of his mother, Empress Zita, to be officially opened. Read More »

It is probably safe to say that everyone reading this knows of the famous preacher on Boston Common of the 1950’s, Father Leonard Feeney, and of the religious brothers who accompanied him there each Sunday.  Father preached the unvarnished truth of the Catholic Faith and was eventually silenced and banished by the powers that be of the Archdiocese of Boston for that courageous act.  A generation earlier, another Catholic “street preacher” did the same on the streets of Boston with the whole-hearted stamp of approval of Cardinal O’Connell, the reigning Archbishop of the city at the time. Read More »

In the book, Black Elk Speaks by John G. Neihardt, Americans were treated to a hefty dose of pagan American spirituality. Paul Harvey-like, I would venture to tell “the rest of the story.” In brief, it is this: the famed Lakota Sioux medicine man, warrior, and adventurer (who traveled to England to perform for the Queen) converted to Catholicism, was baptized “Nicholas,” and taught his kinsman the true religion.

The book Black Elk: Holy Man of the Oglala by Michael F. Steltenkamp seeks to tell that part of the story so often left out. There exists a review of this book online: Black Elk, Catholic Catechist: The Rest of the Story by Dennis Hamm, S.J. Read More »

Paul Kengor has an informative article on LifeNews website about Roger Baldwin, founder of American Civil Liberties Union. Here is the lede:

As someone with the highly unusual task of researching old, declassified Soviet and Communist Party USA archives, I often get quizzical looks as to why certain things from the distant past still matter. Well, it’s indeed true that past is often prologue. And it’s striking to see how something in communist archives from, say, the 1920s, pertains to America right now. That certainly seems the case with what I’ve found on the American Civil Liberties Union, whether challenging Christmas carols in public schools seven decades ago, or, currently, trying to compel Catholic hospitals to do abortions, or denouncing the Catholic bishops for opposing birth-control funding in “healthcare” legislation. How ironic that I would find seeds of these things in communist archives, or, even more directly, in the pro-communist or pro-Soviet writings of the ACLU’s founders. Read full article here.