What do people talk about? Apart from something current in the news, like Ebola at the moment of this writing, doubtless the favorite subject of most persons is themselves and their doings. This is so much the case that another … Continue reading
Tag Archives: America
Papal Blasts From the Past
Leaving my apartment building last February 18, I fell on the icy front steps and broke both bones of my right forearm, the radius and ulna, about two fingers below the wrist bone. It wouldn’t be until six weeks later … Continue reading
Woodrow Wilson, the Great War and Our World Today
My friend and colleague Charles Coulombe, a writer familiar to this website’s regular visitors, will attest that in 1992 when Bill Clinton was first elected, I predicted to him that nobody better would become President in the future. In other … Continue reading
What is America?
Nothing reflects the strangely mixed nature of our country so much as the uniquely American way of celebrating Christmas. The Christmas Tree is German; Santa Claus, via Clement Moore, Thomas Nast, the old New York Sun, and Coca-Cola, Dutch; holly … Continue reading
A Note on History
One of the few things on which most Americans will agree is that dates are not worth remembering. A typical conversation might run like this: “Oh! You’re going to college?”
Frontier Missionary of the Sacred Heart: Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne (1769-1852)
Inscribed on the Pioneer Roll of Fame at Missouri’s Jefferson Memorial Building in St. Louis, are the words: “Some names must not wither.” First among those etched on the bronze tablet is “Philippine Duchesne.” Worthy tribute. But she was much … Continue reading
Saint Olaf and the End of the Viking World
One thousand years ago, an entire world was coming to an end. It was the world of the pagan Vikings. It would be replaced by another: that of Christian Scandinavia. The vanished world and the one that replaced it are … Continue reading
The Practice of Mental Prayer
Editors Introduction: This is the transcription of a talk that Brother André gave at the 2003 Saint Joseph Forum Conference. The talk is available on CD or MP3. I. Introduction — Why this topic? As I begin this talk on … Continue reading