Two years before he was to die in early April of 1966 on Easter Sunday after Mass, Evelyn Waugh wrote a new Preface to his pre-War 1938 novel, Scoop.1 In that brief 1964 Preface and retrospect, he recalls the atmosphere … Continue reading
Category: Articles
The ‘Splendid Little War’
Exactly 120 years ago this month, the United States was gearing up to go to war. In April Congress would declare it, government in those days still adhering to the constitutional requirement that Congress declare the nation’s wars instead of … Continue reading
Enough With the Monkey Business
Concerning human evolution, the Church has a more definite teaching. It allows for the possibility that man’s body developed from previous biological forms, under God’s guidance, but it insists on the special creation of his soul. Pope Pius XII declared … Continue reading
Presumption: The ‘I Am a Good Person’ Sin
The Way We Were Presumption is a sin that has become increasingly more common over the past fifty years. Before Vatican II, Catholics were taught to have a healthy fear of God and being judged by Him. Whether we were … Continue reading
The Modern Quest for Enchantment II
Last month we looked at the attempts of believers and non-believers alike to escape the terror and boredom of modern life via quest for enchantment launched through time — the annual observances, secular and religious, of the year. In this … Continue reading
Blessed Stanley Rother, the First American Martyr: Beautiful Priest, Beautiful Soul
Since this article was originally published, Father Rother was beatified, July 28 being established as his Feast-Day: On Dec. 1, 2016, Pope Francis officially recognized Father Rother as a martyr for the faith. He is the first martyr from the … Continue reading
The Recent Biography of Dr. Warren Carroll and The Incarnation of Christian Chivalry
This recently published biography of Dr. Warren Carroll is a genuine work of love and fitting veneration. It is written by Laura Gossin, an history major in college and herself a 1987 graduate of Christendom College, the now flourishing institution … Continue reading
The Aftermath of Humanae Vitae
Humanae vitae, Blessed Pope Paul VI’s encyclical reaffirming the Church’s defense of the sanctity of human life, was promulgated fifty years ago this year. It was dated July 25, 1968. When July rolls around later this year I shall have … Continue reading
January/February 2018 Mancipia
The January/February 2018 Mancipia is now posted (scroll down for PDF). Back issues of this newsletter are linked from our downloads page. If you would like to receive our bi-monthly newsletter via U.S. mail, please sign up to get it … Continue reading
Evelyn Waugh’s Welcome to Modern Europe Some Seventy Years Ago
It was some years ago — in the early 1970s during Graduate School in North Carolina — that a learned and charmingly eccentric Classics Professor unexpectedly showed to me a memorable passage from the conclusion of a modern book: Evelyn … Continue reading
A.E.I.O.U.
History-minded readers will recognize the letters A.E.I.O.U. as the logo of the Habsburg dynasty and therefore Austria when it was the center of the Holy Roman Empire that they ruled for centuries, an empire which became the Austro-Hungarian one, the … Continue reading
Beware of Ravenous Wolves
Preface The Election of Donald Trump: Could This Be Our Last Chance? This article was published on December 23, 2016 (Saint Benedict Center; On-line Journal; Richmond, N.H.), shortly after Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. Beware of … Continue reading
The Modern Quest for Enchantment
Christmas is at last upon us. I say at last because even the most devout of Catholics, however keen on keeping Advent strictly they may be, are doubtless aware of the Yuletide decorations up in stores since mid-September. Of course … Continue reading
We Have No King But Caesar
In the traditional calendar, and by the will of Pope Pius XI who instituted it, the feast of Christ the King is celebrated on the last Sunday of October. And for good reason. This feast, coming at the end of … Continue reading
Ayn Rand: Conservatism’s Favorite Philosopher—Part Two
Having seen in Part One of this article something of the influence of Ayn Rand’s books and self-contrived philosophy of Objectivism, we want to conclude here with a look at the books themselves, in particular the two novels that have … Continue reading
