It is now nearly forty-five years ago that Albert Jay Nock’s intellectual autobiography was first recommended to me by a well-respected and graciously well-mannered “Epicurean Conservative” Professor at the University; and I was at once arrested by its title: The … Continue reading
Sunday’s Gospel for the first week of Lent recounts the three temptations of Our Lord near the end of His forty day solitary fast in the desert. He is in the company of “the beasts” (Mark 1:13). The Old Serpent … Continue reading
Are some stories too harrowing or too intense to be turned into movies? Well, yes there are. Word comes to us that Shusaku Endo’s novel Silence is being turned into a motion picture. Endo’s story of a priest whose mind and … Continue reading
To understand how faithful Islam still tries, by faster and slower means, to instil and instal itself in Europe today — and in the secular West in general — will enhance the weakened Cultural Immune System of the Catholic Faith; … Continue reading
When Austria was defeated by Prussia in a war in 1866 and political power and cultural dominance within greater Germany shifted from Vienna to Berlin, the people of Vienna tried to mask their true feeling of loss by acting gaily, … Continue reading
(The following two articles, written by Larry Koralewski, a long-time student of Brother Francis, will be the first of a number of installments to come, most of which will deal with the Saint Benedict Center courses on Philosophy.) Why Saint … Continue reading
While I was last evening and this morning reading aloud to our six-year-old daughter the full 1836 text of “The Little Mermaid,” by Hans Christian Andersen, I came to think of Hilaire Belloc as well as of Caryll Houselander and … Continue reading
On the Feast of All Saints, 1983, I worshipped at Mass in the Sistine Chapel with Pope St. John Paul II on the altar. Msgr. Alfons Stickler, the Austrian-born Vatican Librarian and champion of the Tridentine Mass and of Latin … Continue reading
Honore de Balzac, the great nineteenth-century French novelist whose chief work is the series of short stories and novels collectively known as The Human Comedy, wrote that “when the Revolution cut off the head of the King, it cut off … Continue reading
Through the alertness of a friend and through his informative recent note to me, I soon discovered many more things about Francis Fukuyama’s quite unexpected latest book, which is entitled Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to … Continue reading
A couple of months ago folks were in a dither about Ebola, especially folks who see themselves as the center of the universe, and in our day (or any other) that is too many. Now, there is nothing wrong with … Continue reading
With a friend’s recent gift to me of his just re-published 1936 anthology of Hilaire Belloc’s essays, I had with gratitude the welcome occasion to re-read — and even to read aloud to my wife again in the evening — … Continue reading
Rich men find pleasure in owning yachts, race horses and sports teams. Pleasure is piled upon pleasure when a rich man can sell a team for many millions of dollars more than he paid knowing he is able to keep … Continue reading
My siblings and I were so blessed to have parents who gave their five children the most beautiful and happy Christmases. The first thing that went up in our house was the Nativity scene with all the characters in place … Continue reading
A few weeks ago, I did something I have not done since I was nine years old. I went to a performance at the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre near downtown Los Angeles. It was a delightful rendition of The Nutcracker … Continue reading
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