Volume I – The North and the South and Secession: Who was in the Right? An Examination of Cause and Right Adam Miller is a brave man to tackle this touchy subject — the American Civil War, or (more correctly) … Continue reading
Category: Articles
The Higher Chivalry of Catholic Christianity
In any reflective discussion of a man’s “chivalrous disposition” or of the “chivalrous ethos and attitude” itself, one is also soon likely to speak of “a man of honor” and even “the matter of honor” itself and perhaps even “honor’s” … Continue reading
The Celtic Church — Myth and Reality
For many people — practicing, nominal, and non-Catholic alike — in the United States, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere, St. Patrick’s day is welcome relief from the rigours (if any) of Lent, or at the very least a mid-spring party. Shamrocks … Continue reading
Speaking the Truth about Oneself and the Barrier of Presumptuous Hebetude
It came to pass this morning soon after our breakfast with the children, and when they had already gone to their studies or play and music in another room, that my German wife turned to me and posed several searching … Continue reading
Cui Bono?
War is terrible, especially in modern time when Christian standards that used to regulate its conduct are no longer observed. When it threatens it is desirable to ask: Cui bono? Who benefits? When the Prime Minister of Israel addressed the … Continue reading
March/April 2015 Mancipia
The March/April 2015 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
Josef Pieper’s Presentation of Purity and Virtuous Temperance
It is now many years ago that a learned Catholic priest said to me in passing and with modesty during one of our conversations that “in the Old Testament there was always a close connection between impurity and idolatry—as is … Continue reading
Longfellow and the Faith
And in despair I bowed my head “There is no peace on earth,” I said, “For hate is strong and mocks the song Of peace on earth, good will to men.” Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: “God … Continue reading
The Cluniac Reform: How Great Catholics Respond to Crisis
There’s no denying that we find ourselves in a wasteland in Church, State, and family today. But let us not, on that account, engage in handwringing and whining. Brother Francis used to call some Catholic writers who majored in this, … Continue reading
“Impostor-Terms” and the Disorder of Expediency: Albert Jay Nock’s Insights on Language and Moral Conduct
In his 1937 collection of perceptive essays, entitled Free Speech and Plain Language, a classically educated master of English prose, Albert Jay Nock (1870-1945), presents many insights about the use and abuse of language which remind us of the ancient … Continue reading
Two Years of Francis
Two years ago this month Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope. I want to talk here about faith and to do so in the context of this anniversary. Before I turn to my subject there are some other things I want … Continue reading
The Farsightedness and Omissions of a Professed “Superfluous Man”: The Intellectual Journey of Albert Jay Nock
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
Begone Satan! I Will Lay Down My Life in Obedience to My Father
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
A Raging Bull in the China Shop
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
The Fast Path and the Slow Path of Subversion: Roberto de Mattei’s Recent Strategic Insights
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
