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
Category: Articles
Why Saint Benedict Center Insists on a Philosophical ‘Platform’
(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
Fortitude, Proportion, and Innocence: Discerning Perceptions from Hilaire Belloc’s The Silence of the Sea (1940)
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
Restoration or Desecration?
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
Moi Aussi, Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie
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
Francis Fukuyama: “The End of History?”
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
Alzheimer’s
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
Hilaire Belloc’s Sense of Destiny and Living Memory of a Woman and Child
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
Paying For What We Expect
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
“That’s Not Santa, That’s Your Dad”
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
The Pagan Temptation
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
An Indomitable Woman: Margaret Haughery, The Breadwoman of New Orleans
When one thinks of New Orleans and its people, the common belief is that New Orleanians are primarily of French extraction. Although the Mediterranean influence in the city since its founding and early history — both France and Spain flew … Continue reading
The Saint as a Counterrevolutionary: Some Depictions in the Historical Novel Stephana Schwertner by Enrica von Handel-Mazzetti
In the last few weeks, the Catholic Church has been faced with some grave assaults on the moral teaching of the Her Incarnate Divine Founder, Jesus Christ, as was in part disclosed in the public documents of the Synod of … Continue reading
Why Liberalism Targets the Family
In his most important book, The Social Contract, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, an architect of the false philosophy of liberalism and thus a kind of godfather of the Revolution that has been unfolding since the philosophy first found political expression in France … Continue reading
The Holy Souls in Purgatory
I cherish every dogma of our holy Catholic Faith. Every dogma is a gift from God, a “pearl of great price” (Matthew 13:46). Every verse from holy scripture, New as well as Old Testament, is sacred. In the Old Testament … Continue reading
