National Catholic Register, K.V. Turley: Alfred Hitchcock died 40 years ago on April 29, 1980. It is also 100 years since he started working in the film industry in 1920. Hitchcock’s career and life had began in the reign of … Continue reading
Category: Arts and Culture
Young Artist and Convert with a Medieval Flare
National Catholic Register, Jay Copp: [Daniel] Mitsui jokingly calls himself a “spirit of Nicea II Catholic.” His understanding of the role of religious art has its roots 1,200 years ago with that Church council, which reversed an earlier council’s suppression … Continue reading
Catholic Consciousness on the Rise in French Canada?
I just learned about this tune and its message (see video immediately below). Apparently, the on-screen translation on the YouTube video is not very good, so below it I added a translation that purports to be better. “Dégénération,” by Mes … Continue reading
Giovanni Gabrieli: Period Instruments vs. Modern Instruments
Last night, after a class that Sister Maria Philomena taught, concerned in part with chant notation, Sister Marie Therese and I were discussing the comparative merits of chant notation and modern notation. The conversation segued into a different topic (as … Continue reading
Now and Then
Now and then there is an excellent piece of news that doesn’t make headlines but deserves to be passed on if only because it will bring a smile of satisfaction to more than a few if they haven’t heard it … Continue reading
Awesome: Tintoretto’s Paradisal Masterpieces
Liturgical Arts Journal, Kinga Lipinska: This year marks several significant art anniversaries: Rembrandt, Da Vinci, and Tintoretto are all artists who are especially remembered in 2019. In the United States, The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC is hosting … Continue reading
She Memorized the Latin Mass in Grade School: New Orleans Creole Chef Leah Chase
Get Religion, Terry Mattingly: What made Creole chef Leah Chase so unique? There’s at least two ways to look at that question. You can ask, “What made her famous at the national level?” Fame is important, especially a person’s life … Continue reading
A Wonderful Moment in Time
The twentieth century was dominated by three political systems, communism, fascism and liberal democracy. There had been a fourth, monarchy, at the century’s beginning, but it was undone by World War I, at least as a form of government in … Continue reading
Need a Break? Cook More Pasta
Yes siree! Great article here by John Horvat on a savory subject. Did you know that the Italians have 500 kinds of pasta? I looked up the root of the word only to discover that it is Greek. It means … Continue reading
Forces of God and UnGod
We hear incessantly these days that the nation is divided, as indeed it is. However, we never hear about the division that matters most in the long run. It is not the division between conservatives and liberals (much less the … Continue reading
Father Francis Morgan, Guardian of Tolkien
Voyage Comics & Publishing, Philip Kosloski: Karukoski said at the WonderCon panel, “Father Francis is a wonderful character. After his parents passed away, Father Francis, his Catholic priest, became his guardian and he was an amazing fellow and as we … Continue reading
The Gray Lady Anti-Christian Bias and a Day at Thomas More College
I love the part about a third-grader who, in a restaurant, recited 40 lines from Dante’s Inferno for Mr. Esolen. That impromptu delivery manifested the kind of education she was receiving at the Academy of Classical Christian Studies in Oklahoma … Continue reading
Saint Hildegard and Ola Gjeilo Make My Point
One point that I was trying to make in the piece I published yesterday, Who is the Matrix?, is wonderfully made in a sacred hymn composed by Saint Hildegard (popularly called Hildegard von Bingen). The piece is her Ave Generosa, which you can … Continue reading
Where Did the Song ‘Silent Night’ Come From?
Return to Order: The song ‘Silent Night’ is by far the most symbolic of Christmas carols. It is understandable, then, that we might wonder about the origin of such an extraordinary song. To tell the story of its origins we must start at … Continue reading
Up From the Bottom (Part Two)
“Those who have not lived before the Revolution do not know the sweetness of life.” So said, with great irony, Charles Maurice de Tallyrand, the renegade bishop who did as much as any individual to empower the French Revolution of … Continue reading