National Catholic Register, K.V.Turley: It was a bright summer’s day. I had walked the streets of suburban London through the midday heat. Then I left the glare behind and entered a darkened room. Before me was Our Lady of Fatima; … Continue reading
Category: Arts and Culture
Some Interesting Facts About St. Jean de Brebeuf’s Huron Carol
New Liturgical Movement, Peter Kwasniewski: Among the most beloved of Christmas pieces is surely the so-called “Huron Carol.” The carol’s text was written by St. Jean de Brebeuf in Quebec in 1642 or 1643 while his father recuperated from a … Continue reading
Advent Hymn of St. Ambrose: Veni Redemptor Gentium
Msgr. Pope: For my money, the best Advent hymn ever is Veni Redemptor Gentium (Come Redeemer of the Nations), written by St. Ambrose in the 4th century. It is more widely known by the title “Come Thou Redeemer of the … Continue reading
A Catholic Artist and His Making of a Statue of Saint Thérèse
Maike Hickson, 1Peter 5: This summer, our little family has been blessed by the generosity of neighbors who also happen to be fellow Catholics. Both of these neighbors – a husband and a wife – are gifted artists. H. Reed Armstrong … Continue reading
Belloc, ‘Hills and the Sea’, a Man Who Could Write About Anything
Crisis, K.V. Turley: These 38 essays are a mix of reflection and philosophy, personal memoir, and travel writing—some with English settings, some foreign. In fact, the geography with which this travel writing is concerned is mostly the Pyrenees and a … Continue reading
In Honor of Saint Mark: Gabrieli Music!
From YouTube user, Karl Barton, comes the video below. Giovanni Gabrieli was organist and composer for Saint Mark’s Basilica in Venice. He was the more famous nephew of Andrea Gabrieli. Here is his description from YouTube: This features scenes from … Continue reading
Review of Willa Cather’s ‘Death Comes to the Archbishop’
An interesting look at a Protestant who wrote with a pulsating intensity of the inner beauty of the Catholic culture of the Southwest. The Catholic World Report, Bradley J. Birzer: “I am amused that so many of the reviews of … Continue reading
Father Rutler on Vatican Elegy of Bowie
A must read Father George Rutler, Crisis: In proof of Chesterton’s dictum that if a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly, I pound away at the piano playing the easier Chopin Nocturnes and I grind on my violin … Continue reading
Padre Tomás Luis de Victoria: ‘God’s Composer’
Having recently learned Victoria’s sublime O Magnum Mysterium to sing with the Brothers and Sisters at Midnight Mass, I just spent some Christmastide recreation time watching the BBC’s one-hour documentary on the composer. That video is embedded below, and is quite worth watching. … Continue reading
Prayers for This Agnostic Writer: They are the Push He Needs
This man, a very gifted writer to be sure, has been given a great grace. May Our Lady finish the work of his conversion. New Haven Register, Norm Pattis: It is easy to scoff at the Church until you stand … Continue reading
Catholic College Opens in Iraqi Kurdistan
This is an incredible achievement in a land torn by ISIS terrorists. AsiaNews: Msgr. Warda, Archbishop of Erdil: “I hope that all the students – Christians, Muslims, Yazidis – will be able to breathe the Catholic faith and its fundamental … Continue reading
A Poem by Rose Hu, Prisoner of Mao’s Labor Camps for 26 Years
The following is a poem written by Rose Hu. She was the president of the Legion of Mary in China in the 1950s and suffered imprisonment for twenty-six years (1955-1981). Rose is still living. She wrote a beatuful book, Joy … Continue reading
Here’s to Bocce Ball
When I used to walk through Branch Brook Park on my way home from high school in Newark, New Jersey, I would see elderly Italian men throwing little bowling balls on a paved court about ten feet wide and twenty … Continue reading
A Synopsis of the Sixteen Novels of Robert Hugh Benson
Ann Applegarth, Catholic World Report: An impressive list. And, unlike many “Christian”—even “Catholic”—novels that may entertain yet contain no insight whatever into the human condition, Benson’s fictional fare is sustenance for mind and soul. Intended by the author to be tales … Continue reading
Saint Norbert and the Octave of Corpus Christi
Today is the feast of Saint Norbert. It also continues the “phantom octave” of Corpus Christi. Two days ago, I mentioned the concurrence of Saint Francis Caracciolo and the Feast of Corpus Christi. The day Saint Francis Caracciolo died was the eve of … Continue reading