Saint Augustine famously said cantare amantis est, that is, “singing belongs to one who loves” (s. 336, 1 – PL 38, 1472). (Josef Pieper wrote a book on this, and Robert Hickson gave a talk on it.) Apparently, the Doctor … Continue reading
Saint Augustine famously said cantare amantis est, that is, “singing belongs to one who loves” (s. 336, 1 – PL 38, 1472). (Josef Pieper wrote a book on this, and Robert Hickson gave a talk on it.) Apparently, the Doctor … Continue reading
This brief essay proposes to consider how two eloquent Catholic authors, Hilaire Belloc and Evelyn Waugh, describe and deal with the phenomenon of noise, an unmistakable mark of the intrusive modern world even in times of putative peace. The first … Continue reading
(NOTE: At a public dinner in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1816, Stephen Decatur, naval hero of the War of 1812, famously declared: “Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be right; but our country right or wrong.” … Continue reading
The importance of telling the truth and the consequences for failing to do so seemed much clearer and forthright in the past than they are today. Maybe this seemed so because the use of psychology to “excuse” sinful behavior was … Continue reading
If the reader will pardon a little fraternal bragging, my brother, Charles Villiarrubia, played tuba on this CD that was recorded by the Empire Brass some time, I think, in the 1990s. It’s hard not to like Gabrielli. Just imagine … Continue reading
Review of Seven Stories for Christmas (e-book) by Henry von Blumenthal. Being a retired librarian of a “certain” age, I have resisted e-books because I love the feel of a real book in my hands. Here I reveal, however, that … Continue reading
Interested persons might look into the Federation of North-American Explorers (FNE). They are affiliated with the Catholic FSE or UIGSE (Union of International Guides and Scouts of Europe). This is a Catholic youth movement. The main page for the movement … Continue reading
Men have always tended to an exaggerated idea of the importance of events that take place in their own time. They have also always wanted to talk about what seems important to them. We can imagine a circle of them, … Continue reading
In 1905, just before he entered the House of Commons for four discouraging years (1906-1910), Hilaire Belloc published a variegated and copious book, entitled The Old Road, about his eight-day journey afoot from Winchester to Canterbury, the latter also being … Continue reading
Here is the text of the bishop’s announcement.
Forget Justin Bieber. The Canadian pop star has nothing on the Bohemian-Austrian baroque composer and violinist, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (12 August 1644 [baptized] – 3 May 1704). Believed to have been Jesuit educated in his earlier years at … Continue reading
Looking at any traditional missal, one will come across a couple somewhat puzzling observances: the Greater and Lesser Litanies — the former on the feast of St. Mark (April 25), and the latter on the “Rogation Days” (the Monday, Tuesday, … Continue reading
AsiaNews: “I will not change my Christian faith, for any reason. My Buddhist friends are not happy for me to convert, but everyone has the right and the freedom to live as he wants,” said Buddhika Nuwan Kumara, 24, a former … Continue reading
Catholic World Report: Groucho Marx once said, “I wouldn’t want to belong to any club that would have a guy like me as a member.” So began my witness testimony at the Easter Vigil on April 7, 2007, when my … Continue reading
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