In late December 1668, in a contest held at the Chinese Bureau of Astronomy, the Jesuit Ferdinand Verbiest (1623-1688) correctly predicted the length of a
Hattip to Pat McNamara of Patheos for his post on General Longstreet’s conversion which inspired this post. General Lee referred to James “Pete” Longstreet as
” . . . the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings”. Gerard Manley Hopkins “Your soul is the
I normally take great pride in being an American, but there are passages in our history which all Americans should be ashamed of. During our
I call the new movement of God Presence Evangelism, because it is quiet, subtle and entirely grassroots. The stars have fallen. The big names have grown old. Society is
Perhaps there are braver men than Walter Ciszek, but they don\’t come readily to mind. Hard enough to be brave for a short period when
“The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak;
What exactly is virtue, and what does it mean to live a good life? Once again, the Catholic tradition views this question much differently than
\”Neither praise nor threats will distance me from God.\” – Blessed Clemens von Galen (1878-1946) . The Nazis hated and feared Clemens August Graf von Galen
“…the Church is always the only thing defending whatever is at the moment stupidly despised.” —G.K. Chesterton, The Catholic Church and Conversion, 1926] “But every
\”You call him Dumb Ox? This Dumb Ox will fill all the world with his bellowing.\” -Saint Albert the Great, responding to jibes from some
What is the American equivalent of what the Russian’s called a Gulag? A familiar word to Americans, because of our cold war relations with the
\”Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.\” (Matthew 7:7) I
The idiotic anti-Catholic celebration of Guy Fawkes Day, observed each November fifth, was effectively ended in America during the Revolution, in large part due to George
This year for Halloween snacks, Mom bought a box of 18 packages of bat- and pumpkin-shaped pretzels. If this year follows the pattern of
What most people call the “Latin Mass” seems to have a bewildering number of names and many of them are imprecise for one reason or
Share this on Facebook \”Life is short, read the saints,\” once quipped the late Dr. John Senior, the inspiring humanities professor of Kansas University.
It could have been a sun spot, an air lens, some turbulent clouds, or maybe even eye tricks. The skeptic Benjamin Radford, deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine
Nor, perchance did the fact which We now recall take place without some design of divine Providence. Precisely at the epoch when the American colonies,
In Exodus 2, the Bible points out that Moses’ parents were Levites. The tribe of Levi would be chosen to perform holy service and they would be set apart by
As a writer, I often spend more time than I’d like to admit with a dictionary and thesaurus. This is not because I don’t know
In 1957 comedian Red Skelton was on top of the world. His weekly comedy show on CBS was doing well. He had curtailed the drinking which had
The Communion song this last Sunday at the 11:30 a.m. Mass was “The Servant Song”. One might say it’s one of those Gather Hymnal songs
I confess. Somehow in this culture it seems like a weak little phrase. It lacks self-confidence. It suggests that you are not going to defend
