Word Painting in William Byrd’s Vigilate and Ave Verum Corpus
Few composers have lived and nonetheless thrived in such a turbulent era as William Byrd. Born sometime between 1539 and 1543, Byrd grew up...
Tories and the Grave New World
A nation that kills its own children has no future. St. John Paul II
In 2008, the late Father Alphonse deValk, founding editor of...
Sto Lat! Pope John Paul II’s Centenary, and Pope John I
On this May 18th, as we celebrate the first Pontiff with the name of the beloved disciple – and more on him in a...
Sacraments and the Sixth Sunday of Easter
Someone once said to me, “I don’t need a priest to forgive my sins. I go directly to God.” I shuddered, hoping that he...
Setting Our Faces Like Flint and Bearing Fruit
“It was not you who chose me, says the Lord, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit...
Binding up the Bond: A Survey and Reflection on the Crisis in Catholic Marriage
It is no longer debatable that marriage is in a state of crisis. In the United States, it is estimated half of all marriages...
The Courage to Be a Mother
“And when the wine was failing, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her: ‘Woman, what...
The Fifth Sunday of Easter: Body, Soul and Spirit
Geraldine Thompson, a Sister of Saint Joseph who taught English at Saint Michael’s College, Toronto, was utterly charming in person, . . . and...
The Indissolubility of a Mother’s Love
In one of those many paradoxical ironies of history, it was on this day that Woodrow Wilson – for whom I have not much...
True and False Shepherds
The Good Shepherd has risen, who laid down His life for His sheep and willingly died for his flock (Communion Antiphon).
Today is Good Shepherd...