Tallis’ Gaude Gloriosa
For this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - and a blessed one may it be - here is the opening section to a motet...
A Christmas Carol: Thoughts, and an Audio Book
Charles Dickens' novella A Christmas Carol was first published on this December 19 back in 1843, and it has been a much beloved classic...
Three Reasons to Read the Book of Jonah this Lent
Every year, the Wednesday after Ash Wednesday, the Mass readings revolve around the prophet Jonah. Not only does the first reading come from the...
Victoria’s Regina Coeli
A truly sublime rendition of the Regina Caeli Laetare, by Tomas Luis De Victoria (1548-1611), as sung by the ensemble Voces8. This work was...
Pope John Paul II’s First Holy Thursday Letter to Priests
LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II
TO ALL THE PRIESTS
ON THE OCCASION OF HOLY THURSDAY 1979
Dear Brother Priests,
For you I am a...
Bach’s ‘With Joy and Peace I Depart’
In 1725, on this feast of the Presentation/Candlemas/Purification, J.S. Bach first presented his cantata Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin - With Joy...
Friedrich Ernst Fesca’s Hidden Treasure
For today's Sunday musical offering, here is the string quartet in C-minor by Friedrich Ernst Fesca (1789 - 1826), who deserves to be much,...
Arthur Brooks and the Architecture of Meaning in the Christian Life
“Your life does have meaning, and you can find it.” – The Meaning of Your Life.
At a time when many young adults are fixated...
Homeric Reduction: An Odyssean Review
With Robert Fagles’ 1996 translation of Homer’s Odyssey fresh in my mind, I went to see Chrisopher Nolan’s new film a couple weeks ago....
A Vatican Spy: A Project of Hope and Love
A friend of mine, Anton Casta, is working on a biography on his own father whose name he shares. Anton Sr. lived a dramatic...
