Weekly Insight
Twentieth Sunday: Prayer and Tradition
For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples (Is. 56: 7).
In any given region or country, a common language is a source of unity. You may be familiar with...
Saint Stephen, Hungary’s First and Greatest King
Until her recent elections, Hungary was one of the few nations standing against the tsunami of insanity washing over the rest of Europe, threatening to deluge civilization as we know it. As may be...
Saint Roch: Patron Saint of Bachelors and Dogs
Saint Roch (1295 - 1376?) - also known as Rock, or, in Scotland, Rollox, not to be confused with the luxury watch brand which is almost a homophone. Roch, whose feast we celebrate on...
Assumption and the Resurrection
A blessed and glorious solemnity of the Assumption to one and all! A day commemorating the taking up of the Blessed Virgin Mary, body and soul, into heaven at the end of her earthly...
Beauty and the Assumption
In Dante’s epic poem, The Divine Comedy, the poet puts these words in the mouth of St. Bernard of Clairvaux as he gazes on the beauty of Our Lady in Paradise:
O Virgin Mother, daughter...
Musical Offering: Mendelssohn’s Ave Maria
On this Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven, body and soul, here to help celebrate is a magnificent rendition of the Ave Maria by Felix Mendelssohn. This may seem...
Saints Edith Stein and Maximilian Kolbe: Witnesses to Hope
The philosopher and Carmelite Edith Stein (Saint Teresa Benedicta a Cruce was her name in religion), and the Franciscan priest Maximilian Kolbe were put both put to death at the death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau,...
Sheer Cliffs and Discerning Risk
On August 13th in 1995, Alison Hargreaves, a wife and mother of two small children, summitted the notorious K2, one of the most dangerous mountains in the world, on whose ice-encrusted face 99 climbers...
Saint Cassian of Imola: A Teacher for the Ages
On this 13th day of August, we commemorate a little-known saint, Cassian of Imola, a Christian schoolmaster in northern fourth-century Italy. By edict of Julian the Apostate, he was commanded to offer sacrifice to...
Pope Benedict on Martyrdom
BENEDICT XVI
GENERAL AUDIENCE
Papal Summer Residence, Castel Gandolfo
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
The significance of martyrdom
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today in the Liturgy we commemorate St Clare of Assisi, Foundress of the Poor Clares, a luminous figure of...
Pontian, Hippolytus, Pope and Anti-Pope, Now Saints Together
An anti-Pope is someone who thinks he's the Pope - or at least who claims to be the Pope - when in reality he is not. There's a few of them around still. And...
A Possible Addendum to the Chesterton – Darrow Debate
Recently I returned to an unsigned New York Times review of the Darrow - Chesterton debate in 1931. In that review the author quotes verbatim a remark by Darrow which I should have included...
Jane Frances de Chantal’s Visitation
Jane Frances Fremiot (+1641) was a beautiful, refined young woman from Burgundy, betrothed to the handsome Baron de Chantal at 21 years old - a veritable Austen-esque marriage of true minds, in a French...
Fauci’s Apocalypse
Apocalypse is the Greek word for Revelation, which is why the final book of the Bible goes by both names. But there is much in a name, of whatever language. Apocalypse, unlike the more...
Pope Benedict and Saint Clare of Assisi
BENEDICT XVI
GENERAL AUDIENCE
Paul VI Hall
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
Saint Clare of Assisi
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
One of the best loved Saints is without a doubt St Clare of Assisi who lived in the 13th century and...
