Columns
The Hidden Rose – The Catholic Thing
The dogma of Mary’s Assumption, celebrated on August 15, teaches that the Lord’s Mother was taken into Heaven, body and soul, since no decay should touch the body of her who bore the Messiah. Christians believe “in the resurrection of the body.”…
Kolbe as Witness – The Catholic Thing
How can it be that, simply from viewing a picture of someone, you can form a conviction that he is a saint? The conviction appears to be a mere intuition, but later you discover that it is well-grounded. So it was for me and Maximilian Kolbe.…
Follow the Science, Ignore the Cliff
Small books can carry big ideas. Simple but important ones. An obvious example, first published in hardback edition in 1948 with barely 190 pages, is Richard Weaver’s Ideas Have Consequences. It’s a little work of genius. The title says it…
The Vatican’s Hall of Constantine Restored
They say of Julius II (pope from 1502 to 1513) that he did not choose his papal name in honor of his illustrious predecessor Julius I of some 1150 years earlier, but because of his esteem for Julius Caesar (100-44 BC). Maybe, although the pope’s…
Dr. Royal’s: “How I Haven’t Stopped Worrying and Still Don’t Love the Bomb”
Is there any sane person on earth who loves nuclear bombs? As such? If so, I’ve never met one. And I’ve certainly never encountered any good argument for them, as such. Ronald Reagan, the American president whom I heard many Europeans back in…
What Happens If You Separate God and Man?
In a recent essay, I defended Pope St. John Paul II’s emphasis on Jesus Christ as the revelation of man to himself. If the human person wants to know what he is supposed to be, he needs to look to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, who reveal…
Two on Edith Stein – The Catholic Thing
Richard A. Spinello Controversies continue over the nature and role of women as modern society edges ever closer to embracing an androgynous anthropology. During the last Olympic Games, spectators were exposed to the surreal exhibition of…
Aesthetic Education – The Catholic Thing
According to Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805), sensuous man must pass through aesthetic experience, which is physical, in order to reach the conditions of reason and morality. Let us begin by noting that Schiller was not a huckster for democracy.…
Coming Down the Mountain – The Catholic Thing
The dog days of summer are upon us. Here in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, where I live, the heat and humidity have a way of hitting full strength just as many of us leave for summer vacations. One of the downsides of leaving town at the…
Notes on a ‘Great Reset’
If you don’t know about Waymo, the autonomous taxi service, now’s the time to learn, because it’s coming to a neighborhood near you. Maybe not now or next year. But inevitably, like death and taxes. Except it’s more fun, more fun, that is,…