Beheading Statues

It was hardly enough for the French revolutionaries to behead just one king. Nine months later, in October 1793, anti-royalists tore down 28 statues of Judean kings mistaken for French monarchs from the façade of Notre Dame Cathedral and guillotined … Continue reading

Just One More

I remember the first time I became cognizant of the commission of the sin of gluttony. I found myself at my grandmother’s house with a bucket of gelatinous candies, no supervision, and no stated rules as to how many I … Continue reading

Christian Happiness

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explains the radical moral vision of Christianity. Quite striking is the way in which he begins this explanation. He does not commence his sermon with an abstract exposition of morality. Nor does he … Continue reading

Preaching the Word, without Words

Editor’s note: This is the ninth post in our newest series, reflecting on the Hillbilly Thomists’ recent, self-titled album. The series will run each Tuesday and Thursday throughout the Easter season. Read the whole series here. This post concerns the … Continue reading

An Everyday Search

Perhaps you’ve found yourself caught in the suffocating everydayness of life. Get up, eat breakfast, go to work, pick up the kids, make dinner, watch TV, go to bed. Wash, rinse, repeat. Every morning’s alarm might as well be the … Continue reading

Just Keep Your Eyes on Me

By your counsel you will guide me,and then you will lead me to glory.What else have I in heaven but you?Apart from you, I want nothing on earth. (Psalm 73:24-25) The rails clacked and the din of passengers subsided to … Continue reading

Humility as Desire

As one plods through the modern city of Bologna, crossing the Piazza del Nettuno into the Piazza Maggiore, one is greeted by an unsightly, unfinished façade of the Basilica di San Petronio. The basilica as it stands is one of … Continue reading

Vapid Vice and Vivacious Virtue

A windswept forest on a cloud-covered night creaks, cracks, and moans, sending chills up and down the spine. Trees waving and wagging on their upward path have elbowed for the brightest spot in the sun. They’re intertwined. When the wind … Continue reading

Why Saint Nicholas Matters

In our shared human experience, we frequently find ourselves carrying other people’s burdens, seeking, if we can, to alleviate them, with others doing the same for us. This is mercy. By showing mercy, we take another’s misery and seek to … Continue reading

At the Hedge

The Word of God, solitary, magnificent amid the vicissitudes of human history, turns to me, his face shining from his vision of the Father, and speaks to me. As in all human love, only more so, I am exposed; I … Continue reading

The Way of Happiness

No one can fail to wish to be happy or to seek after happiness. But we are reminded on every side that we have not found it yet. We are still yearning and seeking after happiness, or after someone to … Continue reading