The very first “Labor Day” was celebrated on September 5, 1882. While today the holiday is characterized by barbecues, the start of a new school year, and the end of the summer, it began as a fruit of the labor … Continue reading
History
An American Catholic Biography
2019 Summer Reading Recommendations:Lamy of Sante Fe by Paul Horgan Many of you have probably read, or at least know of, the classics of Catholic biography. Among autobiographies, few stand out more than The Confessions of Saint Augustine, the Apologia … Continue reading
Sword of Dishonor
2019 Summer Reading Recommendations:Sword of Honor by Evelyn Waugh In August 1939, Nazi Germany signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a treaty of non-aggression with the U.S.S.R. They were only to violate it within two years upon invading the Soviet Union in … Continue reading
The Work of God
Time is passing into eternity, and it’s happening every day. The Church marks the passing of time with the liturgical year, which makes each day bear more significance than simply another cycle of 24 hours. With the proclamation of the … Continue reading
Greatness Then, Greatness Now
One of the most convincing elements of good art is its ability to draw the viewer into the full depth of its subject. In the realm of film and television, HBO’s Band of Brothers (2001) stands in a class of … Continue reading
Memory
Today is Memorial Day, when Americans take time to remember those who have given their lives in defense of their country. I am, in fact, not an American, but in my native Canada we have a similar commemoration called Remembrance … Continue reading
The Colors of the World
Faith and Film Friday: The Scarlet and the Black Editor’s Note: This is the seventh review in our series, Faith and Film Friday. Read the whole series here. If I may lift a lyric from Les Misérables (the musical), “The … Continue reading
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
A Terrible Time
The third century AD was a terrible time. Like, really terrible. The prosperity and relative peace of the second century went down in flames. Well, flames, assassinations, civil war, revolts, famine, plague, and invasions, to be more precise. From the … Continue reading
Why Wine?
At Mass, bread and wine become, through Christ’s power in the actions of the priest, Christ’s body and blood. Why bread and wine? Well, because that’s what God decided. He was free to choose anything at all when instituting the … Continue reading
Is Resistance Futile?
One of the most influential and now forgotten historians of the 19th century was the Austrian Dominican Heinrich Denifle. Despite having many administrative responsibilities, Fr. Denifle found time to pore over thousands of medieval manuscripts, making significant contributions to the … Continue reading
The Imperishable Wreath
Every two years, people from all over the earth unite to participate in one of the most internationally distinguished events in the modern world—the Olympic Games. It is amazing to see how the scope of the Games has widened since … Continue reading
“Let the past die!”
(Spoilers!) A number of characters from the most recent installment of Star Wars struck me as exemplifying a real source of struggle for many people today: a desire to break from the past. Kylo Ren voices this leitmotif of the … Continue reading
Repent and Pray
Tomorrow, May 13, the Church celebrates the 100th anniversary of Our Lady’s first apparition to the three shepherd children of Fátima. It is an occasion for us to thank God for the loving care He shows us through His Mother, … Continue reading
Mary’s Peace Plan
Editor’s note: This piece was originally published in Dominicana in September 1947 by Br. Vincent Ferrer McHenry. He was ordained a priest on June 9, 1949. In his almost sixty-five years as a priest, Fr. McHenry served as a college … Continue reading
St. Patrick’s Slavery
Similar to the Irish people, St. Patrick moved from slavery to slavery. Looking at the life of today’s celebrated saint, we see three modes of slavery which are emblematic of the people he helped save. St. Patrick and his flock … Continue reading
The Gamaliel Principle
It’s another swelteringly hot day in Jerusalem and many good Jews, on their way into the Temple for worship, stop for a break in the shade of Solomon’s Portico. There they find a group of men (twelve to be exact) … Continue reading
The Long View
The Dominicans are almost 800 years and 1 month old. Tomorrow the Order of Preachers officially concludes its 800th Jubilee Celebration on the anniversary of the second bull issued by Pope Honorius III concerning the friars, which granted additional privileges … Continue reading
The Dissolving and Splitting of Solid Things
Throwback Tuesday He stood alone on the stones, his mess-tin spilled at his feet. Out of the vortex, rifling the air it came – bright, brass-shod, Pandoran; with all-filling screaming the howling crescendo’s up-piling snapt. The universal world, breath held, … Continue reading
Tradition Old, Tradition New
The opening number of the Broadway classic Fiddler on the Roof contains a striking line: “Because of our traditions, every man knows who he is and what God expects him to do.” A modern viewpoint may well suspect the customs … Continue reading
The Church is not a Government
The Church is not a government, and in these not-so-serene days of state debate, we can be thankful for that. A democracy, for instance, is like a babysitter. Her classic question is, “What did your mom say you could do?” … Continue reading
It was good for me to be afflicted?
After years of interrogation at the hands of the Soviet secret police, the American Jesuit Walter Ciszek reached a breaking point. He had been falsely accused of spying for the Vatican and was subjected to isolation and near starvation. As … Continue reading