Has your pilgrimage through Lent started to feel like a slog? We make our resolutions with zeal on Ash Wednesday, but after a few weeks of slipping here and there in our fasting, it’s easy to become discouraged. We start … Continue reading →

As preachers of the Word-made-flesh, the apostles of Jesus Christ understand the power of words. They know our voices can praise the Lord and announce His marvelous works. Therefore they sharply admonish us not to sin with our tongue. St. … Continue reading →

Leap Day, February 29th, marks the feast of St. John Cassian in the Eastern Calendar (and by some Western accounts). While the saints in heaven surely have more important things to contemplate than their earthly honors, it does seem an … Continue reading →

In the warm southern states of Florida and Arizona, where it seems as if winter never really arrives, the captivating sound of the crack of the bat can already be heard.  Baseball players from all across the major leagues have … Continue reading →

Midway upon the journey of our life I found myself within a forest dark, For the straightforward pathway had been lost. Dante Alighieri penned these opening lines as a banished man in his forty-third year. Exiled from his native Florence … Continue reading →

As she crossed the threshold, she breathed again. One, long, deep breath. Moments earlier, a powerful surge, unseen, unheard, whisked away her burden untold. Her tears and her shame had been met with the simple words: “I absolve you…” Ever … Continue reading →

Thou dost cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread to … Continue reading →

I love discovering, when I travel, that people everywhere share the same universal questions. I spent last summer studying Spanish in Bogotá, Colombia, and found myself one weekend at an academic conference (done rather differently in Latin America). One evening, … Continue reading →

Liberated.  Independent.   Self-sufficient.  Free-spirited.  Uninhibited.  Such adjectives have become high praise in a modern world fascinated with freedom, the paramount virtue and ideal of some of the most wicked regimes in the the history of the world—Robespierre’s France, Stalin’s Russia, … Continue reading →

Go ahead and put lots of exasperated emphasis on “these.” As in, “Lord, why would you put these people in my life??!” I am, of course, trying to conjure up the befuddlement we feel after a frustrating office meeting or … Continue reading →

What’s the difference between evangelizing and advertising? Um, a lot, you might reply. We preach not a product, but a Person: Jesus Christ, and him crucified. Jesus is not a means to happiness. He’s the Way, yes, but he’s also … Continue reading →

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Today millions of Catholics in America will hear these words as a priest marks their foreheads with ashes. They are powerful words—much more powerful than a mere memento mori. … Continue reading →

Imagine that the ghost of Søren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher, appeared to you in a dream. So you ask him, “Sir, what do you suggest I do for Lent this year? I’m already late in choosing.” Before vanishing, he might … Continue reading →

The nation is abuzz after a recent 10-part Netflix documentary series debuted just before Christmas entitled Making a Murderer. The series recounted the story of Steven Avery, who went to prison for a rape he didn’t commit after he found … Continue reading →

Angels adore the victorious Lamb as St. John proclaims the glorious revelation to which he was witness. Mary, the Queen of Heaven, and St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse, give thanks and praise before the altar of the Most High … Continue reading →

Throughout her history the Church has witnessed the countless ways that God has called men and women to become saints. In his youth, and against the will of his family, St. Thomas Aquinas chose the Dominican life as the surest … Continue reading →

Snickers is obviously the best candy bar. It’s also strategically placed at the checkout line of most grocery stores. This convenient and predictable location makes it easy to verify the aforementioned laudatory status. And if you disagree and think another … Continue reading →

In his discussion on the virtue of prudence, St. Thomas Aquinas follows Cicero in describing the power of memory as a part of prudence. Memory, defined by St. Thomas as the ability to make present that which is not currently … Continue reading →

A new biography of Dominican saints has recently been published, Dr. Kevin Vost’s Hounds of the Lord (Sophia Institute Press, 2015)—the title based on an early Latin nickname for the Order, Domini canes, dogs of the Lord. Though educated by … Continue reading →

Back in November Dominicana’s own Br. Dominic Bouck, O.P., wrote a post in which he cited Abbot Jean-Charles Nault’s book on acedia or sloth.  Br. Dominic notes that “acedia is a sadness at the gifts God gives us, often because … Continue reading →

Reading outside the strictures of academia is one of the joys of the Christmas break. I like to go to Barnes and Noble and pick out a book that has been influential in the last six months and “catch up” … Continue reading →

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of Saint Agnes. Among her many devotees, there stands a very special one: Saint Thomas Aquinas. You might say the Dumb Ox had a special love for this saintly lamb. Out of devotion to … Continue reading →

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus instructs the Pharisees that “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). The Sabbath is a gift from God for man: a day for people to set aside their usual … Continue reading →

Today we take a national holiday to recall a man who demanded from his country the riches of freedom and the security of justice. Freedom is an easy thing to celebrate, but we talk about freedom so often that it … Continue reading →

A parent will usually allow his children to learn from their own mistakes when it doesn’t involve considerable danger. Trying to tie their shoes when they’ve yet to acquire that skill or attempting to reach a shelf still too high … Continue reading →