Archive
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Articles
Angelic Seeing
Passions of the Soul by rowan williams bloomsbury, 160 pages, $15 These reflections, gentle but piercing in their spiritual psychology, were originally given as an Easter retreat for the...
Spiritual Communion
During the Diocletian persecution, a group of North African Christians were brought to trial in Carthage for meeting illegally for worship. When asked why they had persisted in this...
A Hidden Life: The Story of a Marriage
I thought we could build our nest high up in the trees.” We hear the voice of Franz Jägerstätter as the Alps soar into a blanket of clouds on-screen....
Briefly Noted
God Visible: Patristic Christology Reconsideredby brian e. daley, s.j. oxford, 312 pages, $88 The great liberal Protestant theologian Adolf von Harnack argued that the simple, wholly ethical message of...
The Church’s Bigger Agenda
A number of America’s Catholic bishops care more about the Church’s public image than about the welfare of teenage boys. This was on display in 2002, and again this...
The Heart of the Psalms
Over the course of ten days in early November, New Yorkers had the opportunity to attend Lincoln Center’s The Psalms Experience: twelve concerts with a capella settings of all...
Thus Saith the Lord
One Sunday in high school, we went to the Anglo-Catholic parish where my headmaster served as an assistant priest. Catechized by evangelical Episcopalians and Presbyterians, I believed that the...
The Convert’s Neurosis: A Cocktail Recipe
The Convert’s Neurosis: 2 oz rye, for American integralism .25 oz Chartreuse, for a fixation on Latin and a Church that does not change 1 tsp simple syrup, for the simpletons...
Briefly Noted
On the Road to Vatican II: German Catholic Enlightenment and Reform of the Churchby ulrich l. lehnerfortress, 414 pages, $49 On the Road to Vatican II focuses on German...
Briefly Noted
The Contemplative Hunger by father donald haggerty ignatius, 259 pages, $17.95 Fr. Donald Haggerty’s first book, Contemplative Provocations (reviewed here in December 2013), offered aphoristic counsel on prayer and...
Briefly Noted
Bach & God by michael marissen oxford, 288 pages, $35 Michael Marissen, emeritus professor of music at Swarthmore, argues that Johann Sebastian Bach’s music embodies the theology of its...
Christ’s Three-Fold Coming in Music
Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio: Music, Theology, Cultureby markus ratheyoxford university press, 432 pages, $65 Centuries before we instituted our yearly squabble over the phrase “Merry Christmas,” some people...
No Apology for Bach’s Theology
Bach’s Major Vocal Works: Music, Drama, Liturgyby markus ratheyyale, 256 pages, $35 A s the cantor of Leipzig, Bach was responsible for composing music for Sunday services, which produced...
Marriage is Not a Social Convention
In a Web Exclusive article today, I elaborate problems that I see in Amoris Laetitia. Here on First Thoughts, I want to discuss the parts of Amoris Laetitia that...
Amoris Laetitia and the Words of Christ
The first paragraph of Amoris Laetitia states that “the desire to marry and form a family remains vibrant, especially among young people.” Throughout my engagement, however, my desire to...
