Amanda Shaw

Lest other females, like myself, were beginning to feel a certain insidious pride and confidence, influence and assertiveness, in light of recent political developments, this sage discourse deserves careful reflection. One can never be too wary of feminine woes and wiles. From A Discourse of the . . . . Continue Reading »

A few years ago, a graduate student in English was trying to explain to me one of the latest fads in literary criticism, the History of the Book. Historians of the Book, he said, study the making and circulation of early manuscripts, including their interplay with . . . . Continue Reading »

He was an ordinary man, on many counts: a husband, a father, a former Vietnam pilot. He worked his farm in Nokesville, VA, and gave hayrides to the local kids and built bonfires every fall; he coached soccer and basketball at my high school and laid the floor of our first real gym, which doubled as . . . . Continue Reading »

Ryan’s post on the Cristo Rey Jesuit High School reminded me of another flourishing initiative in Catholic education: Notre Dame’s A.C.E. program. Now fifteen years old, the Alliance for Catholic Education teaches the teachers—training more than 1,000 college graduates, since 1993, . . . . Continue Reading »

From last week’s issue of the Times Literary Supplement , comes this amusing note on words and wordiness: “Each reissue of a dictionary is accompanied by a press release intended to alert journalists to new words and phrases. While some are likely to stick around . . . most will whither . . . . Continue Reading »

Worth reading, today, are these two pieces from the archives. “Strange beyond understanding,” is how Fr. Neuhaus initially described September 11. Seven years later, that is no less true: September 11. This is written the day after, just under the deadline for this issue. For years to . . . . Continue Reading »

“Responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation.” —The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” New from Grassroots Films is a powerful short film, The Catholic Vote . “Vote . . . . Continue Reading »

The Interior Castle has been lauded as the “most sublime and mature” of Teresa of Avila’s works, one which “expresses the full flowering of her deep experience in guiding souls toward spiritual perfection.” Rereading some passages this morning, I was struck not by the . . . . Continue Reading »

Family , Formation , Faith : These are three pillars of Christian society, three values that must be affirmed and lived by youth today, said Pope Benedict XVI in a recent address to Italian young people. In the process, he critiqued our world for tearing down each of these values through a culture . . . . Continue Reading »

The Birth of Mary (The Life of the Virgin Mary, 1912) How must the angels have struggled not to erupt in praises, like one might erupt in tears, the minute they knew that tonight would be born the mother, who’d soon bear the son. Wind a-flapping they held their tongues pointing the direction . . . . Continue Reading »