Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Gene Wolfe has died. Mr. Wolfe was an enormous influence on me as a writer and as a human being. Gene Wolfe (1931-2019) He was a master of implication and manipulating the reader’s inferences. You could read the first page of any Wolfe book and know things about the world in which the book was set that he never directly […]
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Today in the United States, we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., so I thought I’d tackle the question “are there non-Catholic saints?” Seems like a simple question. First off, what’s a saint exactly? We turn to our trusty Catechism once more and find the following: 823 “The Church . . . is held, as a matter of faith, to […]
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by G.K. Chesterton Step softly, under snow or rain, To find the place where men can pray; The way is all so very plain That we may lose the way. Oh we have learnt to peer and pore On tortured puzzles from our youth, We know all the labyrinthine lore, We are the three wise men of yore, And we […]
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Today is the anniversary of the death of the great G.K. Chesterton. You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it. (G.K. Chesterton) Years ago now, the indefatigable Mark Shea proposed readings for the Feast of Gilbert Keith Chesterton: 1. JOB 19:23-27 Oh, that my words were now written! Oh, that they were printed […]
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“Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” (G.K. Chesterton) Today’s feast is of the martyr Saint George. Pious legends of dragon slaying notwithstanding, George was a soldier of the Roman army who was killed during the persecutions of Diocletian in the early fourth […]
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by G.K. Chesterton White founts falling in the Courts of the sun, And the Soldan of Byzantium is smiling as they run; There is laughter like the fountains in that face of all men feared, It stirs the forest darkness, the darkness of his beard; It curls the blood-red crescent, the crescent of his lips; For the inmost sea of […]
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Today is the anniversary of the death of the great G.K. Chesterton. You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it. (G.K. Chesterton) Years ago now, the indefatigable Mark Shea proposed readings for the Feast of Gilbert Keith Chesterton: 1. JOB 19:23-27 Oh, that my words were now written! Oh, that they were printed […]
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The Wise Men by G.K. Chesterton Step softly, under snow or rain, To find the place where men can pray; The way is all so very plain That we may lose the way. Oh we have learnt to peer and pore On tortured puzzles from our youth, We know all the labyrinthine lore, We are the three wise men of […]
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Happy sixth day of Christmas! Yesterday was the memorial of the splendid Saint Thomas Becket. Having the birth name “Thomas”, I take Becket and Aquinas as patrons, and I normally write something about the saint here each year. Yesterday snuck up on me. In addition to working, I attended an early Mass at Saint Joseph, walked home, and then there […]
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by G.K. Chesterton White founts falling in the Courts of the sun, And the Soldan of Byzantium is smiling as they run; There is laughter like the fountains in that face of all men feared, It stirs the forest darkness, the darkness of his beard; It curls the blood-red crescent, the crescent of his lips; For the inmost sea of […]
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On this day, ten years ago, this blog was born. It’s had a bit of a bumpy ride, changing venues a couple of times in the process. This is what I said in that first post: So much has changed in that short decade. These days, when someone tells me I’m a traditionalist, I’m forced to correct them. I’m a […]
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Today in the United States, we celebrate a federal holiday honouring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It seems like a good day to tackle the question “are there non-Catholic saints?” Seems like a simple question. First off, what’s a saint exactly? We turn to our trusty Catechism once more and find the following: 823 “The Church . . . is […]
» Read more“Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” (G.K. Chesterton) Today’s feast is of the martyr Saint George. Pious legends of dragon slaying notwithstanding, George was a soldier of the Roman army who was killed during the persecutions of Diocletian in the early fourth […]
» Read moreIt’s been a while since I’ve posted links to some of the many interesting things I’ve been reading online lately. I blame FaceBook. It’s easy to just post a single link there, and then I never get around to posting groups here. Well, since I’m off Facebook for Lent, I’m reviving the ancient custom. I’m cheating by starting with a […]
» Read moreToday is the anniversary of the death of the great G.K. Chesterton. You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it. (G.K. Chesterton) From the indefatigable Mark Shea, proposed readings for the Feast of Gilbert Keith Chesterton: 1. JOB 19:23-27 Oh, that my words were now written! Oh, that they were printed in a […]
» Read more“Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” (G.K. Chesterton) Today’s feast is of the great martyr, Saint George. Pious legends of dragon slaying notwithstanding, George was a soldier of the Roman army who was killed during the persecutions of Diocletian in the early […]
» Read moreOn today’s feast, G.K. Chesterton explains pretty clearly the source of my devotion to Saint Thomas More. (I have split up the paragraphs of Chesterton’s essay for easier online reading. Original paragraphs have dropcaps.) Most would understand the phrase that the mind of More was like a diamond that a tyrant threw away into a ditch, because he could not […]
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