ST. ROMANUS was a soldier in Rome at the time of the martyrdom of St. Laurence. Seeing the joy and constancy with which that holy martyr suffered his torments, he was moved to embrace the Faith, and addressing himself to St. Laurence, was instructed and baptized by him in prison. Confessing aloud what he had […]
Thomson Reuters’ latest survey of Wall Street analysts’ expectations about next quarter’s corporate earnings has prompted some to wonder whether the canary in the coal mine is beginning to feel lightheaded. According to the Wall Street Journal, those in the know are expecting decreased earnings in the third quarter, the first quarterly decline since the […]
JI attended a Protestant church a while ago for a worship service. A friend and colleague had died, and I was there to pray for him and his family. The church was beautiful. High ceilings, with stained glass windows on the back wall of the sanctuary. A pulpit made of beautiful wood, raised high in […]
Elizabeth Crnkovich also contributed to this article. Iran’s fertility rate has crashed over the past few decades of Islamicist rule. So much so that the mullahs who run the country are now calling for more babies to be born. How did things come to such a pass? After all, the Koran, like the Torah and […]
No, that isn’t one of my misleading provocative titles. I’m not going to be all clever and then reveal that I, like every woman my age, think Darcy is just the most wonderful thing ever. He’s not. He’s kind of awful. If you haven’t read Pride and Prejudice–or at least seen the BBC movie–you might […]
The Star She picked up the zucchini and belted out a ditty About living on a farm and singing a country tune. The girl with the microphone knew about foot long zucchinis and birds that say, “Bawk! Bawk!” as life’s refrain. “Bawk-Bawk! Bawk-Bawk! Bawk-Bawk!” She follows the clucking birds into the woods That invite her […]
Chances are you’ve already caught wind of the firestorm that is brewing around the annual Al Smith Dinner. For those unfamiliar, the entire controversy is based largely on unverified, secondhand, claims that Cardinal Timothy Dolan has extended an invitation to attend the prestigious event as a co-keynote speaker to President Barack Obama – the most […]
The early teen years are a time when charming misinformation is passed on from kid to kid with the solemn, easy assurance of time-tested wisdom. “Schnauzer” is a dirty word in German. The F-word is an acronym meaning “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” (in fact, that became a Van Halen album title towards the end of […]
Please click for: Part1, Part2, Part3, Part4, Part5, Part 6 In 1991, the MS forced me into medical retirement from the Canadian Civil Service. I sank into a clinical depression. Being put out to pasture at 38 years of age is not a pleasant prospect. Now, more than 28 years since my diagnosis with MS, my physical health is gone, but […]
Why have an article on marriage law appear in a journal dedicated to economics? Surely the “purely” private domestic arrangements of a cohabiting couple are of no consequence to economic policy, or wider economic principles? While these questions may well represent a typical response to an article of this kind, we distributists, of course, know […]
Sunday, August 5 was the date of our first annual parish picnic; little did we know that it would be a date marked on calendars for another reason. As we gathered to begin the 11:00 a.m. Liturgy, an ambulance raced down the street past the park. I’m sure most of the parishioners offered a Hail […]
Can a “human-centered approach” to issues include policies with the express purpose of eliminating people? This argument is cropping up, particularly in debates over climate change and now health care. Hard-core believers of climate change have argued that a key way to reduce greenhouse gases is to reduce people. This was rejected most recently at Rio+20 when UNFPA and […]
In March of 2007, less than a month after I had turned twenty-two years old, I was deployed to Afghanistan with my engineer unit. I would remain in Afghanistan, with the exception of twenty day’s vacation in January of 2008, for the next fifteen months. At that point in my life my faith was quietly […]
The other day I had some precious free time which I was going to spend working on the computer. I set up my laptop on the kitchen table, went to grab something to drink, turned around and found my older son sitting at the computer settling himself in. “What are you doing?” I asked. “Working […]
Try to define progressivism. In fact, ask progressives to try to define progressivism. All we really know is that they’re, well, progressing. They and their ideas and their politics are always changing, evolving. This means that what they believe and hold fast and dear today may not be what they believe and hold fast and […]
Writer Sinclair Lewis is credited with saying, “When fascism comes to America, it will come wrapped in the flag and waving a cross.” Close, but not quite. Truth is, fascism has come to America; but it’s wrapped in a rainbow flag and waving, well, let’s just say it sure ain’t waving a cross. With its […]
From 1945-1959, Mrs. Ida Peerdeman of the Diocese of van Haarlem (Amsterdam) claimed to receive private revelations. The claims became known popularly as “Our Lady of All Nations” or simply “Amsterdam.”[i] The case was examined by the local Ordinary of van Haarlem, Bishop Johannes Huibers, who decided the claims were not supernatural in origin. His […]
Here in the bluest of blue cities on the political map we have a mayor who has taxed cigarettes into the stratosphere (~$12 per pack) because he wants people to live healthier. The same mayor trampled the rights of business owners to create smoke-free restaurants and bars. The same mayor decided that trans fats were […]
I remember when my first son was in need of his first haircut. I took him to a professional stylist and, with 35mm camera in hand, clicked away, literally walking around and around his seat, so that, once developed, the pictures would immortalize that very special day in my life, in his life, in the […]
Those pushing the redefinition of marriage insist that all they want is equality. After all, aren’t persons with same-sex attraction equal as human beings to those without. Why should they be discriminated against? Of course they are human beings with all the rights of other human beings. The problem is not that the people aren’t […]
For Part I of this series, go here; for Part II, here. When I was a little girl, like all little girls, I was interested in naming and categorizing my relationships. You could be my friend, or you could be my best friend, and those things were totally different. I also had a temporary category […]
Gore Vidal has died. Almost unknown to young adults, years ago he was considered the clever old man of belles lettres — a shocking rake with a bracing wit. The wit, though, distilled through the decades, comes down to us more as vinegar than aged claret, more snark than savvy. Mores the pity. We’d love […]
To feed the Israelites during their wandering time in the desert, the Lord caused to appear on the ground a flaky substance that tasted like pancakes with honey. At its first appearance, the people quite sensibly asked what everyone asks upon seeing something new, “What is it?” And that very question became their name for […]
As a writer and speaker who frequently addresses topics related to the Second Vatican Council, I read with great interest Archbishop Gerhard Muller’s recent interview with Catholic News Agency (CNA) in which he was asked about the “doctrinal discussions” between the Holy See and the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX). While declaring his optimism […]
