A huge hat-tip to our friend Lizzie Scalia for posting a link to this 360 virtual tour of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. As someone who has never been to the Holy Land (and has no immediate hope of going), I find this totally mesmerizing, and moving. A nice way to gear up for … Read more
I belong to a relatively liberal congregation. For instance, the former pastor often applied St. Paul’s admonition about “freedom from the law” to Vatican “laws,” and asked for and received an exemption from the 2002 reemphasis by our bishop on kneeling after the Sanctus; and the present pastor, before the last election, mentioned in a … Read more
As part of my continuing efforts to avoid thinking about this law for as long as possible, I happened across an article that made about as much sense to me as the 2,500+ page behemoth signed earlier today, only without any of the damaging long-term implications of H.R. 3590: Action still resulted in an equal and … Read more
Acupuncture… I swear by it, and I know many others who do, too. Back when it was considered mere quackery in the West, my physician father was studying it and even practiced it on his college football injuries to decrease inflammation and help with pain. Yesterday, Wall Street Journal health columnist Melinda Beck reported on … Read more
According to a panel of obesity experts, the Last Supper has been getting super-sized in artistic representations through the years: The Cornell University team studied 52 of the most famous paintings of the Biblical scene over the millennium and scrutinised the size of the feast. They found the main courses, bread and plates put before … Read more
Good news for the hungry tourists of Pompeii: Vetutius Placidus’ snack bar is reopening after extensive renovations. This being Italy, the work took almost 1900 years. Three hundred specially invited guests are to taste the delights of Roman fast food in the thermopolium (that’s snack bar to you and me) in a special ceremony to … Read more
I once read an interview with Garrison Keillor in which he recounted going to a funeral. During the final prayers, the minister prayed for the deceased — “and for the next person here who is going to die.” He said that most of the guests were outraged and offended, but that he was moved and … Read more
In the wake of yesterday’s demoralizing — (how I wish that word were not quite so appropriate) — events, I, like Margaret, have sought for ways to distract myself from the draining aftermath of the health-care debate. And I find myself taking some comfort in the fact that we’ll always have Paris: Harmonizing the 17 rows and … Read more
On November 17, 1942, the Catholic publisher Wilfred Meynell celebrated his 90th birthday in Greatham, southwest of London. He would live another six years and, with the noise of RAF fighter planes a familiar sound daily, he could boast that he was born the year the Duke of Wellington died. Henry Edward Cardinal Manning … Read more
It’s raining here in Baltimore today, and the mood on the Web is similarly bleak, so I thought we could all use a little reprieve from the doom and gloom — hence, the awesomeness in the trailer below for the Discovery Channel’s Life series. I managed to catch the premiere on TV last night, and … Read more
Not every pro-life opponent of the healthcare reform bill is infuriated with Rep. Bart Stupak. Over at Catholic Online, our good friend Deacon Keith Fournier, while greatly disappointed with Stupak’s decision, nevertheless defends him against some of the harsher critics. [Stupak] seems to honestly believe that with this Executive Order, the current Hyde Amendment language … Read more
There’s a new movement afoot to restore the Sabbath, and it’s coming from a group of Jewish artists. A think tank called Reboot is behind the “Sabbath Manifesto,” a campaign encouraging people to take the seventh day of the week as a day of rest: Way back when, God said, “On the seventh day thou … Read more
I know most of the talk today is probably going to be about the health care bill. But I wanted to share a gem of an article written by David Warren, a contributing writer here at IC. Mr. Warren takes up the topic of the euthanasia bill that is being debated in Ottowa’s House of … Read more
We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men The evening the Stupak-Pitts Amendment passed, I expressed the hope that a new era of pro-life politics had begun. For the first time in a long time, the Democratic Party had an advocate for the unborn around whom others could rally. That was four months … Read more
Bart Stupak (D-MI) was becoming a hero to pro-lifers all around the nation with his steadfast refusal to bend under the pressure of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House. Instead, Stupak has become a hero to the other side — an hour ago, he announced his decision to vote FOR the Senate version of … Read more
Bart Stupak (D-MI) was becoming a hero to pro-lifers all around the nation with his steadfast refusal to bend under the pressure of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House. Instead, Stupak has become a hero to the other side — an hour ago, he announced his decision to vote FOR the Senate version of … Read more
Uncle Harry’s museum is up and running–but that doesn’t mean he’s trouble-free, as this ten-part 1962 serial shows. As always, these pages come from Catholic University’s online archive of Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact. Take it away, Mr. Borth… Yikes!
My 15 year old son and I attended a seminar today on discerning one’s mission in life. The day included exercises in self-assessment and was a good experience overall. Part of the preparation for the seminar was taking a Myers-Briggs test in order to determine your personality. I was looking forward to it because I’d … Read more
According to the New York Times, ACORN is close to bankruptcy. The organization’s leadership are teleconferencing this weekend to work out the details. A network that once included more than 1,000 grass-roots groups, Acorn, which stands for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, was created in 1970 and has fought for liberal causes like … Read more
As every American teenager knows, fake IDs are easy to come by. The same is true in politics. Anne Hendershott, writing at Catholic Advocate, has explained why organizations like Catholics United, Catholic Democrats, and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good are “fake Catholic groups.” What other than a fake Catholic group would pay for … Read more