Emma Burleigh, my mother-in-law, celebrated her 100th birthday on February 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. More than five years ago, as she was approaching her 95th, she agreed to move in with us, declaring that, considering her frail health, she would surely die soon. But she surprised herself. She moved in, and … Read more
I could have died last night. Wednesday, March 11, was a bitterly cold Lenten day. Snow squalls showered every hour or so until four o’clock, when snow fell thickly for two hours. As I drove into Cincinnati, however, intending to spend the day and evening in town, I was in good spirits. At 9:45 I … Read more
Ignatius Loyola is a tough saint. Although he is one of the greatest and ranks near the top of my list of favorites, I have never come close to living with the detachment that Ignatius requires. Mincing no words he lays out the First Principle and Foundation of the Spiritual Exercises: “Man is made to … Read more
If there is one thing that most inspires us to love Christ and His Church, what would it be? What one thing makes us believers? What is the one thing, when the chips are down, that holds us in the Church, that makes us cling to it, certain that, no matter what, we will never … Read more
Of the most basic words in our language, none has suffered more misunderstanding in our time than the word cult. Originally cult—or cultus—meant worship, a gathering together to adore and give thanks to God. And so it still means in the Catholic Catechism, in which the term “cult” is immediately cross-referenced in the index to … Read more
Driving rain and wind pummeled the house all night, rattling the cistern boxes, bellowing down the chimneys, and pouring sheets of water against the windows. Although the wind died down the next morning, rain peppered steadily for three more days. With this sudden dumping of water on already saturated ground and into already full streams, … Read more
My little grandson, ten months old, crawls energetically across the floor in his Oshkosh overalls. When he reaches the sofa, he pulls himself up and steps confidently along the cushions, aiming to grab a purse and a book that lie at the far end. He ought to be taking a nap, or so the grown-ups … Read more
Ever since we moved to rural Boone County a year ago, our city friends have asked us the same question. “How do you like it out there?” they inquire, knowing full well we will say we love it. Sometimes they seem baffled by the enthusiasm of our reply, pressing us for details such as the … Read more
It was a spring to try our souls. Clinton’s justification of infanticide in the partial-birth abortion ban veto and the decisions by the Ninth and Second Circuits to promote assisted suicide gave shocking reminders—lest we forget—that the serpent yet slithers through the world, spewing venom most dangerously from those whose commission is to protect the … Read more
Biopsy. Cancer. Mastectomy. All clear. Another alarm. CAT scan. All clear. In the short space between New Year’s and the third week in January I careened from each of these startling events to the next. Before the all clear sounded I telescoped into the same window of time all the natural corresponding emotions. Fear came … Read more
The Ohio Valley, my home for three decades, is a land of great scenic beauty, archaeological and historic treasure, wildlife habitat, agriculture, and interspersion of industry centered around electric power generation and transport of heavy commodities, such as coal, chemicals, and grain. Along the thousand miles through which the Ohio flows from Pittsburgh to Cairo … Read more
Dedicate yourselves to thankfulness,” St. Paul tells us in Colossians 3:15. In this one terse, simple direction to be grateful, St. Paul sums up the fundamental attitude required of a Christian. Gratitude is our proper response to God’s gifts. Giving thanks is our first principle of worship. Gratitude comes easily at our house these days, … Read more
“Fear not. It’s like the unicorn, it will never be seen on this earth,” pronounced John Fund, a Wall Street Journal editorial writer. In this manner he foretold the stillbirth of Hillary Clinton’s comprehensive plan for national health care. But more like the phoenix, nationalized health care has arisen in new and more alluring guise. … Read more
From time to time my daughters bring me up to date on what is socially current. Knowing that I am always five years or so behind the latest social fads, they take it upon themselves to give me an occasional lesson. In their latest instruction they assured me of the acceptability of an odd new … Read more
We broke ground for the farmhouse, finally, on October 9. By our original calculations we were six months late; we had intended to break ground last spring. The delay, however, was a blessing, just that much more time to acclimate ourselves to the leap we are about to take in leaving the city and moving … Read more
Stalks of aged goldenrod and teasel stood frozen stiff beside the roadside. Milkweed pods on rigid stems had long since split their casings, spilling seeds to the wind, leaving only whitened hollows. Rows of stubbled corn, bleached to gray-brown, sat in ice-puddled fields. Except for the black dots of crows and grackles in bare distant … Read more
The proper study of mankind is man, said Alexander Pope. Even though I have never been an admirer of Pope and his neoclassic rationalism, I nonetheless am attached to his slogan, simply because I rewrite it in my head to say instead, “The proper study of woman is man,” or, as a man might say, … Read more
The Catholic woman—inheritor of the Judeo-Christian tradition—is many times blessed. The roots of her good fortune are nearly 4,000 years old, for some 4,000 years ago there was revealed to the Hebrew people a new principle of order: fidelity. This new principle of public and private order hinged upon God’s faithfulness to us and, in … Read more
Prague is Europe’s rediscovered crown jewel. Just four years after the communists were peacefully ousted in the Velvet Revolution of 1989, tourists are streaming into this lovely, unspoiled city on the Vlatava. So captivating are the Baroque buildings lining the streets winding down from Hradcany Castle; so mistily romantic is the cityscape of church domes … Read more
On the feasts of Saint Monica and Saint Augustine they sped away, our daughters, one to Dallas, the other to Rome, leaving me with my usual August ailment—the back-to-school ache of homesickness for children now abruptly vanished. This same malady has hit me in varying degrees of intensity since our oldest child left for nursery … Read more