Far be it from me to be judgmental. The names that my friends give to their own children are their business. But ever since my otherwise sensible college roommate named his first-born daughter McKenzie, I’ve been off the reservation. What do girls’ names like Jordan, Chandler, Avery, Cassidy, Haden, McCall, Brooke, and Brittany have in … Read more
In his Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Newman wrote that Anglicans would never convert to Catholicism en masse. Rather, individuals would come home to Rome a few at a time as they grew unable to tolerate the abuses in their own communion. Ronald Knox probably provided the best explanation for such foot-dragging in his own spiritual … Read more
After great ecumenical councils, periods of confusion often follow. New types of saints and new religious movements attuned to the conciliar spirit suddenly emerge. Declining groups ignore or willfully misinterpret conciliar reforms—which are, after all, only more perfect statements of the same Faith—and strive unsuccessfully to thwart them. Thus St. Francis De Sales (d. 1627), … Read more
In the fall of 1984, when my wife and I arrived at Oxford, we joined a community of 12,000 students—including 800 Americans — and participated in a venerable educational enterprise both epic and comic. Several years later, we came away with an abiding fondness and gratitude for England in general and Oxford in particular. Matthew … Read more