The Holy Angels
Today, September 29th, the Church celebrates the feast of the Archangels, St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael, and on October 2nd celebrates the memorial of the Guardian Angels. In light of these liturgical celebrations, it would be good to have a basic understanding of angels and the role they…
The Argument from Existence: Aquinas’s Philosophical Approach to God
Aquinas’s argument for the existence of God starts from his commonsense theory of existence for particular things. For Aquinas, existence is something things present in reality actually have or participate in. Existence, in other words, is that in virtue of which something is included in reality, or actually is, instead…
30th Anniversary of Veritatis Splendor
St. John Paul II wrote, during his relatively lengthy reign as Supreme Pontiff, many noteworthy and helpful documents. His first encyclical, Redemptor Hominis, reminded the faithful of the efficacy and universal scope of Jesus’s salvific work, setting the stage and tone for his entire pontificate; his last, Ecclesia de Eucharistia,…
St. Irenaeus on the Holy Eucharist
St. Irenaeus of Lyons, a second-century Greek bishop that established churches in what is now the south of France, is a go-to Church Father when it comes to establishing the early Christian belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. His teaching is very clear: “the mixed cup…
Are you Vicious?
Are you a vicious person? The answer to this question depends on whether you have vice. But what is vice? Perhaps it’s best to contrast it with virtue. Where virtue is an enduring disposition, or habit, to perform good human acts—acts that are befitting our nature as human beings, vice…
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Faith of Our Fathers: St. Athanasius of Alexandria
In his treatise On the Incarnation, St. Athanasius seeks to demonstrate that the Christian religion is the only true religion and he sets forth the central beliefs of the Christian faith. Here, Athanasius does not act as a speculative theologian; rather, he seeks to “communicate in writing [that which] we…
Faith of Our Fathers: St. Thomas Aquinas
Born in the late 1220s to a family of southern Italian nobility, Thomas d’Aquino seemed destined for great things. As a boy he had been sent to the powerful Benedictine abbey of Monte Cassino, perhaps with the thought that he might one day become abbot. While there he acquired the…
St. Thomas & the Cure for Modern Malaise
Ever since his canonization, a mere 50 years after his earthly passing, the Church has routinely advanced and promoted the precious wisdom of the “Common Doctor.” A quick study of magisterial pronouncements makes it quite clear that the Church routinely encourages Thomistic thought precisely at times of acute cultural woe….
Faith of Our Fathers: Introduction
Interesting conversations almost always begin with a bold, polemic statement. So, allow me to begin this series by stating an obvious but seldom admitted observation: our modern age is motivated by an irrational faith in the ‘new’. If it is new it is presumed as somehow being better by mere…
The Magi & the Epiphany
After the celebration of Christmas, it might be tempting to think that the cause for celebration is over. After a month of preparation for the “big day,” it becomes all too easy to slip into the “well, that was nice” mindset. To be sure, Christmas is one of the holiest…
Ember Days & the Restoration of the Catholic Imagination
Much of who we are, what we do, and how we express ourselves as Catholics is tied inexplicitly to our ancient, but mostly forgotten, agrarian heritage. One cannot read the bible, for example, without soon stumbling onto a reference about the land, or farming, or animal husbandry. The pages of…
Aquinas & Good in the Midst of Evil
Why is it that someone murders, riots, or commits adultery? It’s easy to think it’s because they want to do evil, and it’s easy to caricature their intention as wicked. However, when somebody does a wicked act, we often ask “Why?”; and it is intensely frustrating when we cannot ascertain…
Catholicism & a Comfort-Driven Culture
Why does Catholicism emphasize suffering more than Protestantism? A friend of mine asked me this a while back, and it’s a question that got me thinking about some of the fundamental differences between Catholicism and other Christian groups. Though my friend asked the question in sort of an overgeneralized way—it’s…
A Brief Welcome to RCIA
Welcome to the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, RCIA! Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6, RSVCE). It is then the purpose of RCIA to introduce individuals to the Truth,…
Newman & “Virgilian” Education
I am oft to describe the efforts and activities of the Alcuin Institute as essentially “Virgilian.” I realize that this descriptor fails to clarify anything, but I don’t know of a better adjective to use. To be honest, I stole the word from St. John Henry Cardinal Newman, who uses…
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