Writings

Musings, Essays,
&  other Pondersome Distractions

short reflections on whatever happens to catch our fancy
longform articles intended to spur on your own reflections
spiritual meditations given throughout the liturgical year

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…

 

The Alcuin Institute is constantly striving to understand the world in deep ways, and we do our best to spur others on to reflect more deeply on life. However, our individual journeys towards the Truth often go unnoticed. We hope that these “musings” on various issues will give you an insight into the deeply personal nature of our mission, while also giving you an occasion to ponder the same mysterious realities we seek to know and make known everyday.

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The Bond of Mother & Child

The expectant mother is intimately connected with her developing child, and that connection unites the entire family in the waiting. Throughout pregnancy, the family recognizes the communication between mother and child, mother to father. This mother/child communication can be observed at the cellular level. That there is a flow of…

Living the Faith in April

But of course, we’re not there yet. April’s first weeks are still in Lent, so be sure to hang in there with those Lenten practices! If you are short on spiritual reading, perhaps take a look at some of the saints with feast days that fall during Lent. The rousing…

St. Thomas’s Prayer Tips

The Church has always emphasized prayer as one of the spiritual practices that we should undertake during the season of Lent. So, it’s worth our while reflecting a bit on it. And we can let St. Thomas Aquinas be our guide. Aquinas has many things to say about prayer.[1] But…

On Hell, Lying & the Purpose of Speech

Having journeyed through most of hell, Dante the Pilgrim and his guide, the poet Virgil, arrive at the Eighth Circle. In Dante’s Inferno, hell is presented as nine concentric circles spiraling into the earth—with each consecutive circle representing a greater sin and thus a worse punishment. As such, those near…

The Way of Spiritual Compromise

King Solomon is known for being the son of King David, and his name carries with it the connotation of peace.  He was able to build up peace in his reign, yet it did not end well with him.  He left the tribes of Israel in a state of division…

Slaking the Thirst for Esteem

Pride and vainglory go together like thunder and lightning, the Fathers tell us. The sins that are capital are not necessarily the most serious sins, but they are “capital” because they are like captains leading armies of other sins into the soul. There are seven—no, eight … well, maybe nine:…

Desire & Happiness: Part 2

In a previous musing, I stated that the quest for happiness is the quest to discover the goods that really perfect us as human beings and posed the question, ‘What are those goods?’ The short answer to this question is the ends to which nature directs our innate human powers—the…

Desire & Happiness: Part 1

In 2013, the United Nations declared March 20th the International Day of “Happiness.” That same year Pharrell Williams released his widely popular song “Happy.” A simple search on Amazon lists thousands of books on happiness. I think it is safe to say that our culture is fixated on happiness. But…

The Bible & the Life of Grace

I recall teaching a Sacred Scripture course a couple of years ago and scandalizing a student or two with the above quote. “Is St. Augustine denying the importance of the Bible?” The Doctor of Grace is doing nothing of the kind, though it is not a mystery why this quote…

In Defense of Erotic Love

There is in every human person a primal desire to be satiated. We long to feel whole, to feel rest in the love of another. We are drawn to beauty, we love it, and we wish to attain it and delight in it always. The lover seeks satisfaction in the…