But the snake said to the woman: “You certainly will not die! God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil.” The woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. According to G.K. Chesterton in The Comm ..read more

It seems slow – walking, that is – and, to our modern modes of transport, it is. Bikes can move at about 20 miles per hour; cars, 60; airplanes, 400 or more. Yet, as Nick Hunt argues – and as partial as I am to bicycles, and my write up another post on the glory of two pedaled wheels – walking is the most human of paces, and the most human form of transportation, involving only our own bodies, their rhythm and musculature; the anatomy of our forebears, their only mode of moving from one place to another, passed onto us, shaped us physiologically, psychologically, even spiritually, over aeons ..read more

Bd. Marie-Anne Blondin (+1890), whose optional memorial falls today in our fair Dominion, the day of her birth in 1809, five decades before Canada was Canada. Most Canadians, alas, have likely never heard of her, but she was one of the founders of our once-glorious and envied educational system, before it fell apart due to government funding and cultural disintegration. Marie Anne’s birth name was Esther, the daughter of poor rural farmers in Quebec. She tried to join the Congregation of Notre Dame – founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys – and the sisters taught her to read and write, but she was le ..read more

One more note on this April 16th, which also marks the anniversary of the Battle of Culloden in 1746, when the Scottish regiments, in support of Charles Stuart, were decisively defeated by the English. Bonnie Prince Charlie, as he was known, was the grandson of James VII of Scotland, also James II of England, who had been usurped by the interlopers William of Orange and Mary, who was James’ Protestant daughter. In the aftermath of the battle, the highlands were ‘cleared’ – that is, the lands seized from their rightful owners, the customs crushed, retributive reprisals – not unlike what was don ..read more

(On this commemoration of Saint Bernadette Soubirous, it seems fitting to post this reflection from a new contributor from Ireland, Dr. A.E. Dundon, on the mystery of Our Lady, under the title she revealed to the young peasant girl in her own French patois, Que soy era immaculada councepciou. Some of the details herein are not dogma, but most are piously believed, as consistent with what we believe of Our Lady from divine revelation, not least her preservation from all sin. Editor) In 1854, Pope Pius IX declared the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary a dogma of the Catholic Churc ..read more

April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, and the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today also marks the commemoration of Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at the now-famous ‘grotto’ just outside the village of Lourdes, between the months of February and July in 1858, the last appearance on July 16th, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the same day as the miracle of the Sun at Fatima in 1917. An overview of Saint Bernadette’s life may be found in our reflection on Our Lady of Lourd ..read more

Most people lie. At least, so it seems, according to a recent podcast by Terry O’Reilly’s Under the Influence, which, unlike many shows Canada’s public broadcaster, the CBC, speaks a lot of truth, I suppose because it’s about advertising. Sure, advertisers lie, but, at the end of the day, they must face the reality, for people either buy their products, or they don’t. And if the product is deficient, word gets around. The more intriguing thing in this particular episode is that although humans fib on everything from resume, to awkward social situations, to whether they give to charities, they ..read more

(In light of today’s commemoration of Saint Margaret of Castello, patroness of the unborn, and of Arizona’s recent instantiation of pro-life laws protecting the unborn from conception – causing rage amongst those who consider abortion a fundamental ‘right’ – here are some bold and clear words from contributor Carl Sundell. Like many moral questions, abortion may be reduced to one fundamental principle, from which all else logically and inexorably follows. Editor) No sane person ever imagines that an innocent child ought to be killed. The Declaration of Independence tells us that we all have th ..read more

Introduction Natural law is a theory in ethics and philosophy that says that human beings possess intrinsic values that govern their reasoning and behavior.  Natural law maintains that these rules of right and wrong are inherent in people and are not created by society or judges.  This is in contrast to what is called “positive law” or “human law,” which is defined by statute and common law and may or may not reflect the natural law.[1]  Unlike those laws enacted by governments to address specific needs or behaviors, natural law is universal, applying to everyone, everywhere, in ..read more

On this April 11th, 1903 – the same year that the Italian Guiseppe Sarto was elected Pope later that summer as Pius X – another Italian saint died, a lovely young woman by the name of Gemma Galgani. She lived a brief life of 24 years, as did a number of other young saints, including Pier Giorgio Frassati and Thérèse Lisieux, and, like the latter, the last span of her life spent slowly and painfully dying from tuberculosis. She was born in 1878, the fifth of eight children, the family suffering illnesses and deaths: Aurelia, the mother, died of the same disease that would later take her daughte ..read more