Saint John of Cantius’ Holy Hidden Life

On this Christmas Eve’s Eve, we quietly celebrate the commemoration of John of Cantius (1390 – 1473), or ‘Kanty’ in the original Polish transliteration – a scholar, a teacher, a gentleman, a priest and, most of all, a saint, who spent his whole life as a professor at the Krakow Academy, later named the Jagiellonian, […]

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Back to Catholic Insight

As readers may know, I have taken on the duties of editing the newly updated Catholic Insight on-line, a time-and-mind-absorbing project, but, I hope, a worthy one.  Hence, my posts have been relegated to that site for now, usually under the ‘Editor’s Corner’, sometimes in the main articles.   So, for now, if you would like […]

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The Pope, Fatima and Medjugorje

In his recent pilgrimage to Fatima, the Holy Father, in canonizing two of the young seers, Jacinta and Francesco, delivered a fine homily on the mysterious woman the children saw, whom they, in their innocence, knew to be the Mother of God:   We have a Mother!” Pope Francis exclaimed, continuing, ‘So beautiful a Lady,’ as the […]

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The Truth and Irony of Mercy

Irony may be described in one way as something happening, not that you don’t want to happen, but that you don’t expect to happen, that goes against what should be the case.  That is why it is ironic that right in the middle of the just completed Year of Mercy, decreed by Pope Francis in […]

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L’Arche, Pronouns and Police

L’Arche, the community founded by Jean Vanier, has clarified his ambiguous comments upon euthanasia, upon which I wrote a few months ago. You can read their brief, one page comments here, and make up your own minds how clear they are.  I find that there is still a trace of ambiguity in this clarificatio, but […]

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Holy or False Innocence

Marc Bauerlein has an insightful essay on false innocence in the recent issue of First Things, describing those who feign an innocence that, perhaps at some level they think they have, but, deeper down, in their heart of hearts, in that still, small voice of conscience I alluded to in my last post, they know […]

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Nota in Brevis November 18th

There is a new craze, of all things, for adult colouring books.  I know much has been written on the infantilization of our culture, the Boomers regressing to their earlier years, trying to find their lost youth, and the Millenials striving mightily to hold on to a youth quickly slipping away.  But colouring books?  Whatever […]

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Political ‘Knifing’?

I have been meaning to comment on a ridiculous article in the National Post at the end of August, but one which does pertain, at least indirectly, to the current election.  The article described the supposedly unassailable argument of Deputy Premier Deb Matthews against Patrick Brown on the subject of ‘women’s rights’ and abortion.   […]

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Reason and the Refugee

Following on my last post on the ‘refugee crisis’:  One danger in a situation like this, especially one of its global impact, is to act purely on the basis of emotion, a gut reaction which we later, to put it mildly, regret.   Saint Thomas has an article on ‘alsmgiving’ (II-II, q.32, a.10), wherein he […]

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