Irenaeus’s doctrine of divine pedagogy has definite application to the intellectual and spiritual life: It sets the tone for a lifestyle of quiet, patient growth in knowledge, through prayer and learning at the feet of the Lord. “Behold, I make all things new.” (Revelation 21:5) St. Irenaeus of Lyons is one of the major Christian [...]
The Letter of Clement provides our first glimpse of the Gospel fused with 'Romanitas'—a vision of Rome not so much as a symbol of strength and power as of unity and peace. Whereas the old 'Pax Romana' was achieved through conquest and force, the new order would be built on the love of Jesus. The [...]
There is truly no place quite like the Bible Museum because, in it, our faith is made manifest with concrete clarity. It is a place of ongoing learning and discovery that presages that eternity in which we will continuously unravel the mysteries of God’s truth. Whenever I need a respite from the hermetic life of [...]
In his lectures about three musical geniuses—Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert—Dietrich von Hildebrand shows how the integration of music with spiritual and philosophic insight can enrich our musical understanding. Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, by Dietrich von Hildebrand, trans. John Henry Crosby (109 pages, Hildebrand Project, 2025) When a distinguished Catholic philosopher discourses on three distinguished composers of [...]
Contemporary composer Michael Torke’s music invites us to slow down the frenzied pace of our lives, to reflect on who we are as human beings, where we have been and where we are going. His is indeed music for the ages. We often lament the decline of culture, but I would submit that the decline [...]
It’s remarkable that "Amahl" should be the most frequently performed opera worldwide, considering this is a work created for a specific seasonal context. Yet in another sense it’s understandable, given how Gian Carlo Menotti brilliantly scaled down the luxuriant demands of opera to create a small-budget piece that just about any group of skilled performers [...]
The Second Coming is of course closely connected to the doctrine of God’s kingdom. To believe in Jesus’ New Advent is to believe that he is the true king, that he will return to take his rightful place as ruler of the world, setting everything right again and governing a heavenized earth in justice and [...]
Gratitude—both gratitude to the human persons around us and the ultimate gratitude toward the personal God—brings to us a sense of order and peace, a grounding in truth that sets us free. Gratitude, by Dietrich von Hildebrand, Balduin V. Schwarz, Joseph Ratzinger, and Romano Guardini (135 pages, Hildebrand Project, 2023) The great spiritual teachers tell [...]
As a literary scholar, C.S. Lewis’s principal concern in his "Reflections on the Psalms" is to vindicate the Psalms as poetry and, therefore, vehicles of beauty, delight, and even (as he boldly puts it) “mirth.” These are things which, Lewis says, modern humanity needs badly. One of the great constants in my life has been [...]
Longer-lived than most composers, Georg Philipp Telemann was still creating and experimenting in his 80s, ready to welcome the new Classical era represented by Haydn and Mozart. In some ways Telemann was the key composer of the high Baroque era, one who amalgamated all the styles of the day in a style that reflected geniality, [...]
As institutions crumble around us, our constructed selves are stripped away, and we are more and more reduced to the most basic and existential thing: namely our relationship to God. Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection's method for “practicing the presence of God” consisted of keeping up a continuous dialogue with Him in one’s heart. Brother [...]
What is it that makes life worth living when the temporal aspects of life are taken care of? That is the realm of culture and the spirit. It has to do with the development of our minds, our moral growth, and our sense of belonging to a community. “The empires of the future are the [...]
Plato’s contributions are indispensable, pointing us to a world beyond what we immediately sense and teaching us of our dignity and worth. But what parts of Plato are good for us, and what parts are not? Where does Plato end and Christianity begin? Those are the questions which thoughtful believers need to ponder. It has [...]
By my reckoning, Frank Martin and Arthur Honegger were among the greats of 20th-century classical music. Fusing tradition with the new, they created works rich in humanity that leave a deep impression on the listener. Instead of throwing tonality out the window, they enriched it with fascinating new sounds, and they never forgot music’s human [...]