The Line Between Holiness and Madness in Ron Hansen’s Mariette in Ecstasy
Modern artistic treatments of religious life tend to share a few assumptions: first, that there is something sinister in a life…
Satan and the Millennium
Harry (not his real name, but a real person) was an amateur philosopher and professional fishing guide. We had been…
Coincidentally: Down to the Sea in Ships
The Coverdale Translation of Psalm 107:23 sonorously extols them “that go down to the sea in ships, and occupy their…
Finding True Meaning in the Modern World: Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop
To live as an American and as a Catholic is no small challenge, for America is fundamentally a modern project and…
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
The arrival of a New Year invites reflection on a particular horror of human existence. A horror that was well exemplified…
What I Learned From a Muslim About Eucharistic Adoration
My friend John, a very intelligent and faithful Catholic, told me the following story when he was one of my…
Coincidentally: A Terrible Swift Sword
As a youth, Churchill told Violet Bonham-Carter: “We are all worms. But I do believe I am a glow-worm.” He…
Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”: A Magnificent Horror
There is a level of literary horror that is so monstrous it is magnificent,presenting a purity of perversity that no…
“A Visit from St. Nicholas” by Clement C. Moore: The Doctrine of Santa Claus
Twas only a matter of time. And it came—as it comes to all. ’Twas the night before Christmas, when all…
A Little Lesson in Comparative Religion
The following incident actually happened in one of my classes at Boston College. For purposes of inclusion in my forthcoming…
