Spiritual Warfare has been a theme in a number of my posts recently, and for good reason: while the struggle "against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12) is always with us, it has been causing more … Continue reading Agnus Dei from Haydn’s Missa in Tempore Belli
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Spiritual Warfare, the Chain of Command, and St. Equitius
"You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you." -attributed to Leon Trotsky There's a battle raging, and we're all part of it, like it or not. The growing intensity of the Culture War that's engulfing our society is just a surface manifestation of the real war that's been underway since Satan … Continue reading Spiritual Warfare, the Chain of Command, and St. Equitius
Giuseppe Sarti’s ‘Now the Powers of Heaven’ and Rublev’s ‘Holy Trinity’
Giuseppe Sarti Those of us in the West who have heard of the Italian composer Giuseppe Sarti most likely know about him through the tribute paid by another composer: in Mozart's Don Giovanni Don Juan listens to an air from Sarti's opera Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode as the old rake enjoys his … Continue reading Giuseppe Sarti’s ‘Now the Powers of Heaven’ and Rublev’s ‘Holy Trinity’
Has Tradition Become a Dirty Word?
Picture Sunday Mass in a typical parish. A mother comes up for communion holding a small child in her arms. As she approaches the priest, she awkwardly holds on to her infant with one arm in order to free up the other to take the Eucharistic host and quickly pop it into her mouth before … Continue reading Has Tradition Become a Dirty Word?
God, We Praise You – Domenico Scarlatti’s “Te Deum” and Raphael’s “Disputation of the Holy Sacrament”
Domenico Scarlatti In the teaching world we have a saying: "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree". In other words, when we meet the parents, we often understand why our students are the way they are (my lovely bride often quotes this back to me when one of our children does something particularly egregious … Continue reading God, We Praise You – Domenico Scarlatti’s “Te Deum” and Raphael’s “Disputation of the Holy Sacrament”
Whose Standard? St. Ignatius Loyola
Whose Standard Do You Follow? "Whose Standard?" That is the question posed by St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits. But first, would I be out of line to say that the Society of Jesus is not what it used to be? I don't want to be a Jebbie basher: I have studied under and … Continue reading Whose Standard? St. Ignatius Loyola
We’re Living in the Age of Esau
In pursuit of an illusory freedom we have cut ourselves off from the experience of our ancestors (racist, rigid, old, dead, etc.) and don't even seem to have noticed that at the same time we have cut ourselves off from reality. It's not all up to us. We can't invent ourselves, we can't, as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy notoriously opined, "define [our] own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life." A proper appreciation of what we have been given by our predecessors helps us understand our reliance on what has been given to us by God as well (which is one of the main ideas behind this blog). If, like Esau, we listen to our appetites of the moment and disregard everything else, we will lose our own birthright . . . forever.
Exult in God with Sacred Music and Art: Alessandro Scarlatti’s “Exultate Deo” and “Jesus Christ the Returning King” by Janusz Antosz
It’s only natural that the children of a loving Father should try to please and honor him. And so for the past two thousand years, Christians have put untold effort, ingenuity and love into creating a magnificent store of inspiring art of all sorts to glorify God, including a treasury of sacred music unmatched for … Continue reading Exult in God with Sacred Music and Art: Alessandro Scarlatti’s “Exultate Deo” and “Jesus Christ the Returning King” by Janusz Antosz
A Hand Slap to the Traditional Latin Mass
Introibo ad altare Dei ad Deum qui laetificat iuventutem meam. "I will go up to the altar of God, to God who makes joyful my youth" - Psalm 43:4 There is a well-known story about Canute, King of England and much of Scandinavia in the 11th century, who wanted to illustrate insignificance of human authority: … Continue reading A Hand Slap to the Traditional Latin Mass
“Gloria” from Johann Baptist Wanhal’s Missa Solemnis
It's hard to overstate how much beautiful, excellent music has been created over the centuries, and how much of it is rarely heard by the vast majority of people. Last week I published a clip of a "Kyrie" composed by Johann Baptist Wanhal. Wanhal was an important and influential composer of the late 18th and early 19th … Continue reading “Gloria” from Johann Baptist Wanhal’s Missa Solemnis