Archive for October 2021
A Utilitarian or Saintly Marriage?
Years ago, my mother caught my father off guard with a most profound question. She asked what he would miss about her after she died. That night, my father stayed up for hours writing a litany of things as tears poured down his cheeks. Sadly, many of us take our loved ones for granted. Many…
Read MoreTips to Cultivate the Interior Life in the Family
Nearly a century ago, English writer G. K. Chesterton remarked that the “coming peril” of civilization was “standardization by a low standard.” Today, we can see this pervasive influence, even in the prayer lives of many Catholic families. Beleaguered in a storm of secular influences, many Catholics choose not to pray together as a family. …
Read MoreOn the Devil, Cultural Marxism, and St. John Vianney
Growing up, I often saw my father reading a thick biography of Saint John Vianney. Some years later, I would pick up my own copy of The Curé D’Ars and read about the devil and John Vianney. “For the space of some thirty-five years—from 1824 to 1858—the Curé d’Ars was subjected, even outwardly, to the…
Read MoreBattle Ready: No Mental Prayer, No Holiness
“Nonne militia est vita hominis super terram, et sicut dies mercennarii dies eius?” —Job 7:1, Vulgate The book of Job asks, “Is not the life of man on earth warfare, and are not his days like that of a hireling?” He seems to think that the answer is obvious, since the question is less a…
Read MoreTAN Academy: Voyaging Through Read Aloud Land as a Family
It’s 8:00 a.m. and you are packing up for a seriously groovy adventure. I suppose you could say you are planning a sort of mature escape from the lovely humdrum of homemaking, or taking a day off to visit a literary amusement park in the midst of the daily grind of homeschooling. You are really…
Read MoreThe Catholic Response to Moral and Religious Deterioration
“All human nature vigorously resists grace because grace changes us and the change is painful.” —Flannery O’Connor The Christian is called to heroism wherever and whenever he lives, at least what we would call heroism today. Its real name is simply Christian duty. This duty calls for an active response to grace, a transformation of…
Read MoreBefore Time (Part I)
Your humility had no beginning, O Lord, for You had no beginning. You were eternally begotten from Your Father. Your very essence is that of Son to the Father. Your humility, therefore, is wrapped up in Your very being, for You have always subjected Yourself as Son to the Father in humble obedience, in loving…
Read MoreParents as Spiritual Guides
“The family is the foundation unit of the human race. God Himself solemnized and witnessed the first marriage and ordained that through marriage the race should increase and multiply. The continuance of marriage and the family throughout time was therefore the plan of God. Christ, moreover, when on earth, concerned Himself with the nature of…
Read MoreThe Last of the Martyrs of the Coliseum
“The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians.” —Tertullian There is an old story told in Rome of a fifth-century monk named Telemachus, whose name has been written in the annals of Roman history. On a memorable day in the year 404, it is recorded he entered the Coliseum in Rome, the largest ancient…
Read MoreOn Discerning the Treasury of Sacred Music
“Cantare amantis est (singing belongs to one who loves).” —St. Augustine It is a matter of fact that in the vast majority of Catholic parishes the liturgical music is abysmal. This is a decades-old dilemma that is still menacing the Church across the globe, the aftermath of the 1960s modernist purge that announced itself as…
Read MoreThe Clash of Angels (Part II)
As tradition holds, O Lord, the radical idea of Your incarnation became known to the angels. Your greatest of angels of the highest choir, Lucifer the seraphim, could not bear the thought. He, the greatest of all creation, would be called to bow down to flesh and bone, artery and vein, synapse and sinew. He…
Read MoreLook Upon Your Child as An Immortal Creature
Look at your little child. See the little smile, the little nose; see the little arms and legs; hear the sweet little voice that calls your name in joy and sorrow. If you could, you would imitate God and number the hairs upon your little one’s head (Mt 10:30), treasuring each one, “for where your…
Read MoreFrom Mother’s Heart to Your Home…
Beloved, this is my first column to you within the wonderful and God-blessed family of TAN. I am honored to be invited to write this monthly column and am especially grateful that we can, in this way, support one another as the enemy continues his battle for the destruction of the family. I say that…
Read MoreParents as Primary Teachers
“In the work of education, the family forms man in the fullness of his personal dignity according to all his dimensions, including the social dimension. The family, in fact, constitutes ‘a community of love and solidarity, which is uniquely suited to teach and transmit cultural, ethical, social, spiritual and religious values, essential for the development…
Read MoreTAN Academy as the Living Order of Creation
“The meaning of human life is to serve God in this life and to enjoy Him forever in the next.” —Dr. Alice von Hildebrand In an age of secularism, relativism, and nihilism, it is more important than ever for Catholic youth to be preserved in their innocence and prepared for adulthood while being brought up…
Read MoreUnchained
I love the old Twilight Zone episodes. One of my favorites is called “The Howling Man.” A bedraggled, desperate, ill tourist somewhere in the remote mountains of Europe happens upon a monastery late at night in the middle of nowhere. The monks and the abbot, Brother Jerome, are reluctant to let him in, but their…
Read MoreOn the Impressive Ceremonies of the Latin Mass
“It is known, in fact, that the Latin liturgy of the Church in its various forms, in each century of the Christian era, has been a spur to the spiritual life of many saints, has reinforced many peoples in the virtue of religion and fecundated their piety.” —Pope Benedict XVI Mass is the highest act…
Read MoreIf Foolish Words Cut Our Lips: Welcome from the CEO of TAN Books
“For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” —Matthew 12:36–37 How does one begin a blog by TAN Books? What if God were to read our blog? Would He care about the intent, the content, or the tone? How mighty a question; yet how foolish a question.…
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