St. Austin Review: Reclaiming Culture

Welcome to the Ink Desk

Enjoy the ponderings of the Star's contributors and add your own thoughts. As this section develops, we hope it may become a medium for an exchange of ideas among those who are working towards the cultural revival.

• April 2nd, 2013More on Milton and His Contemporariesby Joseph Pearce

  Continuing my occasional sharing of private correspondence on the Ink Desk, I'm publishing an e-mail I've just received in response to yesterday's post about Milton's apparent conversion.

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• April 2nd, 2013The Culture of Death and the Poetry of Lifeby Joseph Pearce

  Subscribers to the St. Austin Review will be familiar with the writing and wisdom of Donald DeMarco, who has been a regular contributor to StAR over the years. In today's Crisis he waxes lyrical on the connection between Blessed John Paul II and T. S. Eliot, especially in their respective critiques of the culture of death.

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• April 2nd, 2013Candles in the Darkby Joseph Pearce

  Earlier today I gave an interview for EWTN Radio on my new book, Candles in the Dark: The Authorized Biography of Father Richard Ho Lung and the Missionaries of the Poor (Saint Benedict Press). Those interested in listening to the interview or in learning more about the book can listen to the interview on the uploaded podcast on the following link.

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• April 1st, 2013Paradise Lost and Foundby Joseph Pearce

  As astonishing as it may seem, the great Puritan poet, John Milton, seems to have become a Catholic several years before his death, and to have remained a papist until his death. Evidence that Milton is amongst the illustrious list of literary converts is given in a footnote on p. 71 of my book, Through Shakespeare's Eyes.

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• March 28th, 2013Sodomy and Proper Disgustby Colin Jory

  C.S. Lewis’ little booklet The Abolition of Man is about proper responses. Lewis was fired to write it by a declaration in a new school-book that when a person says that a waterfall is sublime, he is telling nothing about the waterfall but only about his personal feelings. He declared that this is false, and that when fed to schoolchildren it is destructively false. He told that in reality the beholder was not merely testifying to how he felt when he gazed on the waterfall, but implying that, because of the way we are made and the characteristics of the particular waterfall, those feelings are the proper ones to have, and the waterfall should seem to any and all of us to be sublime. Extending the precept, he argued that there is a natural law, and within that there is human nature, by authority of which there are proper ways we should feel about a great array of things.

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• March 28th, 2013Speaking Engagements for Aprilby Joseph Pearce

  Here is my speaking schedule for the month of April. Come and see me if I'm in your area.

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• March 28th, 2013Newman A to Z: Pby Joseph Pearce

  PRAYER FOR THE DEAD
   
  That the prayers of the living benefit the dead in Christ, is, to say the least, not inconsistent ... with the primitive belief.
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• March 28th, 2013TORn: A Site all Tolkien Fans Should Frequentby Abigail C. Reimel

  Just wanted to share a link that should have been shared a long time ago!

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• March 27th, 2013Bilbo Baggins Comes to Wisconsinby Joseph Pearce

  I will be giving a talk on the Catholicism of The Hobbit for the diocense of Madison next week. If you are in the Madison area I hope you will come to the talk and will introduce yourself to me as a visitor to the StAR Ink Desk. Here are the details:

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• March 27th, 2013Candles of Light and Lifeby Joseph Pearce

  I'm delighted and excited to announce the publicatoin of my newest book, Candles in the Dark: Father Ho Lung and the Missionaries of the Poor. Those unfamiliar with the work of the Missionaries of the Poor might like to read an article on the MOP that I've just written for Truth and Charity Forum:

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• March 27th, 2013The Catholic Northby Joseph Pearce

  I've received an e-mail from someone who is visiting England's Lake District and wanted some advice regarding places to visit of Catholic interest. Here's my reply:

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• March 26th, 2013Reconciliationby Kevin O'Brien

  Last night I posted on Facebook

  Has anyone out there ever had anyone who hurt you, other than a spouse or child, actually apologize to you - or apologize in anything but a very limited and conditional way? It has happened to me once in my entire life, and that was an actor who wanted me to hire him again. I did, and it was a huge mistake. Other than that, a genuine "I'm sorry" is never heard, among Christians, pagans, or atheists.

  
  To my surprise, I got a number of comments.   Many people said that they and their spouses are always apologizing to one another, and sincerely - but that it's a very rare thing for those outside of our immediate families to do such things. 

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• March 26th, 2013Boundariesby Kevin O'Brien

  Love demands boundaries.  This is maybe the hardest lesson for moderns to appreciate. 

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• March 26th, 2013A “New World” New Popeby Hannah O'Connor

  March 13^th, was the day of my first Pope.  I had grown to respect and love Benedict during my four years as an undergrad at the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, and his writings in fact, were influential in my conversion to Catholicism this past year. But, March 13^th was the day of MY first Pope.

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• March 25th, 2013Big Brother and Big Businessby Joseph Pearce

  Big Government and Big Business are the best of friends. The nature of their friendship, and its destructive impact on the freedom of the family, can be seen in the way in which Bill Gates is in league with the Obama regime in forcing secular fundamentalism onto school curricula across the nation. If Gates and Obama have their way, all children will be forced to learn their version of reality. Their plans amount to compulsory brainwashing. Read more:

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• March 25th, 2013The Degrees of Difficulty in Forgivingby Dena Hunt

  Breathes there a Christian who has not encountered the stumbling block of forgiveness? The lack of it, I mean. First, some delineation is necessary. I’m not talking about huge collective sins like, say, World War II, nor am I talking about the minor irritants or disappointments in some acquaintance or other. No. Somebody close. Something personal.

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• March 22nd, 2013Is the New Pope an Admirer of G.K. Chesterton?by Joseph Pearce

  Few people know that John Paul I was a great admirer of G. K. Chesterton, writing about Chesterton's novel, The Ball and the Cross, in his own book, Illustrissimi. It now seems that there is evidence that the new pope might also be an admirer of Chesterton. Here's the evidence:  

   
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• March 22nd, 2013To Crack the Frozen Earthby C.J. Williams

  Lent always meant death to me. No, it wasn’t grieving, or even a miserable season. But it was grey. The numbness of a shroud. The turning away. It meant looking down and being or acting depressed, and it meant dredging up all the abject and inexcusable things I’d done or known or seen in the world.

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• March 21st, 2013Good Catholic Historiansby Joseph Pearce

  As we don't publish readers' letters in the St. Austin Review I am going to publish the occasional letter on the Ink Desk, especially if the content might be of general interest. Here is an e-mail that I've just received from a subsciber asking for some advice about books on the history of the Catholic Church. I've preserved the privacy of the correspondent. My response follows ...

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• March 21st, 2013A Postcard from the Still Frozen Northby Joseph Pearce

  I'm beginning to feel that I bring the bad weather with me whenever I travel to New Hampshire to teach at Thomas More College and Mount Royal Academy. Last autumn my arrival coincided with tropical storm Sandy, last month it was heralded by a blizzard that dropped more than a foot of snow. This time I had to be rescued from the north of the state a few hours before a new snow storm swept through, threatening to prevent me travelling to campus. In spite of such chilly challenges, I continue to have a great time teaching in New England.

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