On the Objectivity of the Beautiful
Can we really rank the works of fine art? Is one composer greater than another, one piece of sacred music more beautiful than another? Or is it all relative?
Archbishop Sample’s Letter On Sacred Music (4 of 8)
“Everything in God’s good creation is hierarchically ordered, and the virtue of each part is to belong to the whole in the right way…”
Art as Affirmation and Sacrifice
True art affirms the Catholic Faith—and represents a spiritual sacrifice pleasing and acceptable to the Lord.
What the Ordinary Form Could Be: The Vienna Oratory
Have you ever wondered what a Novus Ordo High Mass might look like? Read on…
The Danger of Being Arbitrary in the Liturgy
Traditional practices form a coherent whole, as they developed organically together. In many ways the liturgical reform was mechanistic and ideological.
Three Categories of Liturgical Problem
We need to know the different kinds of problems there are, and who in the Church is qualified or required to fix them.
Dogma as the Servant of Mystery
Dogmatic statements liberate the Christian intellect by establishing it in the truth.
Sacred Choral Works CDs Available
These 3 full-length compact discs feature recordings of nearly every score in the 273-page book.
A Triple Cord: Liturgy, Aquinas, and CST
The traditional liturgy, the study of St. Thomas Aquinas, and Catholic social doctrine―these three things stand or fall together.
“Soft Source of Calm Tranquillity”: The Quiet Mass
A poem set to music by Handel perfectly captures the feelings one has at a quiet low Mass. Here I try to say why this form of the Mass is so special and valuable.
Sheed on the Missal of 1968
Frank Sheed is one of my favorite Catholic authors, but when it came time for him to grapple with the liturgical revolution, either his perspicuity or his nerve failed him.
Music Beautiful by Nature
The “beautiful” is largely distinguished by the degree to which the beautiful “thing” is in accord with nature.
Why We Need the Greatest Art in Catholic Worship
Was it necessary to change our forms of worship to suit “modern man”? And do we need to set aside our glorious musical heritage? Absolutely not.
Why Do We Kneel in Church?
Kneeling is a sign that both signifies and helps produce in the soul the disposition of humility before the great King over all the earth.
Catholic Identity Crisis: Who Are We? What Do We Believe? How Should We Live?
Eastern Catholics and Christians have maintained the depth, beauty, and sacredness of their liturgical heritage. How does the institutional failure of Roman Catholics to preserve their own heritage affect their ability to evangelize, or even to live a fully Catholic life?
The Eternal, Not the Contemporary
Arvo Pärt speaks words of wisdom about why the music of some composers never gets old and why old texts are always young.
Seven Theses for the Evaluation of Music
Let us listen consistently to the greatest works in music and make them the exemplars, the teachers, the inspirations and consolations of our interior life as aesthetic beings.
Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis” and the Five Ways of St. Thomas
An imaginative or imaginary (you decide) correlation between the five movements of the greatest proto-Romantic sacred work and the five greatest proofs for the existence of God.
Seeking Inspiration in the Renaissance
Just as those who are passionate about sacred music find great inspiration in the Renaissance, so today we can look around at a new rebirth of Catholic tradition and find hope for a renewal of Catholic culture.
Why Focus So Much on the Liturgy?
Sometimes people wonder why traditional Catholics make such a big deal of the liturgy. Do they really think it’s the most important thing in the world? As a matter of fact, they do―because it is.
Poverty, Self-Denial, and Peace – Part II
How do we learn the art of self-denial? In small steps that prepare us for the ultimate step: surrendering our soul to the Lord at death.
Poverty, Self-Denial, and Peace – Part I
The remedy for disordered desire is mortification and the longing for God, the living God, who calls us to intimate union. How different is Christian redemption from a Buddhist annihilation of self!
Lord, Deliver Me From My Persecutors
It is only a matter of time before being a Catholic at all will involve renouncing much that the world considers important and necessary. And soon there will be open persecution. Are we ready?
Liturgical Abuse and Abuse of Minors
The decades-long abuse of the sacred liturgy—and therefore, of faithful Catholics who have a right to the sacred liturgy in its fullness—constitutes the first and fundamental form of clerical abuse of the laity, of which sexual abuse is a particular and more demented moral variety.
Byzantine Splendor and Roman Sobriety
The traditional Western Mass is intent on reminding the worshiper of the death of Christ and the believer’s own sinfulness and unworthiness, while the Eastern Divine Liturgy accents the victory of Christ and the Christian’s triumph with Him in glory.