The Narthex

The Jewish website Mosaic carried Adam Eilath’s interesting article “Jews Must Resist Becoming a People of the Screen.” The author reflects on traditional Jewish religious education. It’s not by accident that Jews (and later Christians) were called “people of the Book,” because of the centrality of Scripture to their faith.…

Vatican II’s document on Divine Revelation teaches us that “the invisible God (see Col. 1;15, 1 Tim. 1:17) out of the abundance of His love speaks to men as friends (see Ex. 33:11; John 15:14-15) and lives among them (see Bar. 3:38), so that He may invite and take them…

Amazon has produced a docudrama on the First Lady, Melania. You might love it or hate it (or, like me, haven't seen it) but promotion of an incumbent First Lady is not uncommon. If you doubt it, ask how many times Vogue featured Jill Biden on its front cover --…

In Part 1 (linked below) I discussed Pope Leo's plans to continue to live in community as pope, St. Augustine's description of friendship, short biographies of two friends with whom he did not live in community, and the communities of Cassiciacum, where he prepared for baptism, and Thagaste, his hometown…

Professor Benedetto Rocchi, Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and Business Science at the University of Florence and president of the permanent observatory on abortion, expressed his astonishment about the fight against assisted suicide in Italy in an article published in La Verità on September 7, 2025. He asked,…

“Sharper than any two-edged sword” is how St. Paul characterizes God’s Word (Hebrews 4:12). If we are to show Scripture the reverence it is due, we must read it with sober care. In addressing the question of the authority of the State, Paul gives us a text that demands our…

Pope Leo XIV is the first member of the Order of St. Augustine (OSA) to serve as pope. This Order follows the short “Rule of St. Augustine” written by St. Augustine about 400 A.D.[i] Augustinian friars live in community. Upon his election, Pope Leo announced that he would…

Marriage is very much under assault in the Western world, in part by false notions of “freedom” that assume a person’s choices can reconstruct the nature and definition of marriage. Poland is one place where that assault is underway. Although the Polish Constitution defines marriage as a man-woman relationship, the…

I grew up in a New Jersey Rust Belt town which has lost its factories and is now somewhat economically depressed: Perth Amboy. Its name is unusual, a blend of cultures.  “Perth” comes from the Earl of Perth in Scotland, who was one of the backers of the city's 17th…

The image of a bride exchanging rings with a figure floating inside augmented reality glasses appears at first glance as a novelty item suited for a slow news cycle, and many readers understandably smirk and scroll on. Nevertheless, when Yurina Noguchi, a 32-year-old Japanese woman, donned a wedding dress and…

Modern Christians consume historical narratives the way they consume streaming services: with restless impatience and very little context. Every crisis arrives framed by pundits, platforms, and political tribes. The result is a kind of spiritual vertigo. Many believers feel disoriented by the pace of events yet still interpret those events…

Chivalry did not appear out of nowhere. It is not the random invention of medieval knights or a quaint code of courtly behavior borrowed from troubadours and tournaments. Its roots lie much deeper -- in the bedrock of the natural law and the moral architecture of the Judeo-Christian worldview. Before…

There are days when the heavens seem to hum in sympathy with a man’s life. October 17, 1849, was such a day. Frédéric Chopin — Polish patriot, melancholic genius, frail romantic — died in Paris at age 39. His last wish was that Mozart’s Requiem be played at his funeral,…

Those who read the Bible’s wisdom books know that they deal a lot with the quotidian: when to speak and when to shut up, how to conduct one’s self publicly, how to win friends and influence people. No surprise there, and sapiential literature was not unique to Israel. It was…

Not too long ago, Republicans were the party of free speech. Tired of being shut out of debates and shut up about everything, they styled themselves as free speech champions while trying to claw back some traction in the groves of academe and the halls of political power. But then…