May is the month in which the church honors Mary by happy coincidence it is also the month when secular culture honors mothers According to the Bible Mary rsquo s role in salvation history is small but mighty Through the agency of the Holy Spirit she conceives the Messiah gives birth to Jesus
Angela Alaimo O'Donnell
Angela Alaimo O’Donnell teaches literature and creative writing at Fordham University and serves as associate director of the Curran Center for American Catholic Studies. Her poetry collection The View from Childhood (Paraclete Press) is forthcoming in 2026,
Posted inBooks
A Tale of Two Thomases
Anyone who has visited the Frick Museum in New York and entered the main parlor whose walls are hung with splendid portrait after splendid portrait has witnessed one of the wittiest curatorial acts in museum-dom On either side of the massive fireplace hang two portraits by Hans Holbein Looking l
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Redemption Songs
From poet Dana Gioia, powerful meditations on loss and the redemptive power of beauty
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Drop Everything and Read
Marilynne Robinson’s new book of essays offers a rare combination of wisdom and beauty.
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Funeral Procession
Thomas Lynch’s The Sin-Eater breathes life into a figure from ancient folk magic.
Posted inBooks
Wild Things
T.C. Boyle’s new novel takes on the disastrous effects of human encroachment upon the natural world
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Mary Oliver’s Good News
Mary Oliver reminds us of the mystery and necessity of poetry.