Wendell Berry could be described by many labels. More than anything else, he has been a voice of practical reason and concise cultural commentary in his more than 80 books published over six decades.
Arts & Culture
Posted inArts & Culture, Podcasts
There’s a reason you love to belt out ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’
“There’s a logic that is embedded in the melodies of these tunes that helps the congregation remember them,” Maestro Colin Britt explains on the latest episode of “Hark!”
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
The new Gather hymnal is just good enough — and that’s perfect
You might call it the Walmart of hymnals. It doesn’t drill down into any one category. It doesn’t specialize. But it covers most of the bases that most parishes and parishioners would expect.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Two new novels show the hidden lives of nuns
‘Matrix’ and ‘Agatha of Little Neon’ differ in their historical settings, but they both center on women perceiving the ways of the world with absolute clarity, realizing the extent of their power and deciding to use it for the good of others.
Posted inArts & Culture, Film
Think you know what the Beatles’ last days were like? Disney+’s ‘Get Back’ will shatter your assumptions.
Peter Jackson’s “Get Back” is fascinating, tedious and indispensable all at the same time.
Posted inArts & Culture, Podcasts
‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’: Advent’s Most Haunting Carol
As odd as it sounds, the song’s uncertain quality is actually quite fitting. Unlike other popular carols, “Emmanuel” is a song not for Christmas but for Advent.
Posted inArts & Culture, Poetry
The Queen’s Musician William Byrd On the Execution of Edmund Campion December 1, 1581
I heard song, whilst he suffered his trials
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Dorothy Day said we are all called to be saints. So why didn’t she want us to officially name her one?
As Dorothy Day’s cause for canonization moves forward, her writings continue to offer a prophetic Christian witness to a complacent world.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
This band wrote a song in honor of Dorothy Day. Now their album could help make her a saint.
Eric Krewson and the band he headlines, The Chairman Dances, wrote a song that celebrates the friendship of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. And that song will shortly be on its way to the Vatican.
Posted inArts & Culture, Theater
Why do so many Jesuits love Stephen Sondheim? His art was a costly vocation.
Sondheim’s stories and lyrics always seemed to be addressing you personally. You couldn’t simply watch his musicals. Eventually you had to contend with them.