Shows
Way of the Fathers5.18 St. Albert the Great: The Miracle of His TimeSt. Albert the Great (1206-1280) mastered every field of study available to him, from astronomy to zoology. He was called the “miracle of his time,” not because he performed miracles, but because he was considered an authority - on the level of St. Augustine and Peter Lombard - even within his own lifetime. He was the mentor and teacher of a more famous doctor of the Church: St. Thomas Aquinas. Links For a great conversation about Peter Lombard’s Sentences, check out this article, The Most Influential Theology Book Nobody Reads: https://www.catholicculture.org/comment...
2025-08-2722 min
Catholic Culture AudiobooksSt. John Henry Newman - The Oxford Sermons | 3. Evangelical Sanctity the Completion of Natural Virtue"The true light of the world offends more men than it attracts; and its divine origin is shown, not in its marked effects on the mass of mankind, but in its surprising power of elevating the moral character where it is received in spirit and in truth." St. John Henry Newman's Oxford Sermons, delivered during his time as an Anglican preacher at the University of Oxford, were instrumental in shaping the Oxford Movement, which sought to revive High Church traditions within the Church of England and ultimately led to many conversions to Catholicism. In addition...
2025-08-1229 minCatholic Culture AudiobooksSoul of the Apostolate | Ep. 2 - Union of Active & Interior Life"The life of action ought to flow from the contemplative life, to interpret and extend it, outside oneself, though at the same time being detached from it as little as possible." Part Two of this classic work by the French Trappist monk, Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard (1858-1935), further explores the inseparable interdependence of the active and the interior lives—each depends upon, presupposes, and completes the other. Episode 2: Part Two 00:00 - Intro 00:46 - 1. The priority of the interior over the active life in the eyes of God 10:30 - 2. Good works should be nothing but...
2025-07-2242 min
The Catholic Culture PodcastPope Leo XIII on the restoration of Christian philosophyThis is the first in a series of episodes (accompanied by articles) surveying the most important encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII. His third encyclical, Aeterni Patris (1879), on the restoration of Christian philosophy, famously called for a revival of the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas. Links Thomas’s article on Aeterni Patris, “Leo XIII and the restoration of Christian philosophy” https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/leo-xiii-on-restoration-christian-philosophy/ Pope Leo XIII, Aeterni Patris https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_04081879_aeterni-patris.html The Great Encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII: Volume...
2025-07-0852 minCatholic Culture AudiobooksSoul of the Apostolate | Ep. 1 - Active Works & the Interior Life"If God calls me to apply my activity not only to my own sanctification, but also to good works, I must establish this firm conviction, before everything else, in my mind: Jesus has got to be, and wishes to be, the life of these works. My efforts, by themselves, are nothing, absolutely nothing." Part One of this classic work by the French Trappist monk, Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard (1858-1935), examines the relationship between exterior works and the interior life of the apostle, demonstrating how the fruitfulness of the former depends entirely upon the vitality of the latter.
2025-07-031h 26Way of the FathersThe Music of St. Hildegard of Bingen w/ Margot FasslerSt. Hildegard of Bingen, 12th-century abbess, mystic, polymath, and Doctor of the Church, is best known to non-Catholics for something else – her music. We have more pieces of music by Hildegard than by any other medieval composer whose name we know. Her chants are beautiful, otherworldly, virtuosic and ahead of their time. Some of them were written for her morality play, the Ordo virtutum, which is also the first of its kind. Thomas Mirus (producer of Way of the Fathers and host of the Catholic Culture Podcast) interviews musicologist Margot Fassler about what makes St. Hildegard’s music so spec...
2025-06-301h 01The Catholic Culture Podcast197 - Same-Sex Attraction and Conversion w/ Andrew Comiskey & Marco CasanovaWe all know the secular world opposes the very idea of a person with same-sex attraction seeking any kind of therapy or spiritual counsel that might enable them to reach a state of healthy relations with the opposite sex. But what’s odd is that many Catholics seem to have bought into this. Many assume that if someone is not currently attracted to the opposite sex, this is a static, lifelong condition and therefore they must be called to celibacy. But this view involves multiple misunderstandings – of the SSA experience, of anthropology, of the power of God’s grace, and of...
2025-06-101h 34Catholic Culture AudiobooksSt. John Henry Newman - The Indwelling Spirit"The Comforter who has come instead of Christ, must have vouchsafed to come in the same sense in which Christ came; I mean, that He has come, not merely in the way of gifts, or of influences, or of operations, as He came to the Prophets, for then Christ's going away would be a loss, and not a gain, and the Spirit's presence would be a mere pledge, not an earnest; but He comes to us as Christ came, by a real and personal visitation." A powerful Pentecost sermon from St. John Henry Newman's Anglican period.
2025-06-0730 minCatholic Culture AudiobooksRule of St. Benedict | Ep. 3 - Work, Governance, and Conclusion"Prefer nothing whatever to Christ. And may He bring us all together to life everlasting!" The Rule of St. Benedict is a foundational spiritual guide composed by St. Benedict of Nursia, the father of Western monasticism, around 530 AD. In this third episode, covering Chapters 39–73, Benedict details daily routines like meals and work, outlines hospitality and simplicity in possessions, and establishes the monastery’s governance. These final chapters conclude Benedict's Rule, presenting a vision of disciplined living, generous welcome, and unity centered on Christ. Episode 3: Ch. 39 - 73 00:00 Intro 00:38 Food, Work, and Silence (Chapters 39–47) 12:28 Labor, Hospitality, and Pos...
2025-05-1655 minCatholic Culture AudiobooksRule of St. Benedict | Ep. 2 - Prayer and Community Life"We believe that the divine presence is everywhere... But we should believe this especially without any doubt when we are assisting at the Work of God." The Rule of St. Benedict is a foundational spiritual guide composed by St. Benedict of Nursia, the father of Western monasticism, around 530 AD. In the chapters comprising this second episode, Benedict details the structure of the Divine Office, establishes the rhythms and roles of community life, and provides guidelines for the disciplinary measures to be taken against erring brothers. Episode 2: Ch. 8 - 38 00:00 Intro 00:38 Structuring Prayer (Chapters 8 - 20) 16:32 Order a...
2025-05-0937 minCatholic Culture AudiobooksRule of St. Benedict | Ep. 1 - Foundations of Monastic Life"And so we are going to establish a school for the service of the Lord. In founding it we hope to introduce nothing harsh or burdensome. But if a certain strictness results… do not be at once dismayed and fly from the way of salvation, whose entrance cannot but be narrow." In this first of five episodes, we begin The Rule of St. Benedict, a foundational spiritual guide composed around 530 AD by St. Benedict of Nursia, the father of Western monasticism. In the Prologue, St. Benedict sets forth the Rule’s purpose, followed by Chapters 1–7, in which he outlin...
2025-04-0940 minCatholic Culture AudiobooksSt. Dionysius the Areopagite - On Minding One's Own Business"It is not for Demophilus to set these things straight. For if the Word of God commands us to pursue just things justly... this must be pursued by all justly, not beyond their own fitness." This letter—historically attributed to St. Dionysius the Areopagite, a 1st-century convert of Saint Paul from Acts, but now considered the work of an anonymous 5th-century author known as 'Pseudo-Dionysius'—delivers a stern yet compassionate rebuke to a monk named Demophilus. Dionysius challenges the monk's rash condemnation of a priest for absolving a repentant sinner, and urges mercy, humility and respect for the Chur...
2025-03-2029 minThe Catholic Culture Podcast192 - Latin learning and classical Christian education w/ Ryan Hammill Ryan Hammill of the Ancient Language Institute joins Thomas for a practical discussion about how to learn Latin, as well as the central place of the classical languages (Latin and Greek) in classical Christian education, and the various schools of thought in today’s classical Christian education movement. Links Thomas’s article about learning Latin https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/dreamt-learning-latin-heres-how-youll-finally-do-it/ Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/ New Humanists Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-humanists/id1570296135 Jonathan Roberts, “Classical Schools Are Not Really Classical” https://ancientlanguage.com/classica...
2025-03-111h 34Catholic Culture AudiobooksSt. John Henry Newman - The Oxford Sermons | 2. The Influence of Natural and Revealed Religion Respectively"The philosopher aspires towards a divine principle; the Christian, towards a Divine Agent." St. John Henry Newman's Oxford Sermons, delivered during his time as an Anglican preacher at the University of Oxford, were isntrumental in shaping the Oxford Movement, which sought to revive High Church traditions within the Church of England and ultimately led to many conversions to Catholicism. In addition to the profound influence these sermons had on both Anglican and Catholic theology, they also bore a personal significance for Newman’s own conversion to Catholicism years later. These fifteen sermons, though deep...
2025-02-2036 minCatholic Culture AudiobooksSt. John Henry Newman - The Oxford Sermons | 1. The Philosophical Temper, First Enjoined by the Gospels"The philosopher might speculate, but the theologian must submit to learn." St. John Henry Newman's Oxford Sermons, delivered during his time as an Anglican preacher at the University of Oxford, were instrumental in shaping the Oxford Movement, which sought to revive High Church traditions within the Church of England. In this collection of fifteen sermons, Newman especially explores the relationship between faith and reason, and lays the groundwork for themes he would later develop in works like his Grammar of Assent and Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. In addition to the profound influence the...
2025-02-0722 minCatholic Culture AudiobooksSt. Vincent Ferrer - On the Purification of Mary “This present feast is one of the greater of the whole year... Because there are three grades of sanctity which we celebrate in this feast.” St. Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419) was a Spanish Dominican friar, theologian, and renowned preacher known for his fiery sermons and missionary work across Europe. He was deeply devoted to calling people to repentance, emphasizing the urgency of salvation and often preaching about the Last Judgment. This earned him the moniker "Angel of the Judgment." In this Candlemas sermon, St. Vincent reflects on the three significant events which this great feast commemorates: the...
2025-02-0138 minCatholic Culture AudiobooksSt. Francis de Sales - Introduction to the Devout Life | Full"Be sure that wherever our lot is cast we may and must aim at the perfect life." Written over 400 years ago, Introduction to the Devout Life is still one of the most popular books for those pursuing holiness. St. Francis de Sales explains how to turn that desire for sanctity into resolutions that yield grace-filled results. Themes include: Pursuing a devout life whole-heartedly Incorporating prayer and sacraments into a busy schedule Growing in virtue Battling wisely against temptation Making spiritual progress through daily, monthly, and yearly exercises Whether you are just beginning your sp...
2025-01-249h 28The Catholic Culture Podcast189 - St. Boethius, Stoicism and Neoplatonism - Thomas WardSt. Anicius Manlius Severius Boethius's book The Consolation of Philosophy, which he wrote in prison while awaiting martyrdom around the year 524, is one of the single most influential works for medieval philosophy and theology. But Boethius also owed much to the pagan philosophy that came before him. Thomas Ward has just written a commentary on Boethius's dialogue for Word on Fire, entitled After Stoicism: Last Words of the Last Roman Philosopher. Topics discussed include: Boethius's debt to Stoic ethics and how he critiques the Stoic view of happiness The influence of neo-Platonist philosophy on Boethius Questions a...
2025-01-221h 19Catholic Culture AudiobooksPope Benedict XVI - Deus Caritas Est (God Is Love) | Part 2 “Love is the light—and in the end, the only light—that can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us the courage needed to keep living and working. Love is possible, and we are able to practice it because we are created in the image of God. To experience love and in this way to cause the light of God to enter into the world—this is the invitation I would like to extend with the present Encyclical.” Deus Caritas Est, or “God is Love,” was the first encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, released on December 25, 2...
2025-01-1755 minCatholic Culture AudiobooksSt. John Henry Newman - Reverence, a Belief in God's Presence"They are the class of feelings we should have—yes, have in an intense degree—if we literally had the sight of Almighty God; therefore they are the class of feelings which we shall have, if we realize His presence." This sermon appears among a collection of sermons originally written and preached by St. John Henry Newman before his conversion to Catholicism. In it, Newman emphasizes that true reverence arises from a deep, abiding awareness of God's presence. Links Reverence, a Belief in God's Presence full text: https://newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume5/sermon...
2024-12-1830 minCatholic Culture AudiobooksSt. Henry Walpole - Upon the Death of M. Edmund Campion"You thought perhaps when learned Campion dies, His pen must cease, his sugared tongue be still; But you forgot how loud his death it cries How far beyond the sound of tongue and quill." In 1581, a young Englishman named Henry Walpole attended the execution of the Jesuit Edmund Campion. As Campion was hung, drawn and quartered, Walpole stood close enough to be spattered with his holy blood. Though Campion’s fame in England was already great, Walpole would amplify it further with a splendid, lengthy poem, which became enormously popular among English Catholics—so popu...
2024-11-3012 minThe Catholic Culture Podcast183 - Does Angel Studios merit the hype?James Majewski plays guest host in this episode, asking Thomas about his recent essay critiquing the well-known Christian film distributor Angel Studios (associated with The Chosen, Sound of Freedom, and Cabrini). Articles and podcasts mentioned: “Angel Studios: Questioning the hype” https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/angel-studios-hype/ “Cabrini secularizes a saint” https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/cabrini-secularizes-saint/ “Cabrini and the denial that Christ is for everyone” https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/cabrini-and-denial-that-christ-is-for-everyone/ Thomas’s article on Padre Pio in Dappled Things https://www.dappledthings.org/deep-down-things/about-that-padre-pio-film Pope Pius XII on the I...
2024-09-1037 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastSaint Thomas and the Forbidden Birds & the tradition of English verse w/ James Matthew WilsonPoet & philosopher James Matthew Wilson rejoins the show to read poems from his new collection, Saint Thomas and the Forbidden Birds, published by Word on Fire; and to discuss the tradition of English poetry, especially with regard to meter. Don't miss the title poem, a verse setting of a passage from Aquinas's Summa Theologiae! Links Saint Thomas and the Forbidden Birds https://bookstore.wordonfire.org/products/saint-thomas-and-the-forbidden-birds The Fortunes of Poetry in an Age of Unmaking https://www.wisebloodbooks.com/store/p82/The_Fortunes_of_Poetry_in_an_Age_of_Unmaking%2C_b...
2024-06-241h 17The Catholic Culture PodcastCatholics Create Huge New Ballet: interview with producer, composer, and choreographer of RaffaellaOn June 29 and 30, in South Bend, Indiana, there will be a major and even unprecedented event in the history of American Catholic art: a new, full-length classical ballet production with a new story, new music, new sets and costumes, and nationally known dancers - with a cast of about fifty. This fairytale ballet, titled Raffaella, was commissioned by Duncan and Ruth Stroik in honor of their daughter Raffaella Maria Stroik, a dancer with the St. Louis Ballet who passed away tragically in 2018 at the age of 23. In the first segment, Thomas Mirus interviews impresario Duncan Stroik about...
2024-06-111h 44Way of the Fathers4.6 The Heresies – The Enigma of Origen and OrigenismWhether Origen is considered a father of the Church, or a heretic, depends on whom you ask. But everyone agrees he may have been just a bit too smart for his own good. At best, he tried in vain to out-gnostic the gnostics, at worst, he was too influenced by gnosticism. In the end, the Fifth Ecumenical Council declared him a heretic. In this this episode, Dr. Papandrea gives evidence why Origen should not be considered a father of the Church, but should be considered a heretic, but in the end, you decide! Links Make...
2024-02-1426 minThe Catholic Culture Podcast170 - Art Participates in God's Governance - Bradley Elliott, O.P.Fr. Bradley Elliott, a professional drummer turned Dominican friar, joins the podcast to discuss his book, The Shape of the Artistic Mind: A Search for the Metaphysical Link Between Art and Morals in the Thought of Thomas Aquinas. Themes include: Man’s capacity to participate in God’s creative activity and governance of the world How human artistic activity not only imitates but enhance nature The combination of Aristotelian and neo-Platonic streams in St. Thomas’s theory of art How Aristotle redeemed the notion of nature from Plato, and Plotinus redeemed the notion of imitation from Plato Comparing the vi...
2023-11-301h 01The Catholic Culture PodcastThe Catholic Culture Podcast Sountrack6:51 Franciscan Eyes 14:33 Forbearance 15:52 The Mourners 20:19 Spiritual Combat 25:56 Passage Compositions and piano by Thomas Mirus; recorded spring 2018, Brooklyn. Listen to this music on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/CVqC2ZukI9o Download these tracks as lossless .wav files here: https://www.catholicculture.org/multimedia/thomas_mirus_2018.zip DONATE to help CatholicCulture.org continue its mission! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters
2023-11-1430 min
Vin D'Mirus on OdyseeForeign Wars, Domestic Turmoil | Patriotfront Leadership Address by Thomas Rousseau | Israel | Telegram Patriot Front leader Thomas Rousseau delivers an address on the subject of ongoing foreign conflicts, providing the perspective of the organization, and offering insight into the role of patriots in an increasingly unstable world.https://t.me/PatriotFrontUpdates/17192
2023-10-1506 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastGifts of the Holy Spirit w/ John of St. Thomas & Cajetan Cuddy, O.P.Anyone who went through confirmation prep at some point learned the list of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. But most would struggle to define the gifts, especially the ones that sound a bit similar, like wisdom, knowledge, and understanding? The great 17th-century Thomistic commentator John of St. Thomas discoursed on the gifts of the Holy Spirit with not only technical precision, but spiritual insight and fervor. Since John was not available for a podcast interview, he sent one of his Dominican brothers, Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, to explain his insights to us laypeople. Links ...
2023-08-241h 50The Catholic Culture PodcastWhen "engaging the culture" means loving mediocrity - Joshua GibbsToday it's taken for granted that we as Christians are called to "engage the culture" in order to evangelize. Often "engaging the culture" means paying an inordinate amount of attention to popular commercial entertainment in order to show unbelievers how hip we are, straining to find a "Christ-figure" in every comic book movie, and making worship music as repetitive, melodically banal, and emotionalistic as possible. Past a certain point, "cultural engagement" begins to seem like a noble-sounding excuse to enjoy mediocrity - and Christians, unfortunately, are as much in love with mediocre entertainment as anyone else. The...
2023-08-171h 38The Catholic Culture PodcastThe Vocation of Thomas Aquinas - Matthew MinerdJean-Pierre Torrell, O.P.’s definitive scholarly biography of St. Thomas Aquinas has recently received its third edition. Translator Matthew Minerd returns to the Catholic Culture Podcast to discuss what we can learn from Fr. Torrell about the life of St. Thomas and the context in which works like the Summa theologiae were written. This episode is a deep dive into Thomas’s vocation in a number of senses – his Benedictine formation and eventual decision to become a Dominican instead, his intellectual formation as a student of St. Albert the Great and eventual Bachelor of the Sentences, and hi...
2023-06-051h 38The Catholic Culture PodcastThe Catholic sobriety test w/ Phil Lawler and Jeff MirusIn the last of the YouTube livestreams related to Catholic Culture’s May fundraising campaign, Jeff Mirus and Phil Lawler discuss their approach to writing responsible, sober commentary during a time of crisis in the Church: that is, when the news is crazy, how can we talk about it sanely? We're a week into CatholicCulture.org's May fundraising campaign. Generous donors have offered a $50,000 matching grant, so any donation you make by May 24 will double in value! You can donate on our website or PayPal (tax-deductible). Donation links below: http://www.CatholicCulture.org/donate ht...
2023-05-231h 19The Catholic Culture PodcastWhen artists feel lonely in the Church (Livestream)In this livestream, James Majewski and Thomas Mirus we discussed errors artists can fall into in pushing back against a moralistic approach to art found within the Church. Rather than reacting away from rigidity to excessive openness, the mature Catholic artist has to get over himself and be a servant. Also discussed: The relation between order and surprise in beauty, morality and culture. Note: the video begins abruptly in the middle of our introductory fundraising campaign pitch - because of some glitched-out audio, we cut the first 6 minutes or so. We're a week...
2023-05-161h 12The Catholic Culture PodcastMike Aquilina Q&A on early ChristianityFor those who missed the YouTube livestream Q&A with Mike Aquilina on May 8th, 2023, here is the audio. It was a lively conversation where Mike fielded viewer questions about important cities of the early Church, early evidence for papal primacy, the role of charity in the early Church, Origen, the providential role of easy travel for the spread of the Gospel in the first centuries, and more. We're a week into CatholicCulture.org's May fundraising campaign. Generous donors have offered a $50,000 matching grant, so any donation you make by May 24 will double in value! You can...
2023-05-091h 36Way of the FathersMike Aquilina Q&A on early ChristianityFor those who missed the YouTube livestream Q&A with Mike Aquilina on May 8th, 2023, here is the audio. It was a lively conversation where Mike fielded viewer questions about important cities of the early Church, early evidence for papal primacy, the role of charity in the early Church, Origen, the providential role of easy travel for the spread of the Gospel in the first centuries, and more. We're a week into CatholicCulture.org's May fundraising campaign. Generous donors have offered a $50,000 matching grant, so any donation you make by May 24 will double in value! You can...
2023-05-091h 36The Catholic Culture PodcastPerson and Act: John Paul II's Philosophy w/ Timothy FlandersCatholic University of America Press recently launched a major new series: the English Critical Edition of the Works of Karol Wojtyła/John Paul II. The first volume of the series was a new translation of Wojtyła's 1969 book Person and Act, along with related essays. In Person and Act Wojtyła set forth the foundation of his blend of phenomenology, Thomism and personalism, a foundation underlying much of his other philosophical and theological writing. The first English translation is generally considered to be quite inaccurate, and, crucially, removed the Latin terms by which Wojtyła refers to the...
2023-05-051h 33Way of the FathersLivestream announcementWe'll be doing YouTube livestreams on the next 3 Monday evenings, as part of CatholicCulture.org's May fundraising campaign. In these freewheeling conversations, you'll have the opportunity to ask questions and prompt discussion in the live chat box! 5/8, 8pm ET - Mike Aquilina (host, Way of the Fathers podcast) 5/15, 8pm ET - Thomas Mirus & James Majewski (hosts,Catholic Culture Podcast, Catholic Culture Audiobooks, Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast) 5/22, 8pm ET - Phil Lawler & Jeff Mirus (CatholicCulture.org writers) You can use this link to connect to the Mike Aquilina livestream: https://www...
2023-05-0402 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastLivestream announcementWe'll be doing YouTube livestreams on the next 3 Monday evenings, as part of CatholicCulture.org's May fundraising campaign. In these freewheeling conversations, you'll have the opportunity to ask questions and prompt discussion in the live chat box! 5/8, 8pm ET - Mike Aquilina (host, Way of the Fathers podcast) 5/15, 8pm ET - Thomas Mirus & James Majewski (hosts,Catholic Culture Podcast, Catholic Culture Audiobooks, Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast) 5/22, 8pm ET - Phil Lawler & Jeff Mirus (CatholicCulture.org writers) You can use this link to connect to the Mike Aquilina livestream: https://www...
2023-05-0402 minThe Catholic Culture Podcast156 - Can music be sad?It's universally acknowledged that music effects our emotions. But does it actually make sense to talk about music "expressing", emotions in any intrinsic sense (that is, can music itself be happy or sad)? And even if it does, should we treat emotional expression as the essential purpose of music, or the criterion by which we judge musical beauty? If music doesn't literally contain emotions, how does it still manage to affect our feelings so powerfully? And what is music expressing, imitating or reflecting, if not emotions? If we want to understand the nature and purpose of music...
2023-03-2932 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastThe most Catholic opera: Dialogues of the Carmelites w/ Robert ReillyAuthor and music critic Robert Reilly joins the podcast to discuss one of the greatest operas ever composed, Francis Poulenc’s 1957 Dialogues des Carmélites, which host Thomas Mirus recently saw at the Metropolitan Opera. Based on the true story of sixteen Carmelite nuns who were martyred in the French Revolution (famously singing the Salve Regina as they went to the guillotine), the opera is an adaptation of Georges Bernanos’s play, which in turn was adapted from Gertrud von le Fort’s novella Song at the Scaffold. With outstanding spiritual realism, Dialogues dramatizes the inner struggle of a so...
2023-02-011h 11The Catholic Culture PodcastDuns Scotus, Minstrel of the Incarnation - Thomas WardBlessed John Duns Scotus (1265-1308), the Franciscan friar known as the "Subtle Doctor", is one of the most important theologians and philosophers of the Middle Ages, yet over the centuries he has fallen into disrepute, or at least neglect, by comparison with the "Angelic Doctor", St. Thomas Aquinas. Interest in Scotus has revived somewhat in part due to his beatification by Pope St. John Paul II, who called him the "defender of the Immaculate Conception" and "minstrel of the Incarnation". Indeed, Scotus's greatest legacy is his argument for Mary's having been conceived without original sin...
2022-12-131h 11The Catholic Culture PodcastBeing Is Better Than Not Being—Christopher MirusChristopher V. Mirus, your host’s older brother, is a philosophy professor at the University of Dallas, and author of the new book Being Is Better Than Not Being: The Metaphysics of Goodness and Beauty in Aristotle. In this episode he discusses being a philosopher in the Aristotelian tradition, compares Aristotle’s intellectual and pedagogical approach with Plato’s, and touches on some themes from his book. How does Aristotle identify goodness with the ability to be contemplated – even in the sphere of ethics? What is the relation between friendship and contemplation? How can we call “beautiful” things as di...
2022-11-181h 18The Catholic Culture PodcastCatholic Imagination Conference poetry readingThe Catholic Culture Podcast Network sponsored a poetry reading session at the fourth biennial Catholic Imagination Conference, hosted by the University of Dallas. Thomas Mirus moderated this session on Sept. 30, 2022, introducing poets Paul Mariani, Frederick Turner, and James Matthew Wilson. Paul Mariani, University Professor Emeritus at Boston College, is the author of twenty-two books, including biographies of William Carlos Williams, John Berryman, Robert Lowell, Hart Crane, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Wallace Stevens. He has published nine volumes of poetry, most recently All that Will be New, from Slant. He has also written two memoirs, Thirty Days and...
2022-10-181h 08The Catholic Culture PodcastResponse to Fr. Gregory Pine: Movies, Music & ContemplationIn a recent video on the Pints with Aquinas channel, Gregory Pine, O.P. voiced his concern that mass entertainment, particularly music and movies, is often an obstacle to achieving the heavenly end of contemplation for which we are made. What is noteworthy is that unlike the typical Catholic commentary on pop culture, Fr. Pine does not focus so much on the moral content of music and movies as how their very form affects us bodily, psychologically and spiritually. In this discussion inspired by Fr. Pine’s points, host Thomas Mirus and filmmaker Nathan Douglas specify some el...
2022-08-122h 09The Catholic Culture PodcastDrawing in Clay - Christopher AllesCatholic sculptor Christopher Alles joins the podcast for an introduction to the art of sculpture, especially in its formal qualities. Alles mostly does commission work for the Church, and the theoretical points in this conversation are illuminated by references to some of his recent works, including a work-in-progress Pieta and his monumental sculpture of St. Joseph, Patron of a Happy Death. Topics include: Collaboration with patrons in commissioned work The iconographic tradition in sculpture vs painting Drawing as the root of both sculpting and painting The challenges of modeling form based on anatomy without being enslaved t...
2022-07-271h 00The Catholic Culture PodcastThe Novel against Nihilist Groomers - Joshua HrenJoshua Hren returns to discuss his debut novel, Infinite Regress. "In the years since his graduation from St. Marquis University, Blake Yourrick has fled his family and Milwaukee, rotating from job to dead-end job—working the Bakken oilfields in Dakota and even signing on as the night caretaker of a rural abbey graveyard. Deep in student debt and estranged from his misanthropic, alcoholic father, Blake is haunted by the memory of his mother’s death—and by his relationship with his college mentor, a defrocked priest named Theo Hape, who is known for his adventurous theological ideas as well...
2022-06-301h 20The Catholic Culture PodcastTechnology and the Artist: Glenn Gould in the Studio"The justification of art is the internal combustion it ignites in the hearts of men and not its shallow, externalized, public manifestations. The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenaline but is, rather, the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity." - Glenn Gould One of the greatest classical pianists of the 20th century, Glenn Gould, shocked the world at age thirty-one when he announced his permanent retirement from public performance. Denouncing the concert hall as a relative of the Roman Colosseum and audiences as a "force of...
2022-05-131h 13The Catholic Culture Podcast130 - John Paul II's Retreat for Artists - Christopher WestIn Holy Week of 1962, Bishop Karol Wojtyla gave a retreat to a group of Polish artists. The text of that retreat has now been published in English, along with commentary, by the Theology of the Body Institute, in a book titled God Is Beauty: A Retreat on the Gospel and Art. Christopher West, president of the TOB Institute, joins Thomas Mirus to discuss the retreat and how it fits together with St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body. Themes include: God is Beauty The Incarnation is perfect Beauty manifested in the human body The artist i...
2022-04-041h 16The Catholic Culture PodcastFatima Today: In Defense of Private RevelationThomas Mirus reads his article "Fatima Today: In Defense of Private Revelation". The first part of this article is a reminder of the essential importance of Fatima in our time. The second, and longer, part corrects a misunderstanding of private revelation held by many—namely that whatever falls into this category can make no claim on our mind or conscience, and that it is a matter of indifference whether we pay heed to it. Links Thomas V. Mirus, "Fatima Today: In Defense of Private Revelation" https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/fatima-today-in-defense-private-revelation/ Dea...
2022-03-2426 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastAs Earth Without Water - Katy CarlKaty Carl, author of the excellent new novel As Earth Without Water and editor-in-chief of the Catholic arts journal Dappled Things, joins the show to discuss the novel and the state of the Catholic literary scene. The publisher's description of As Earth Without Water: When Dylan Fielding, celebrated contemporary visual artist, becomes Br. Thomas Augustine, novice at Our Lady of the Pines monastery, he finds delight not only in the shock his choice causes everyone around him but—to his own surprise—in the rhythms of the life itself. Shortly before he solidifies a lifelong commi...
2022-03-181h 08The Catholic Culture Podcast126 - How Charlie Parker's Music Changed My LifeThis is a significantly truncated version of the original episode. Listen to the full episode here: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/126-how-charlie-parker-changed-my-life/ Thomas Mirus goes solo in this episode to talk about how his relationship to music was completely transformed in his late teens, by exposure to the music of alto saxophonist Charlie Parker. Before he had used music to stimulate an emotional response, but soon he found himself listening for the sake of musical beauty itself, regardless of emotions or lack thereof. This quickly opened up a whole world of contemplation (musical and otherwise). ...
2022-03-0418 min
2021-12-1302 min
Vin D'Mirus on OdyseePatriot Front in Washington DC ! | Dec 4, 2021https://t.me/media2rise/112https://patriotfront.usTranscript:M2R: "Alright, as you can see they've brought the helicopter out, there's tons of police. Thomas, why are we marching in DC?"Thomas Rousseau: "Our demonstration are an exhibition of our unified capability to organise to show our strength, not as brawlers or public nuissances but as men capable of illustrating a message and seeking an America that more closely resembles the interests of its true people."Deutsch: M2R: "Wie ihr sehen könnt, haben sie den Hubschrauber rausgeholt, und h...
2021-12-0500 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastMaritain's Art and Scholasticism, Pt. 1This is a crossover episode in which Thomas joins forces with Scott Hambrick and Karl Schudt from the Online Great Books Podcast, to discuss the classic essay Art and Scholasticism by Jacques Maritain. Maritain argues for an objective view of both art and the artist, bringing an orderly, scholastic, Thomistic approach to understanding aesthetics. Mirus says, "Maritain gets art better than any other philosopher who came before him in the Western Tradition." For Maritain, art is “a virtue of the practical intellect that aims at making." The virtue or habitus of art, Maritain writes, is not...
2021-10-051h 10The Catholic Culture PodcastAn Apology and Retractions about the Vaccine EpisodeThomas Mirus apologizes for and retracts some things he said in Episode 106 of the Catholic Culture Podcast, a discussion of the morality of COVID vaccines.
2021-08-2023 minWay of the FathersBONUS: Interview with Mike AquilinaIn this bonus episode originally from the Catholic Culture Podcast, CatholicCulture.org’s director of podcasts, Thomas V. Mirus, interviews voice actor James T. Majewski (Catholic Culture Audiobooks) and author Mike Aquilina (Way of the Fathers) about how they make their shows and the effect reading and studying the Church Fathers has had on them personally. Contents [2:15] James’s training in philosophy and acting as preparation for narrating the Fathers [7:00] How Mike meandered into a career writing about the Fathers [9:27] The original idea for audiobooks and podcasts at The Catholic Culture
2021-08-0452 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastBONUS: Interview with Lourdes documentary writer Sixtine Leon-DufourIn this interview originally from Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast, Thomas Mirus and James Majewski interview Sixtine Leon-Dufour, writer of the new Lourdes documentary, one of the best religious films in recent years. She discusses: -Her background caring for the sick at Lourdes -How she convinced the Lourdes authorities to give secular filmmakers unprecedented shooting access to this holy place -How a documentary about a Marian pilgrimage got the support of a large French secular film studio and became a big success -Depicting the wide range of people at Lourdes
2021-07-2358 min
Criteria: The Catholic Film PodcastBONUS: Interview with narrator James T. MajewskiIn this bonus episode originally from the Catholic Culture Podcast, CatholicCulture.org’s director of podcasts, Thomas V. Mirus, interviews voice actor James T. Majewski (Catholic Culture Audiobooks) and author Mike Aquilina (Way of the Fathers) about how they make their shows and the effect reading and studying the Church Fathers has had on them personally. If you are a lector at Mass, you will find James’s comments on how he approaches reading the writings of the Saints inspiring and helpful. Contents [2:15] James’s training in philosophy and acting as preparation for narrat...
2021-06-2853 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastAbortion-Derived Vaccines: A Moral Analysis - Michael Pakaluk, Jay RichardsMichael Pakaluk and Jay Richards join host Thomas V. Mirus for a discussion of the moral issues involved with the production and testing of vaccines using illicitly-obtained fetal cell lines, and the reasons for freedom of conscience for those who do not wish to take them. Links Read a full transcript of this discussion: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=12522 Thomas Mirus's apology and retractions https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/apology-and-retractions-about-vaccine-episode/ Church documents discussed: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Dignitas Personae (relevant paragraphs are 34...
2021-05-261h 19The Catholic Culture PodcastEpisode 0 - The Nightingale - Mark Christopher BrandtTo celebrate the approach of Episode 100 of the Catholic Culture Podcast, here is the interview that started it all. Originally published on August 4, 2017, this interview turned out so well that we decided to launch a whole series of interviews on Catholic arts and culture. The podcast launched several months later, on May 1, 2018. Catholic composer and pianist Mark Christopher Brandt joined Thomas Mirus to discuss his classical album and suite The Nightingale, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's story "The Emperor and the Nightingale". The discussion was a double delight as it covered not only the album itself, but...
2021-03-051h 45The Catholic Culture PodcastFighting Pervasive Religious Indifferentism - Ralph MartinWatch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zkfJ-gSMdUg Today’s Catholic culture is marked by a profound and settled religious indifferentism. Among many Catholics, to say what the Church has always taught—that Jesus Christ is the one way to salvation—is considered offensive, or at best, rash. In certain countries, the bishops’ conferences have practically made a policy against seeking converts from other religions (or lack thereof). Catholics, ruled by fear of human respect and compromised by their own private sins, are finding more and more reasons not to proclaim Christ’s moral teachings as well. Ralph Ma...
2021-01-2554 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastAn Introduction to Thomas Tallis - Kerry McCarthyAll music by Thomas Tallis used with permission of the artists and labels listed below. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/i-oMO9qqzKA As a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, Thomas Tallis (1505-1585) composed sacred music for four successive English monarchs, starting with Henry VIII and ending with Elizabeth. Those were turbulent times in England, especially for a church musician. Those were turbulent times in England, especially for a church musician. Like his colleague (and probable pupil) William Byrd, Tallis was able to adapt his compositional style to meet the constantly shifting ideological d...
2020-12-111h 56The Catholic Culture PodcastLeo XIII on the State's Duties Toward the Church - Thomas PinkVatican II’s Declaration on Religious Freedom, Humanis Dignitatae, begins by noting that its discussion of religious liberty “has to do with immunity from coercion in civil society” and so “leaves untouched traditional Catholic doctrine on the moral duty of men and societies toward the true religion and toward the one Church of Christ.” This episode is about discovering what that traditional doctrine was and is. Our main source will be Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Immortale Dei, which is available in audiobook form on CatholicCulture.org. Thomas Pink guides us through a close reading of this document (wi...
2020-10-301h 48The Catholic Culture PodcastThe Jester Is Not The King - Jeremy McLellanWatch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ve9oqQpCrI Jeremy McLellan is a Catholic stand-up comedian who, strangely, is huge is Pakistan. He joins the show to discuss the woke takeover of comedy, the nihilistic dogmas of many comedians, the relationship between comedy and suffering, and the ethics of the word “retarded”. Thomas describes his past experience doing open mics and Jeremy gives him some pointers. Contents [1:07] “Do CHILDREN Belong in Church?” [3:24] The woke takeover of comedy; contrarianism and nihilism; comedy and truth [11:18] The dogma of comedians: anything...
2020-10-0655 minWay of the FathersEp. 24—Athanasius against the World The world awoke to find itself heretic, but one man would not accept the situation. Athanasius stood fast against emperors, bishops, and even synods of bishops. Ordained as a young man, he lived to reign as bishop for 45 years. But 17 of those years he spent in exile. He was exiled five times at the orders of four different emperors. Athanasius became symbolic—the face of the Council of Nicaea, with its creed and its special word: “consubstantial.” As the fortunes of Nicaea waxed and waned, Athanasius rose and fell. He was accused of murder and embezzlement, charged with d...
2020-09-2323 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastThe American Founding's Medieval Roots - Robert ReillyWhile the left continues crudely to paint America’s founding as a mere expression of white supremacy, certain thinkers on the right have been making their own attack on American principles. They argue that America’s founding principles are fundamentally a product of an Enlightenment liberalism incompatible with natural law and faith. They find in the Constitution seeds of moral relativism, leading inevitably to Obergefell and gender ideology. To this position Robert Reilly’s new book America on Trial: A Defense of the Founding is a powerful rejoinder, arguing that the Founding’s roots lie a few millenni...
2020-08-261h 44The Catholic Culture PodcastDoes A Man for All Seasons portray St. Thomas More accurately?In this episode originally from Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast, Thomas asks attorney and scholar Louis Karlin whether Robert Bolt’s play and film A Man for All Seasons accurately depict St. Thomas More’s views on the rights of conscience, and his motives for martyrdom. More’s involvement in the prosecution of heretics is also examined: even if More was a martyr of conscience, is it accurate to call him a champion of religious freedom? One thing is certain: the portrayal by Hilary Mantel and others of More as a torturer of heretics is false. Links...
2020-08-071h 01Way of the FathersEp. 20 - Origen, Part 2: Hero, Heretic - or Hybrid? It’s hard to be an intelligent Christian without somehow handling Origen’s ideas. He set the ground rules for scientific study of the Bible. He wrote foundational works in spirituality, apologetics, and fundamental theology. In this episode, we look at those big accomplishments, but also examine the ideas that got him into trouble. Do souls exist before they get bodies? Does Satan get saved in the end? Does allegory trump history when we read the Bible? And did Origen really say all these things anyway? Find out why the Man of Steel is just as controversial toda...
2020-07-2420 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastGene Wolfe, Catholic Sci-FI Legend - Sandra Miesel, Fr. Brendon LarocheAfter much popular demand, Thomas pays tribute to legendary Catholic sci-fi writer Gene Wolfe, who passed away last year. Though not known to the general public, Wolfe is a sci-fi author’s sci-fi author—a number of his contemporaries considered him not only the best in the genre, but in American fiction at the time (Ursula Le Guin said “Wolfe is our Melville”). Among today’s writers, one of his biggest fans is Neil Gaiman. One critic described Wolfe’s magnum opus, The Book of the New Sun, as “a Star Wars–style space opera penned by G. K. Chesterton in...
2020-06-121h 40The Catholic Culture PodcastDon't Scapegoat the Nouvelle Théologie - Richard DeClueIt has become fashionable in traditionalist circles to blame all problems in modern theology on the so-called nouvelle théologie, including a range of thinkers such as Henri de Lubac, Karl Rahner, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Hans Küng and Josef Ratzinger. But this is based on a number of misconceptions: about the nature of the nouvelle théologie itself, and about the views held by some of these theologians. Nouvelle théologie is not a unified movement in which everyone held the same views. Some of the “new theologians” were radicals and modernists who wanted the Church t...
2020-05-201h 11
Criteria: The Catholic Film PodcastIntroducing Criteria: The Catholic Film PodcastIntroducing Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast! This is a show dedicated to exploring films of significant artistic merit and Catholic interest, starting with the Vatican’s 1995 list of "Some Important Films". Your hosts are Thomas V. Mirus (The Catholic Culture Podcast) and actor James T. Majewski (Catholic Culture Audiobooks). In this introductory episode we explain what we hope to accomplish with this show, discuss the Vatican film list, and explain how you can participate in the discussion. St. John Paul II, pray for us! Links Join our Facebook group to...
2020-05-0625 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastWhat Is Classical Christian Education? - Andrew KernModern education treats the child as a blank slate, a malleable object to be formed according to the will of whoever has power over educational policy. Classical Christian education treats the child as a person made in the image of God, a mystery to be held in awe, and tends to the flowering of his already-given nature by leading him to wisdom and virtue. Andrew Kern, founder of the CiRCE Institute (Center for Independent Research on Classical Education), is one of the best guests Thomas has ever interviewed. In this episode he leads us through the profound...
2020-05-041h 39The Catholic Culture PodcastThick Skin, Weak Stomach - Timothy & David GordonTimothy and David Gordon join the show to discuss their new book Rules for Retrogrades: Forty Tactics to Defeat the Radical Left. It’s a reverse-Alinskyan playbook for conservatives and Christians who are sick of being outmaneuvered at every turn by the forces seeking the destruction of the Christian faith and the natural foundations of the social order. The Gordon brothers want us to stop falling for the left’s tactics, which take advantage of the timidity, and false humility of today’s conservative Christians, and start turning the radicals’ own tactics against them as much as possible...
2020-04-021h 11The Catholic Culture PodcastThe Flannery-Haunted World - Joshua Hren, John Emmet ClarkeThis episode features two young Catholic publishers who are doing cutting-edge work to preserve and carry forward the Catholic literary legacy, building on the accomplishments of the great Catholic writers of the 20th century in particular. The first guest is Joshua Hren, founder and Editor-in-Chief of Wiseblood Books. Wiseblood's focus is on cultivating and publishing new works that maintain a high standard of literary quality and Catholic vision: featuring up-and-coming writers alongside established successes like Dana Gioia, Samuel Hazo, James Matthew Wilson, and Michael O’Brien. Besides introducing us to the Wiseblood catalogue, Joshua talks ab...
2020-03-241h 52The Catholic Culture PodcastPodcast Highlights: Native saints, Operation Rescue and moreA look back through the Catholic Culture Podcast archive. This episode contains highlights from: Ep. 1 - A Working Actor's Working Faith - Tony Mockus, Sr. https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-1-working-actors-working-faith/ Ep. 2 - The Largest Civil Disobedience Movement in American History - Bill Cotter, Phil Lawler https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-2-largest-civil-disobedience-movement-in-us-history/ Ep. 3 - Native American Catholicism and the New Evangelization - Peter Jesserer Smith https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-3-native-american-catholicism-new-evangelization/ Ep. 4 - The Marian Option - Carrie Gress https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-4-marian-option-carrie-gress/ ...
2020-03-121h 29The Catholic Culture PodcastPoetry of the English Martyrs - Benedict WhalenIn 1581, a young Englishman named Henry Walpole attended the execution of the Jesuit Edmund Campion. As Campion was hung, drawn and quartered, Walpole stood close enough to be spattered with his holy blood. Though Campion’s fame in England was already great, Walpole would amplify it further with a splendid, lengthy poem, which became enormously popular among English Catholics—so popular that the man who printed the book had his ears cut off as punishment. In his poem Walpole wrote: We cannot fear a mortal torment, we, This martyr’s blood hath moistened all ou...
2020-03-061h 26The Catholic Culture PodcastWhat I Learned From Making Music With Mark Christopher BrandtThomas recently had the privilege of playing piano on the latest album by Catholic composer Mark Christopher Brandt. The Butterfly consists of a suite for string quartet and piano, plus two solo piano pieces. The suite, which uses the butterfly’s transformation as an allegory of conversion, was described by the Catholic poet Dana Gioia as “fresh, inventive and alive”. In this episode you will hear the beautiful Butterfly suite in full, followed by a no less beautiful conversation in which Thomas shares what he learned from Mark during this project, and Mark (as always) shares much wisdom...
2020-02-281h 18The Catholic Culture PodcastChristopher Tolkien, 1924-2020 - John GarthThis is a tribute to Christopher Tolkien, who passed away on Jan. 16, 2020. Without Christopher's decades of dedicated scholarship, most notably his editing and publication of The Silmarillion, our knowledge of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world and very real genius would be considerably disadvantaged. Tolkien scholar John Garth, author of the acclaimed biography Tolkien and the Great War, joins the show to discuss a father-son collaboration unique in literary history. Contents [5:36] How Christopher Tolkien helped John in working on his book [13:40] The significance of the chronology of the composition of J.R.R...
2020-02-131h 08The Catholic Culture PodcastAdvancing the Faith in the Podcast Medium - Mike Aquilina, James T. MajewskiIt’s Podcast Week here at CatholicCulture.org, as we want to make more people aware of our audio offerings, particularly the two new podcasts we launched last October: Catholic Culture Audiobooks and Way of the Fathers with Mike Aquilina. Both of these shows have broken new ground in Catholic podcasting, which has so far largely stayed in the realm of talk shows rather than scripted programming. As more and more people in the United States and globally adopt podcasts as a source of entertainment and education, it’s important that Christ be there to meet them.
2020-01-3051 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastPrinceton Hosts Event Dedicated To St. CeciliaPrinceton University recently hosted and funded a very Catholic event as part of its annual Being Human Festival. It was a several-hour program dedicated to representations of St. Cecilia in poetry, painting and music, exploring how a conversation between these art forms can stir us to wonder and the contemplation of the Divine. The day’s events included singing the Salve Regina and a dinner in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose feast it was. In the first part of this episode, Thomas and co-host James Majewski lead a roundtable discussion in which event organizer Joe Pe...
2020-01-081h 09
Way of the FathersOn the Apostolic Fathers: An Interview with M.J. ThomasHere’s a little bit of back and forth about the Apostolic Fathers: my interview with Dr. Matthew J. Thomas, who teaches at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California. He’s author of the book “Paul’s ‘Works of the Law’ in the Perspective of Second Century Reception.” He earned his doctorate in theology from Oxford. Links More Works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/ Mike Aquilina’s Website https://fathersofthechurch.com Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski...
2019-12-2600 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastA Hidden Life Film Review w/ James MajewskiTerrence Malick’s stunning new film, A Hidden Life, is about Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian farmer who was martyred for refusing to swear loyalty to Hitler. James Majewski joins Thomas to discuss the film. He reads excerpts from Bl. Franz’s letters and prison writings, to see how well Malick’s portrayal lives up to the real-life saint. The letters of Franz and his wife Franziska their deep devotional life, and testify to how much Franz’s heroism owed to the sacraments and the support of some good priests who we do not see in the film....
2019-12-1350 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastVindicating Authority - Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P.Modernity has attempted to do away with authority. It does this not most commonly by advocating anarchy. Rather, it justifies its own established powers in terms of a fictive self-rule, and purports to replace the arbitrary dictates of power--and much of what makes us human--with scientific rationality. But authority is necessary to human life, and not just as a medicine for weakness and evil. It arises from and serves what is noblest in us. The French Catholic philosopher Yves R. Simon made this case in A General Theory of Authority. With the help of Dominican friar Fr...
2019-11-261h 14The Catholic Culture PodcastGod Made Us For Order and Surprise - John-Mark MiravalleJohn-Mark Miravalle is the author of a rather good popular introduction to the topic beauty, Beauty: What It Is and Why It Matters. He and Thomas converse on our moral obligation to delight in beauty, why we are moved by the combination of order and surprise, and the proper way to delight in the beauty of the human body. John-Mark closes the discussion with a moving reflection on the relationship between Mary and the Holy Spirit. Links Beauty: What It Is and Why It Matters https://www.sophiainstitute.com/products/item/beauty This po...
2019-10-3054 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastOff-Broadway Play Accurately Portrays Conservative Thought: Zoology or Spiritual Wisdom?In the new off-Broadway play Heroes of the Fourth Turning, playwright Will Arbery (son of two Wyoming Catholic College professors) offers a nuanced, accurate portrayal of the way conservatives talk to each other when progressives aren’t around. The characters are instantly recognizable to anyone who has spent time among well-educated Catholic conservatives. The play has attracted positive attention from both secular and Catholic media. Is Heroes a zoological exhibit for progressives to gape at, or something deeper? Is it ultimately more unsettling to a perceptive Catholic viewer, for whom Arbery’s troubled characters might function as an indi...
2019-10-211h 20The Catholic Culture PodcastLibertarianism vs. Natural Law on Private PropertyThomas discusses his libertarian past, explains why he abandoned that political philosophy, and summarizes an article on the topic by the Catholic philosopher Edward Feser. Feser, himself an ex-libertarian who has written books on Hayek, Nozick and Locke, argues that the libertarian view of self-ownership and private property rights cannot be reconciled with classical natural law theory, and lays out a proper natural law theory of private property rights and taxation. Links The article https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/social-philosophy-and-policy/article/classical-natural-law-theory-property-rights-and-taxation/E5AF0E3F9E3B29FDFF940E4CAA728721 Feser’s...
2019-07-281h 04The Catholic Culture PodcastCatholics Need Poetry. But Do We Want It? - Dana GioiaDana Gioia is one of the greatest Catholic poets working today. In this interview he discusses how Catholic attitudes toward the arts have changed in recent generations, and the revival of interest in poetry in the culture as a whole. Dana reads a few of his poems, discusses how Catholicism has made his poetry “simpler, more emotionally direct, and more unabashedly musical,” and even gives poets some tips on collaboration with musicians and composers. Dana and Thomas wrap up by discussing the role of the critic and highlighting a modern Catholic poet Dana thinks should be better known. Li...
2019-07-201h 13The Catholic Culture PodcastTolkien and Aquinas - Jonathan S. McIntoshTolkien is well known to have been concerned with the internal consistency of his fictional world, from geography to history to language. But he was also concerned with another sort of consistency: metaphysical consistency, not only within the work but between his work and reality (because he did not see the storyteller's task as providing an alternative to reality but an extension of it). Scholars have debated the nature of Tolkien's metaphysics; Jonathan S. McIntosh contends that the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas provides the most fruitful metaphysical lens with which to examine Middle-Earth. Links ...
2019-06-051h 35The Catholic Culture PodcastComposing Liturgical Music That's Noble, Accessible... and Sacred - Paul JernbergPaul Jernberg is a composer of sacred music and director of the Magnificat Institute, which offers education in the patrimony of Catholic liturgical music. He tells Thomas about his career, including an interesting digression about gospel music and its relation to Catholic liturgy, the criterion of “noble accessibility” in liturgical music, and what Roman Catholic composers can learn from the ancient Eastern chant traditions. This episode contains selections from Jernberg’s Mass of St. Philip Neri, used with permission. If you would like to hear more episodes with music throughout, please send Thomas feedback at podcast@catholicculture.org.
2019-05-291h 16The Catholic Culture PodcastCatholic Feminism: Should We? - Abigail Rine FavaleToday there is more pressure than ever before on both women and men to embrace feminism. In her outstanding memoir, Into the Deep, Abigail Rine Favale gives a resonant account of her journey from an evangelical childhood to a Christian feminism which inevitably gave way to the secular, postmodern variety. This ideology gradually gutted her faith—a process interrupted by childbirth and a sudden and unexpected conversion to Catholicism. We discuss the feasibility of Catholic feminism, the danger of interpreting Scripture and doctrine through a predetermined ideological hermeneutic, facile uses of the word "equality", the totalizing nature of...
2019-02-191h 12The Catholic Culture PodcastPhil Lawler, Jeff Mirus and Thomas on Our Favorite Books of 2018Phil Lawler, Jeff Mirus, and Thomas Mirus discuss selections from their article rounding up their favorite books and other media of 2018. Links Article: The best books we read in 2018 https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=1591
2018-12-1653 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastGosnell, the Abortion Story No One Wanted Told--Ann McElhinneyThe new feature film Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer, about the investigation, trial and conviction of abortionist Kermit Gosnell, has defied opposition from the film industry and the press alike to become an artistic and financial success, even briefly making it into the top ten in box office results. Writer Ann McElhinney discusses the film, her research process (including the disturbing experience of interviewing Gosnell himself), and the numerous obstacles the filmmakers faced in telling a story nobody wanted to see the light of day. At the beginning of the episode, Thomas also di...
2018-10-3141 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastAcedia, the Forgotten Capital Sin--RJ SnellOnce included among the capital sins, acedia has been identified with both sloth and sadness. St. Thomas Aquinas, for example, defined it both as "disgust with activity" and “sadness about spiritual good.” Today’s guest, RJ Snell, argues that acedia is the chief spiritual malady of our age, underlying the malaise, nihilism and despair so prevalent in the modern West. Links R.J. Snell, Acedia and Its Discontents: Metaphysical Boredom in the Empire of Desire https://amzn.to/2xTTBhQ Thomas’s 2015 review of Snell, Acedia and Its Discontents https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?i...
2018-10-0355 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastA Civics Lesson for Catholics--Bob MarshallMany Catholics have become cynical about the possibility of changing the political landscape, but perhaps we’ve given up before we’ve really tried. It’s not just about electing the right congressmen and nominating the right justices, it’s about keeping them accountable. In this episode, former Virginia delegate Bob Marshall shares practical insights drawn from his encyclopedic knowledge of the American political tradition and from his own achievements in politics: for example, he was behind the Hyde Amendment which stopped abortion funding via Medicaid. He reminds us that “To render to Caesar, you have to know the s...
2018-09-261h 02The Catholic Culture PodcastA Career in Poetry & Prose--Mike AquilinaMike Aquilina has been a highly successful freelance writer for over three decades. He is best known for his popular books on the Fathers of the Church, but he is also a poet and has co-written songs with the well-known blues singer Dion. We chat about the process of collaboration (whether as a ghostwriter or a song lyricist), the trajectory of poetry over the past century, and more. Links Mike Aquilina’s website https://fathersofthechurch.com/ “New York Is My Home” (a song Mike co-wrote performed by Dion and Paul Simon) https...
2018-08-0756 minThe Catholic Culture PodcastMusic and Morals--Fr. Basil Cole, O.P.Are music and morals connected? If so, what is the nature of that connection? Are certain musical sounds morally bad or good in themselves, or are they neutral? Could the influence of music on morality be of an indirect kind? Is there such a thing as a virtuous way of listening to music? Can music prepare us for the spiritual life? Do you have to be a good person to make beautiful music? I discuss these questions and more with theologian Fr. Basil Cole, O.P., an amateur jazz pianist who wrote his dissertation on the moral effects of...
2018-07-171h 17
The Catholic Culture PodcastHow to Start an Institutional Apostolate, Part 2—Jeff MirusThis episode is for anyone who believes he is called to found a Catholic apostolate, or anyone who is overseeing one already. In this second part of a two-part interview, CatholicCulture.org founder Jeff Mirus shares more lessons from his decades of experience founding several Catholic organizations. In the mid-80s he left Christendom College to start a publishing company. Then circumstances forced him to transition away from full-time apostolic work which, though painful at the time, providentially set the stage for him to return on more sustainable terms, leading to the present online apostolate.
2018-07-1055 min
The Catholic Culture PodcastHow to Start an Institutional Apostolate, Part 1--Jeff MirusThis episode is for anyone who believes he is called to found a Catholic apostolate, or anyone who is overseeing one already. You may know Jeff Mirus as the founder of CatholicCulture.org, bu the has launched several other successful Catholic institutions as well. In this first part of a two-part interview he discusses how, as a young man witnessing a grave crisis in the Church, he set out to become a Catholic apologist. In the first few years of his career, he founded the interdisciplinary academic journal Faith & Reason and co-founded Christendom College. These experiences taught...
2018-07-041h 29
The Catholic Culture PodcastHow to Stop Public Porn--Abriana ChilelliAbriana Chilelli had to drive her children past a lewd strip club advertisement every day on their way home from school in downtown Denver. But instead of taking a fatalistic attitude and a detour, or worse, just accepting it, she got in touch with a city councilman and within days, the pornographic image was gone. We discuss her story and the lessons she learned about how we can still accomplish positive change in our communities, and the importance of teaching children the true meaning of their bodies. Links Abriana Chilelli https://twitter.com/A...
2018-06-2739 min
The Catholic Culture PodcastInflation Is a Sin--Guido HülsmannIt would not occur to most of us to imagine that monetary has a moral component. Catholic prelates are as silent about matters like fiat money, central banking and inflation and as are the secular ethicists. But the production of currency is not just a matter for the technocrats, and the Catholic tradition once had something to say on the topic. Economist Guido Hülsmann has combined the moral-economic analysis of the scholastics, particularly the 14th-century bishop Nicholas Oresme (who wrote that debauching the currency is worse than either usury or prostitution), with the insights of the Austrian school o...
2018-06-191h 16