DeJak
Veni, Veni, Emmanuel: Advent 2015
Today is the First Sunday of Advent. Here is an excerpt on the meaning of Advent: In Advent, the Greek Church celebrates particularly the ancestors of Our Lord–all the Patriarchs and Prophets of the Old Testament, but especially Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Latin Church also mentions them often in this period. In the Breviary, many texts are…
Refugees, Immigration, and Catholic Discourse
I think it might be a general experience that Thanksgiving Day tends to bring extended families together more than even Christmas Day. I’m not sure why this is or whence this came about. My own recollections of Thanksgiving as a kid take me to my grandparents’ basement where two long tables were spread with all the fixings. It…
Fr. Robert J. Araujo, SJ (1948-2015)
This past week saw the passing of another giant of Catholic education and Catholic legal theory: Fr. Robert J. Araujo, SJ. To those in Catholic academe or in the realm of law, Fr. Araujo was a professor’s professor and a lawyer’s lawyer. His credentials and CV read as if he should be placed in the…
Fr. Ciszek and the North American Martyrs: Reflections on Sinfulness and the Love of God
On August 4, 1964, Fr. Ciszek began his annual eight-day retreat in preparation for his final vows, which he would take on the Feast of Our Lady’s Assumption, August 15, 1964. The site for this particular retreat was the Shrine of the North American Martyrs (also known as the Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs),…
Metz Yeghérn (“The Great Evil”)
In the summer of 2005, my family and I had the pleasure of visiting Dr. Mitchell Kalpakgian at his home in New Hampshire. I have followed the work of Dr. Kalpakgian since the early nineties. I first recall reading him in the New Oxford Review as a high school senior. At the time, I was being fed a steady…
Francis Cardinal George, Teacher and Witness (1937-2015)
I first met Francis Cardinal George shortly after his elevation to Cardinal, probably sometime in early 1998. I met him through Fr. Leo Sweeney, S.J., a friend, teacher and long time philosophy professor at Loyola University Chicago. I can’t recall why His Eminence was at Loyola; perhaps it was a commencement, perhaps he was giving a lecture. In any event, he was in…
Kerygma for a Magdalen Ministry
About 20 years ago a friend of mine wrote a satire of modern ecclesial life in which he parodied the Bishops of the United States in a classic inversion of priorities in which the High Holy Day of Easter took second place to a “Magdalen Ministry”–some sort of outreach where women’s contributions could be celebrated…
Popule meus, quid feci tibi, aut in quo contristavi te?
O my people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I afflicted thee? Answer me. Because I led thee out of the land of Egypt, you have prepared a cross for thy Savior. O holy God! O holy God! O holy strong One! O holy strong One! O holy immortal One, have mercy upon us! O…
A Gift to Our Readers: Easter Strudel
We here at the Bellarmine Forum have often spoken of the revered traditional customs, especially those that take place at Easter and Christmas. Pope Benedict XVI has spoken eloquently of these and we have endeavored over the years to celebrate and bring to a wider audience these traditions. We have probably been disproportionate in our celebration of…
All Their Wars are Merry, And All Their Songs are Sad
For the great Gaels of Ireland Are the men that God made mad, For all their wars are merry, And all their songs are sad. –G.K. Chesterton There is a strange phenomenon on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. It is probably the one place in the world where Irishmen have largely been raised on…
