The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture WOF 504: The Meaning and Purpose of Beauty (Part 2)
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Aug 25, 2025 
Robert Barron, the Bishop of Winona-Rochester and founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, delves into the profound nature of beauty in a modern context. He discusses how contemporary architecture can distort our perception of beauty and its civilizing effect. The conversation reflects on spirituality's connection to beauty, emphasizing its transformative power. Drawing on insights from Anne Frank, Barron highlights beauty's persistence even amidst suffering. He urges listeners to embrace beauty as a vital tool for evangelization and moral development.
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Ugliness Disharmonizes The Soul
- Brutalist architecture intentionally removes harmony and can psychologically brutalize viewers.
- Bishop Robert Barron argues beauty brings harmony while ugly designs disharmonize and unsettle people.
Seminary Chapel Reborn
- Barron transformed an ugly 1970s seminary chapel into the beautiful John Paul II Chapel.
- After renovation students eagerly brought guests and tours, showing how beauty draws people in.
Transcendentals Can Fracture In Fallenness
- The transcendentals (true, good, beautiful) should mutually implicate but fallenness can fracture them.
- Barron says listening to Mozart yet committing atrocities shows disintegration of the self.
