This is a love letter to the great English Christmas carols, from “There Is No Rose” to “The Boar’s Head”. Did you know that not just any Christmas song is a carol? The true carol, in all its earthy splendor, is a distinctive product of the Catholic middle ages. Yet our forefathers didn’t limit caroling to Christmas: they wrote carols for every season of the year covering the entire story of our Redemption, not to mention secular topics at times. This episode explores the origin of carols in England, their cultural meaning, and how they were suppressed by the Puritans and were revived in modern times. And of course, you’ll hear a lot of great music throughout, ranging from historically informed performance to modern arrangements! Links Erik Routley, The English Carol https://www.amazon.com/English-Carol-Erik-Routley/dp/0837169895 Andrew Gant, The Carols of Christmas https://www.amazon.com/Carols-Christmas-Celebration-Surprising-Favorite/dp/0718031520 All music in this episode used with permission from the recording artist and/or label. Agincourt Carol, Alamire https://www.amazon.com/Deo-Gracias-Anglia-Alamire/dp/B008L1GZUO Nowell sing we both all and some, Quire Cleveland https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/quirecleveland2 Gabriel From Heaven’s King, Quire Cleveland https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/quirecleveland2 A Virgin Most Pure, Stairwell Carolers https://www.stairwellcarollers.com/en/o-magnum-mysterium/ Coventry Carol, Harry Christophers and the Sixteen, available on the CORO record label at https://thesixteenshop.com/ Bedfordshire May Carol, Shirley Collins https://mainlynorfolk.info/shirley.collins/records/withinsound.html Remember O Thou Man, The King’s Singers https://www.amazon.com/Remember-O-Thou-Man/dp/B073JZN754 Wassail (Gloucestershire Wassail, arr. Vaughan Williams), Quire Cleveland https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/quirecleveland4 Green Growth the Holly, Early Music New York—Frederick Renz, Director https://www.earlymusicny.org/a-renaissance-christmas My Dancing Day, Robert Shaw Chorale https://www.amazon.com/Songs-Angels-Christmas-Hymns-Carols/dp/B000003D0G Drive the Cold Winter Away, Owain Phyfe and the New World Renaissance Band https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/nwrb In the Bleak Midwinter, Quire Cleveland https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/quirecleveland2 Lullay My Liking (Holst), HSVPA Madrigal Singers (Houston, TX) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw81DCQ3HhI A Hymn to the Virgin (Britten), VOCES8 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077GC4QVT/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp There is no rose, Quire Cleveland https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/quirecleveland2 Thanks to all, but especially to Ross W. Duffin for his generosity with Quire Cleveland’s back catalogue! Also recommended: A Waverly Consort Christmas: From East Anglia to Appalachia https://www.amazon.com/Waverly-Consort-Christmas-Anglia-Appalachia/dp/B000002SRK Other non-famous carols mentioned: Seven Virgins (The Leaves of Life); This Endris Night; Tempus adest floridum (Good King Wenceslas); Kingsfold (I heard the voice of Jesus say); The Cherry Tree Carol; Masters In This Hall; The Golden Carol; Snow in the Street; New Prince, New Pomp This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Terrence 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. Links A Hidden Life trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJXmdY4lVR0 Franz Jägerstätter: Letters and Writings from Prison, ed. Erna Putz, is published by Orbis Books, a press that publishes a fair amount of heretical and dissenting material. The letters are well worth reading but we encourage you to buy a used copy rather than supporting that publisher. If you enjoyed this discussion, check out James and Thomas's other show, Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast. http://catholicculture.org/criteria To hear James read more writings of the saints, check out Catholic Culture Audiobooks. https://www.catholicculture.org/audiobooks This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

James Matthew Wilson’s new cycle of poems, The River of the Immaculate Conception, is a reflection on the history of the Catholic faith in the Americas, from Juan Diego to Elizabeth Ann Seton. Its title is the name given to the Mississippi River by the missionary Fr. Marquette. James reads four of the seven poems, explains their relation to the recent Mass of the Americas which inspired them, and discusses the challenges and delights of poetic form. Links Buy The River of the Immaculate Conception at Wiseblood Books https://www.wisebloodbooks.com/store/p96/The_River_of_the_Immaculate_Conception.html Watch the Mass of the Americas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFoj3viHXnk JMW's website: https://www.jamesmatthewwilson.com/   JMW’s recommended resources for aspiring poets: Colosseum Summer Institute https://www.colosseuminstitute.com/summer-institute.html  James Matthew Wilson, The Fortunes of Poetry in an Age of Unmaking https://www.wisebloodbooks.com/store/p82/The_Fortunes_of_Poetry_in_an_Age_of_Unmaking.html William Baer, Writing Metrical Poetry: Contemporary Lessons for Mastering Traditional Forms https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Metrical-Poetry-Contemporary-Traditional/dp/1582974152 Timothy Steele, All the Fun’s in How You Say a Thing: An Explanation of Meter and Versification https://www.amazon.com/All-Funs-How-Thing-Versification/dp/0821412604 This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

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. Aquinas Guilbeau, Thomas dives into this most enlightening book. Links https://twitter.com/FrAquinasOP Yves R. Simon, A General Theory of Authority https://www.amazon.com/General-Theory-Authority-Yves-Simon/dp/0268010048 Charles De Koninck, On the Primacy of the Common Good: Against the Personalists https://emmilco.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/de-koninck-common-good.pdf This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Having honed his skills translating Dante, Tasso and Lucretius, well-known Catholic cultural commentator Anthony Esolen has now published his first book of original poetry. The book-length poem The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord is centered around twelve dramatic monologues set during and shortly after the time of Christ, complemented and illuminated by dozens of lyric poems and hymns. Links Buy The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord https://www.ignatius.com/The-Hundredfold-P3358.aspx Books recommended by Anthony Esolen: Understanding Poetry by Cleanth Brooks https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Poetry-Cleanth-Brooks/dp/0030769809 Doorways to Poetry by Louis Untermeyer https://www.amazon.com/Doorways-Poetry-Louis-Untermeyer/dp/B000856E98 This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

The Western liberal democratic order is in crisis. If it collapses or significantly wanes in power, what will replace it? A long period of chaos and massive human suffering? Regressive authoritarianism? Or, reading the signs of the times, could we arrive at a synthesis which learns from liberalism’s mistakes while preserving its best features? Today’s guest is Jonah Bennett, editor-in-chief of a fascinating new online magazine called Palladium which is devoted to constructing what could be called the post-liberal synthesis. Palladium Magazine seeks to foster the perspective of a responsible elite, with high-quality, non-ideological coverage of everything from geopolitics to video-game addiction to the crisis in Ivy League institutions. Links Transcript of this podcast https://medium.com/@thejonahbennett/responsible-elites-podcast-transcript-7fb270681280 A few Palladium articles: “Towards The Post-Liberal Synthesis”, Jonah Bennett https://palladiummag.com/2018/09/29/towards-the-post-liberal-synthesis/  “The Real Problem At Yale Is Not Free Speech”, Natalia Dashan https://palladiummag.com/2019/08/05/the-real-problem-at-yale-is-not-free-speech/ “My Time On A Terror Trial Jury”, Wolf Tivy https://palladiummag.com/2019/09/05/my-time-on-a-terror-trial-jury/ “The American Dream Is Alive In China,” Jean Fan https://palladiummag.com/2019/10/11/the-american-dream-is-alive-in-china/  “The New Authoritarian Hungary That Isn’t”, Will Collins https://palladiummag.com/2019/05/06/the-new-authoritarian-hungary-that-isnt/ This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

John-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 podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

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 indictment of a Catholic conservatism that can be focused more on ideas and temporal concerns than on the reality of Christ? And if so, does the play itself recognize the nature of the problem? That is, does it deal substantively with its characters’ Catholicism, or, like some of those characters, does it merely use certain Catholic ideas in the service of temporal political debates? Having seen Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Thomas Mirus and James Majewski discuss. Links Heroes of the Fourth Turning https://www.playwrightshorizons.org/shows/plays/heroes-fourth-turning/ C. C. Pecknold’s review: https://catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2019/10/01/an-extraordinary-play-that-challenges-progressives-and-conservatives-alike/ Rod Dreher’s commentary: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher-tags/heroes-of-the-fourth-turning/ Theme music: “Franciscan Eyes”, written and performed by Thomas Mirus. This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Indie rock trio The Duskwhales formed almost 10 years ago at a small Catholic high school in Virginia. Over that decade, four albums and three EPs, they have forged a distinctly melodic sound in contrast to today’s joyless pop milieu. Their vocal harmonies hearken back to The Beatles and The Beach Boys, while their organ-heavy instrumentation (no bass player in their live shows) sets them apart from contemporary rock bands. In this 10-year career retrospective they discuss their musical output so far, the importance of their friendship and faith to their survival and continual artistic growth as a band, the loss of melody and retro clones in modern pop music, and more. You’ll hear clips from their eclectic discography, including their new EP, Take It Back. The Duskwhales are Seth Flynn (vocals, guitar), Brian Majewski (keyboards, vocals), and Chris Baker (drums, vocals). All music used with permission. Links Buy The Duskwhales’ music https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com Follow them https://www.facebook.com/TheDuskwhales/ Episode 5 on The Duskwhales' EP Hospital Dreams https://www.catholicculture.org/podcast/index.cfm?id=5 Interview with The Duskwhales' Sorrowful Mysteries https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=1473 Dr. Kurt Poterack on melody https://www.getprinciples.com/a-people-without-melody/ and rhythm in popular music https://www.getprinciples.com/the-rhythm-of-popular-music/ and McCartney’s “Yesterday” https://kpoterackblog.wordpress.com/2014/05/26/yesterday/ This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

One of England’s greatest composers, William Byrd is a fascinating and complicated figure of Catholic musical history. A musician in the Royal Chapel of Queen Elizabeth, he associated with the highest ranks of the Anglican establishment while writing music on the side for secret Catholic masses. In part two of this interview, singer and scholar Kerry McCarthy discusses the high level of amateur musicianship in Byrd's England, his attitude towards music as revealed in his writings, his approach to text-setting and relationship with contemporary poets, and Renaissance rhythm. An overview is given of more of the genres Byrd worked in, from keyboard and consort music to motets and Mass propers. In this episode you will hear the following pieces by Byrd (all used with kind permission from the groups named): Fantasia in A minor for keyboard, performed by Olga Pashchenko https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DiebzF-UJ4 In nomine #5 for consort, performed by The Rose Consort of Viols on Byrd: Consort and Keyboard Music, Songs and Anthems https://www.amazon.com/Byrd-Consort-Keyboard-Music-Anthems/dp/B0000013UP Tristitia et anxietas, performed by Gallicantus on The Word Unspoken https://music.apple.com/us/album/word-unspoken-sacred-music/533746884?app=itunes&ls=1 Ave verum corpus, performed by Ensemble ZENE on Via Dolorosa https://www.highresaudio.com/en/album/view/pd88hj/ensemble-zene-bruno-kele-baujard-purcell-byrd-scarlatti-lotti-allegri-via-dolorosa  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioBgfmzRLUE Links Part I of this interview https://www.catholicculture.org/podcast/index.cfm?id=49 Kerry McCarthy, Byrd https://global.oup.com/academic/product/byrd-9780195388756?cc=us&lang=en& Olga Pashchenko https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfXOSSr0MB_fvePKrSfCQug The Rose Consort of Viols https://www.alisoncrum.myzen.co.uk/roseconsortweb/index.htm Gallicantus http://www.gallicantus.com/ Ensemble ZENE https://www.ensemblezene.com/ This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio