The Catholic Culture Podcast

Erik Varden, bishop of Trondheim, Norway as well as Trappist monk, joins the podcast to discuss his new book Chastity: Reconciliation of the Senses. Topics discussed include: Recovering the true meaning of the word “chastity” Continence and chastity are not the same thing What the Desert Fathers can teach us about chastity Why we need to meditate on the original vocation of man before the Fall rather than limiting our options to what our sinful nature is capable of Why having a sense of dignity in one’s masculinity or femininity helps us to be chaste The importance of friendship between men and women The redirection of eros Links Erik Varden, Chastity: Reconciliation of the Senses https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/chastity-9781399411400/ Élisabeth-Paule Labat, The Song That I Am: On the Mystery of Music, trans. Erik Varden https://litpress.org/Products/MW040P/The-Song-That-I-Am Thomas’s 3-part essay inspired by the Labat book https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/mystery-music-part-i/ SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Fr. John Saward, a renowned English theologian and priest, dives into the mystical world of angels and the profound connection between art and faith. He critiques Hans Urs von Balthasar's theology, notably on salvation and hell, sharing insights from his own philosophical journey. The discussion highlights Mary as the Queen of Angels and emphasizes the importance of beauty in theology. Fr. Saward also illuminates the unity of angels and humanity in eternal bliss, encouraging a deeper appreciation for angelic beings in the Catholic tradition.

Is Jesus Christ God? Is he a man? Is he both? Spoiler alert: the mainstream Church answered with the both/and, but the factions on the fringes tended to choose one or the other. For our first heresy, we take a look at the Ebionites, and their New Testament-era predecessors, the so-called Judaizers. These concluded that Jesus Christ was a mere human. A human who became a prophet perhaps, but just a human. This is season 4, episode 2 of Way of the Fathers. Subscribe to the podcast here: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/category/way-fathers/

This episode collects highlights from episodes 74-76 of the Catholic Culture Podcast. Links to full episodes: Ep. 74—What Is Classical Christian Education?—Andrew Kern https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-74-what-is-classical-christian-education-andrew-kern/ Ep. 75—Don’t Scapegoat the Nouvelle Théologie—Richard DeClue https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-75-dont-scapegoat-nouvelle-thologie-richard-declue/ Ep. 76—Playing Jesus on The Chosen—Jonathan Roumie https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-76-playing-jesus-on-chosen-jonathan-roumie/ SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

A new collection of letters shows the tender side of St. Jerome, as he writes to console various friends on the death of their loved ones. Translator and editor David G. Bonagura, Jr., joins the podcast to discuss Jerome's Tears: Letters to Friends in Mourning. Topics include: Jerome's Christian twist on the "consolatory epistle" genre practiced by many great pagan writers before him The network of holy friends and disciples (like St. Paula) to whom and about whom he writes in these letters Jerome's tactics for helping someone move out of an excessively long mourning period How the death of a loved one is an opportunity to give ourselves more radically to God Jerome's recommendation of continence to married couples beyond their child-bearing years Buy Jerome's Tears https://sophiainstitute.com/product/jeromes-tears/ SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

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 virtue of art to the mortal and speculative virtues Buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHG6YPPG?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Daniel McInerny joins the podcast to discuss his novel, The Good Death of Kate Montclair, the modern cult of authenticity, the desire for control that tempts people to euthanasia, and what it truly means to accept your death. Publisher’s description for the novel: Kate Montclair is dying. She has arrived at late middle age loveless, childless, and having failed to achieve the career dreams of her youth. Now diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, she sees the next fourteen months of suffering as an intolerable prospect. Kate is desperate—not only for a miracle cure, but for some sense that her life, and life itself, amounts to something more than a catastrophe. When she sees an advertisement for the Washington, DC Death Symposium, Kate investigates and learns that the monthly discussion group is led by none other than the idealistic and inimitable Adele Schraeder, an old friend she has not seen since their teaching days in Rome. On Adele’s advice, Kate soon decides to break Virginia law with an assisted suicide. But Adele Schraeder is not the only person Kate reconnects with at the Death Symposium. Also present is Benedict Aquila, another friend from Rome, who has been living in DC while nursing his mother through her final illness. And then there is the strange, mentally ill street woman sitting in the corner, drawing pad in hand. Who is she? She is the Ariadne’s thread that will lead Kate on a journey back through the years to her youth, forcing her to come to grips with the love affair she had with a married man and the catastrophe that took his life. Links Daniel McInerny, The Good Death of Kate Montclair https://chrismpress.com/product/the-good-death-of-kate-montclair/ The Comic Muse http://www.danielmcinerny.substack.com SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletter DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

6:51 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

Holly Ordway continues to break new ground in Tolkien scholarship with her latest book, Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography. This work sheds important light on the experience of Catholics like Tolkien and his mother in the hostile Anglican establishment of their time, on the crucial influence of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri on the young Tolkien, and more. Holly returns to the podcast to discuss these and other topics, such as: Should Tolkien be canonized? His practice of his faith in the first world war His struggles with his faith and in his marriage The secret initial in Tolkien's name Was Tolkien a trad? Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography https://bookstore.wordonfire.org/products/tolkiens-faith SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletter DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Looking back at highlights from past episodes of the Catholic Culture Podcast and Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast. Full episodes below: Catholic Culture Podcast Ep. 65—Reason with Stories, Philosophize with Your Life (Vision of the Soul Pt. III)—James Matthew Wilson https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-64-reason-with-stories-philosophize-with-your-life-vision-soul-pt-iii-james-matthew-wilson/ Ep. 73—St. John Henry Newman’s Aesthetics—Fr. Guy Nicholls, Cong. Orat. https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-73-st-john-henry-newmans-aesthetics-fr-guy-nicholls-cong-orat/ Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast   Robert Bolt’s Man for All Seasons: Christian saint or “hero of selfhood”? https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/robert-bolts-man-for-all-seasons-christian-saint-or-hero-selfhood/ Community on the Margins: Stagecoach (1939) w/ Anthony Esolen https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/stagecoach-1939/ DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio Go to Catholic Culture's website for tons of written content, including news, articles, liturgical year info, and a vast library of documents: https://www.catholicculture.org