The Catholic Culture Podcast

For decades, Steve and Evelyn Auth have been giving tours of NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art. When Steve (who last appeared on this show talking about his book The Missionary of Wall Street) had a reversion to his Catholic faith 20 years ago, that tour soon enough became a Catholic tour of the Met. Since there is now so much demand for that tour that they can't give it to everyone, they have written its essence in their new book, Pilgrimage to the Museum: Man's Search for God. Steve joins the show to talk about his spiritual approach to art history, viewing works in light of the underlying search, or at least grappling, with God that is manifested by every true artist. But he also talks about what makes the Met special (it's one of the most encyclopedic museums in the world if you want to learn about all of art history), and offers tips for how to get the most out of your visit to any art museum. Pilgrimage to the Museum https://sophiainstitute.com/product/a-pilgrimage-to-the-museum/ DONATE at http://www.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

Jane Clark Scharl discusses her play Sonnez les Matines, in which a young Ignatius of Loyola, Jean Calvin, and Francois Rabelais, together in 1520s Paris, find themselves implicated in a murder. Publisher's description (from Wiseblood Books): One Mardi Gras night in 1520s Paris, college students Jean Calvin (founder of Calvinism and autocratic ruler of Geneva), Ignatius of Loyola (founder of the Counter-Reformation Catholic religious order, the Jesuits), and their bawdy friend Francois Rabelais (the humanist novelist) find themselves mixed up in a gruesome murder—and any one of them might be guilty. The ensuing investigation sparks a battle of wits and weapons, plunging them into questions of justice and mercy, grace and sin, innocence, guilt, love, and contempt. Before the bells ring in the start of Lent, they must confront the darkest parts of their souls and find the courage to pursue truth in a world that seems intent on obscuring it.  Sonnez Les Matines imagines what might have happened if these three brilliant, volatile men had to put their convictions to the test while navigating a brutal crime and their own involvement in it. When left to his own devices, each character speaks in his own verse form, giving the play the feeling of a fierce sparring match between masters. Calvin's blank verse toys with despair as he wrestles with doubts about the goodness of God and the possibility of freedom; Ignatius commands situations in clipped iambic tetrameter, revealing his background as a disciplined soldier, while his passion for order shows through in frequent alliteration; and Rabelais dances around with iambic rhyming couplets, cracking profane, bawdy jokes that unexpectedly become profound meditations on the mysteries of God, creation, and grace. Links Tickets for March 8th performance of the play in NYC  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sonnez-les-matines-march-8th-tickets-554768656987 Buy the text of the play https://www.wisebloodbooks.com/store/p127/Sonnez_Les_Matines%2C_a_Verse_Play_by_J.C._Scharl.html “The Dream of the Rood: A New Translation” by Tessa Carman and J.C. Scharl https://thelampmagazine.com/blog/the-dream-of-the-rood-a-new-translation Jane's website https://jcscharl.com/ 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

One might assume abortion has always been a hot-button topic in American politics since the Supreme Court ruling legalizing it in 1973. But that is not the case. The US pro-life movement was so non-robust for many years that by 1987, abortion was not even one of the top 10 issues for American voters. Then suddenly, in ABC's 1988 election exit poll, abortion had shot to the number one issue for voters. What made abortion into a political litmus test so suddenly? Operation Rescue was what happened. Little remembered now, OR was, believe it or not, the largest civil disobedience in American history. Between 1987 and 1994, about 75,000 pro-life activists were arrested for peacefully interfering with abortion clinic operations - that's ten times more people arrested than in the entire civil rights movement. And though Operation Rescue quickly fizzled out in 1994 because of the Clinton administration's FACE Act (recently used to prosecute Mark Houck), it gave the pro-life movement the jump-start it needed to get us to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Arguably, were it not for Operation Rescue, the U.S. would be much like Europe, with even anti-abortion conservatives more or less accepting it as the "law of the land", and little political will to fight it. It is a great honor, then, to have the founder of Operation Rescue on the Catholic Culture Podcast. Randall Terry, who ran OR for its first few years and was arrested 50 times for his pro-life activism, is producing a documentary series, Dragonslayers, which will tell the history of OR using many hours of amazing footage that exists from the time. He is currently raising funds so that the series can be made. Randall joins the show to talk about OR and its decisive role in the history of the pro-life movement, the need for direct action in the pro-life cause today, and the political tools that will be indispensable for ending abortion in all 50 states - which he calls Randall's Rules for Righteous Revolution. Links Donate to support the documentary production and find pro-life training resources at www.RandallTerry.com Ep. 2 of the Catholic Culture Podcast - "The Largest Civil Disobedience Movement in U.S. History", with Bill Cotter and Phil Lawler https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-2-largest-civil-disobedience-movement-in-us-history 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

Author 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 soul. Its examination of the complex blend of motives for pursuing a religious vocation, the fear of death, and the transference of grace, is all the more moving when combined with Poulenc’s gorgeous music. In addition to this opera, Reilly introduces us to some other great music by this Catholic composer. One of the more popular 20th-c. operas - Georges Bernanos screenplay/stage play, based on Gertrud von le Fort Song at the Scaffold Links Robert Reilly, Surprised by Beauty: A Listener’s Guide to the Recovery of Modern Music https://www.amazon.com/Surprised-Beauty-Listeners-Recovery-Modern/dp/1586179055 Surprised by Beauty website with music reviews and album recommendations https://surprisedbybeautyorg.wordpress.com Poulenc recordings heard in this episode: Mass No. 2 in G Major, RIAS Kammerchor, conducted by Marcus Creed Dialogues des Carmélites, Dervaux, Duval, Crespin Videos shown: Metropolitan Opera 1987 performance of finale from Dialogues des Carmelites https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbRpYJsqhpE Metropolitan Opera 2019 excerpts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehyz-CH4QHI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wchkYKj5n8A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqtgq-SkpRA DONATE at http://www.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

What's behind the increasing popularity of drag queens and drag shows in America? Why is half the audience of RuPaul's Drag Race now composed of young liberal women? How has the drag subculture, originally intended as a frivolous and self-consciously artificial deconstruction of masculinity, paradoxically become one of progressivism's most potent symbols of earnest and authentic self-expression? Darel Paul, professor of political science at Williams College, joins the podcast to discuss his recent First Things essay "Drag Queens". Attempting to answer the questions above, he brings forth insights about the relation between the LGBT movement, "wokeness" and America's largely female-driven therapeutic culture. Links Darel Paul, "Drag Queens" https://www.firstthings.com/article/2023/02/drag-queens Darel Paul, "Under the Rainbow Banner" https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/06/under-the-rainbow-banner Darel Paul, From Tolerance to Equality: How Elites Brought America to Same-Sex Marriage https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481306959/from-tolerance-to-equality/ Psychologist Dr. William Coulson on how he led many religious sisters away from their vocations https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/we-overcame-their-traditions-we-overcame-their-faith-11916 James L. Nolan Jr., The Therapeutic State: Justifying Government at Century's End https://nyupress.org/9780814757918/the-therapeutic-state/ This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Denis McNamara and Christopher Carstens, co-authors of the new book Solemnities: Celebrating a Tapestry of Divine Beauty, join the podcast to talk about the upcoming solemnities of Christmas; Mary, Mother of God; and Epiphany. The book (co-authored with Alexis Kutarna) covers the Church's 17 solemnities. For each, there is a discussion of its theological and spiritual significance, a reproduction and analysis of a great artwork related to the solemnity, and tips on how to observe the solemnity more deeply, from spiritual practices to festive traditions. Links Solemnities: Celebrating a Tapestry of Divine Beauty https://ascensionpress.com/products/solemnities-celebrating-a-tapestry-of-divine-beauty Artworks discussed in this episode: The Mystic Nativity by Sandro Botticelli https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/mystic-nativity/ggGzbkPRgnpQCA?hl=en&avm=2 Madonna in the Church by Jan van Eyck https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-madonna-in-the-church-jan-van-eyck/OgFrmfnJd3r8zw?hl=en Adoration of the Magi by Domenico Ghirlandaio https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Adoration_of_the_Magi_Spedale_degli_Innocenti.jpg Follow McNamara's ongoing video series discussing sacred art here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfoPO00IYAk&list=PLX5nsucORH80kKvq579X_PWTtduPNiqE4

Blessed 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, a controversial position at the time, yet vindicated centuries later when this was proclaimed a dogma by Pope Bl. Pius IX. This is good enough reason to get to know Scotus, even if he ultimately takes a back seat to Aquinas. Thomas Ward, author of Ordered by Love: An Introduction to John Duns Scotus, joins the podcast to discuss aspects of Scotus's thought, and his context in the early history of the Franciscan order. Thomas Ward, Ordered by Love https://angelicopress.org/ordered-by-love-thomas-ward This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio  

Christopher 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 different as a morally virtuous human action, the parts of animals, the orbits of the heavenly spheres, and God Himself? What does Aristotle mean when he says that being is better than not being? Links  There is a 30% discount on Being Is Better than Nonbeing: The Metaphysics of Goodness and Beauty in Aristotle until December 24th, 2022, as part of the American Catholic Philosophical Association’s annual conference. To get the discount, order from the CUA Press website using discount code “ACPA22”. https://www.cuapress.org/9780813235462/being-is-better-than-not-being/ This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Catholic poet Jane Greer joins the podcast to read from her third collection, The World As We Know It Is Falling Away. She discusses the spiritual challenges that came with the great success of her previous book, Love Like a Conflagration, connecting to a major theme of her new book: fallen man’s thwarted desire to exceed divinely ordained limits to earthly delights, in the face of death and apocalypse – along with the real beauty of the gifts God has given us to enjoy in this life. Links The World As We Know It Is Falling Away https://lambingpress.com/product/the-world-as-we-know-it-is-falling-away-new-poems-by-jane-greer/ Ep. 81 – Love Like a Conflagration https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-81-love-like-conflagration-jane-greer/ This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

This episode contains clips of highlights from episodes 33, 56, and 57 of the Catholic Culture Podcast. Links 33: Structure and Freedom in Music and in Christ – Mark Christopher Brandt https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-33-structure-and-freedom-in-music-and-in-christ-mark-christopher-brandt/ 56: Vindicating Authority – Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P. https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-56-vindicating-authority-aquinas-guilbeau-op/ 57: River of the Immaculate Conception – James Matthew Wilson https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-57-river-immaculate-conception-james-matthew-wilson/ This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio