Paul V. Mankowski

Writing of her mother, Flannery O’Connor once told a friend, “I always thought that if she had a dog she’d name him Spot”without irony. If I had a dog I’d name him Spot, with irony. But for all practical purposes no one would know the difference.” By its nature, irony . . . . Continue Reading »

(chanted to no tune in particular)BEFORE: by Julia Ward HoweMine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored. He has loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword. His truth is marching on!Glory, glory, . . . . Continue Reading »

Let me re-introduce you to Mr. Harold Skimpole. Skimpole lives in the pages of Charles Dickens’ Bleak House; he made his first appearance 140 years ago, yet those who are acquainted with the principal hierophants of New Age spirituality may receive more than a slight shock of recognition: He was . . . . Continue Reading »

Jesus: A Life by A. N. Wilson Norton, 269 pages, $22.95 Live from Golgotha by Gore Vidal Random House, 225 pages , $22 Blasphemy is the derogation of God. To conceive of God apart from His holiness is intrinsically impossible. But to derogate God is precisely to deny His holiness. Therefore . . . . Continue Reading »

The Secularization of the Academy edited by George M. Marsden and Bradley J. Longfield Oxford University Press, 323 pages, $35 cloth, $15.95 paper The Vice-Chancellor gives notice that presentation to the vacant benefice of Brantham, in the Diocese of St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich, devolves on the . . . . Continue Reading »

“When you say ‘hill,’ “ the Queen interrupted, “I could show you hills, in comparison with which you’d call that a valley.” “No, I shouldn’t,” said Alice, surprised into contradicting her at last: “a hill can’t be a valley, you . . . . Continue Reading »

The American Academy of Religion, in its statement of purpose, calls itself “an inclusive learned society and professional association in the field of the study of religion. The Academy [we are told] fosters teaching, research, scholarship, and critical awareness about the study of religion as . . . . Continue Reading »

Why Catholics Can’t Sing: The Culture of Catholicism and the Triumph of Bad Taste by Thomas Day Crossroad, 177 pages, $19.95 In a moment of exasperation, the novelist Flannery O’Connor wrote to a friend that the motto of the Catholic Church could be: We Guarantee to Corrupt Nothing But . . . . Continue Reading »

Curious. Why should the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Boston Globe all see fit to carry the story of the promulgation of Ex Corde Ecclesiae, the papal declaration on the mission of Catholic universities? On the face of it, Vatican norms for higher education hardly seem to have . . . . Continue Reading »

Q. Who made you?  A. (Melissa Murphy, Age 10):Who makes me you should say! I co-creates me ev’ry day. My tender psyche I unlocks & with my mental pencil box I brightly crayons, without fault, My very very own gestalt & so I comes to be alert To all my pain & all my hurt & . . . . Continue Reading »