Modernity does not just refer to the time in which we happen to live, the era that follows the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Those who first recognized themselves as modern defined themselves self-consciously over against the ages that preceded them, though few probably grasped in its fullness . . . . Continue Reading »
In the face of determined assaults on religion, conservative activists and intellectuals have offered increasingly strident defenses of religious freedom. This “first freedom” is presented as an inviolable principle, an absolute “right to be wrong.” Such rhetoric oversells religious freedom . . . . Continue Reading »
Let’s begin by reviewing some fundamentals of Jewish prayer. The mandatory prayers are offered three times daily. This commandment may be fulfilled in private. However, significant elements of the standard prayers have a public character. These are primarily the recitations of outcry or praise . . . . Continue Reading »
The Old French word ordinarie, meaning “ordinary, usual,” derives from the medieval Latin ordinarius (“customary, regular, usual, ordinary”), which derives in turn from the classical Latin ordo (“row, rank, series, arrangement”). Originally, it had no pejorative . . . . Continue Reading »
How often when we are lostor in pain, we cry out to God— even if we don’t believe in the one who isboth father & mother— And how often we are met with a wall of silence,and wrongly assume, that is no answer. So we believe God must not exist. Perhaps what we miss is how God says, . . . . Continue Reading »
Hemingway’s little-known play Today is Friday is a haunting depiction of Christ's crucifixion. Continue Reading »
Prayer is, most fundamentally, a matter of heeding a call and showing up. Continue Reading »
Lent is a kind of death, the laying bare of one’s soul through fasting, prayer, and meditation. Continue Reading »
Our crosses chip away our defenses, perverse habits, and self-delusions, removing “what hid Christ” so he can be seen. Continue Reading »
On Ash Wednesday, hundreds of English speakers climb the Aventine before dawn to receive penitential ashes and celebrate the first Mass of Lent. Continue Reading »
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
