On the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany in 2021, after churches had reopened but while many pandemic restrictions remained in place, three priests in my parish celebrated a traditional rite called the Blessing of Water on the Vigil of Epiphany. The rite is similar to rituals in the churches of the . . . . Continue Reading »
Once one surrenders to hatred, ideological besottedness, jealousy, fear of the present, or despair about the future, the door is open for the Great Tempter to work his wicked ways through human weakness. Continue Reading »
Imprecatory psalms ground us in the real world, counteracting our instinct for over-spiritualized, anodyne, Pollyannaish piety. Continue Reading »
That the Church needs cleansing is not much in doubt as Advent 2018 dawns. Continue Reading »
One of the intelligent people who seemed to share Scalia’s view of the Devil was Whittaker Chambers, the brilliant writer, ex-Soviet espionage agent, and Time magazine editor, who in February 1948 wrote an essay in Life magazine about a New Year’s Eve conversation between a pessimist and Satan. Continue Reading »
God may not be transgender—yet. But Satan is definitely aligned with heteronormative patriarchy. Continue Reading »
My sister and I were preschoolers in the 1980s. Once upon an afternoon, our mother instructed us: If ever she were unable to pick us up and had to send another grownup in her stead, she would impart to that grownup a “secret word.” If ever a grownup approached us, neighbor or stranger, claiming . . . . Continue Reading »
A woman lovingly plucks a dead pheasant. A man places a human arm on a cutting board with care, readying his chef’s knife. A woman sinks into a bathtub, seemingly dropping into an abyss. A corpse is lifted on high, framed by wings made of broken glass.All these images (horrific, gorgeous, . . . . Continue Reading »
Washington, D.C.’s National Museum of Women in the Arts has since December hosted an exhibit focused on the Virgin Mary.
Continue Reading »
In a scene cut from The Exorcist’s 1973 theatrical version, Jason Miller’s Fr. Damien Karras sits with Max von Sydow’s Fr. Lankester Merrin on the stairs of the MacNeil house, and the two Jesuits discuss why the child Regan has become a monster. Continue Reading »
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
