In his new book, The Stigmatists: Their Gifts, Their Revelations, Their Warnings, Paul Kengor gives a historical overview of the phenomenon of the stigmata, focusing especially on one thing many stigmatists have in common: they receive visions, often prophetic ones. The book devotes individual chapters to seven canonized or beatified stigmatists: St. Francis of Assisi, St. Catherine of Siena, Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich, St. Pius of Pietrelcina, St. Faustina, Bl. Elena Aiello, and St. Gemma...

A collection of highlight clips from past episodes. 82 A Habitual Counterculture - Brandon McGinley https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-82-habitual-counterculture-brandon-mcginley/ 68 What I Learned from Making Music with Mark Christopher Brandt https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-68-what-i-learned-from-making-music-with-mark-christopher-brandt/ Vie et Passion du Christ https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/vie-et-passion-du-christ-1903/ SIGN UP for Catholic...

Catholic poet Ryan Wilson rejoins the podcast to read poems from his latest collection, In Ghostlight, which deals with themes of memory in a "haunted" world, encounters with realities beyond us, and reinterpreting ancient myths (Orpheus as a hair metal singer!). He also introduces four Catholic poets from his new anthology co-edited with April Lindner, Contemporary Catholic Poets. Links  Ryan Wilson, In Ghostlight: Poems https://lsupress.org/9780807181478/in-ghostlight/ Contemporary...

James Majewski plays guest host in this episode, asking Thomas about his recent essay critiquing the well-known Christian film distributor Angel Studios (associated with The Chosen, Sound of Freedom, and Cabrini). Articles and podcasts mentioned: “Angel Studios: Questioning the hype” https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/angel-studios-hype/ “Cabrini secularizes a saint” https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/cabrini-secularizes-saint/ “Cabrini and the denial that Christ is...

Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986) was one of the greatest sacred composers of the 20th century, best known for his Requiem and his motet "Ubi caritas". His lush and tranquil choral and organ works combine a deep familiarity with Gregorian chant with the style of impressionism, imbued with a sense of prayer as he was a devout Catholic. Organist and choirmaster Christopher Berry, who studied organ under Duruflé's widow, Marie-Madeleine Duruflé, joins the podcast to discuss Maurice Duruflé in his...

A collection of highlight clips from past episodes. 77 Gene Wolfe, Catholic Sci-Fi Legend—Sandra Miesel, Fr. Brendon Laroche https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-77-gene-wolfe-catholic-sci-fi-legend-sandra-miesel-fr-brendon-laroche/ Ben-Hur w/ Elizabeth Lev (Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast) https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ben-hur-1959-w-elizabeth-lev/ 80 Bring Out Your Dead - Scott Hahn ...

In his new book published by Word on Fire, Beauty & Imitation: A Philosophical Reflection on the Arts, philosopher and novelist Daniel McInerny argues for a recovery of the Aristotelian understanding of art as fundamentally imitative or mimetic. More boldly, he claims that this imitation is narrative and moral in nature, even in art forms that are not typically considered storytelling arts. In this episode Daniel introduces this theory of mimesis, after which there is a robust...

Poet & philosopher James Matthew Wilson rejoins the show to read poems from his new collection, Saint Thomas and the Forbidden Birds, published by Word on Fire; and to discuss the tradition of English poetry, especially with regard to meter. Don't miss the title poem, a verse setting of a passage from Aquinas's Summa Theologiae! Links Saint Thomas and the Forbidden Birds https://bookstore.wordonfire.org/products/saint-thomas-and-the-forbidden-birds The Fortunes of Poetry in an Age of...

On June 29 and 30, in South Bend, Indiana, there will be a major and even unprecedented event in the history of American Catholic art: a new, full-length classical ballet production with a new story, new music, new sets and costumes, and nationally known dancers - with a cast of about fifty. This fairytale ballet, titled Raffaella, was commissioned by Duncan and Ruth Stroik in honor of their daughter Raffaella Maria Stroik, a dancer with the St. Louis Ballet who passed away tragically in 2018...

A new book presenting material from Flannery O’Connor’s unfinished third novel shows the great Catholic writer pushing beyond her established fictional territory. Jessica Hooten Wilson returns to the podcast to discuss her book, Flannery O’Connor’s Why Do the Heathen Rage? A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress. Please consider donating to Catholic Culture's May fundraising campaign so this show can continue! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio Links Flannery O’Connor’s Why Do...

Jan Dismas Zelenka was a Bohemian Catholic baroque composer who has at times been called "The Catholic Bach" because his best compositions are on par with those of J.S. Bach, who indeed knew and esteemed Zelenka. This episode covers Zelenka's career at the Catholic court chapel in Dresden with its grand liturgies inspired by Habsburg piety and Jesuit aspirations to evangelize the Protestants of Saxony. Please consider donating to Catholic Culture's May fundraising campaign so this show can...

One of the most brilliant philosophers working today, D.C. Schindler, returns to the Catholic Culture Podcast to discuss his latest book, God and the City: An Essay in Political Metaphysics. In it, he draws an analogy between metaphysics as the most comprehensive science in the theoretical order and politics as the most comprehensive science in the practical order. Examining how in metaphysics, God is necessarily involved, yet without being the direct object of that science, Schindler argues...

Today’s guest is a man with two names and two careers. For decades he has been a distinguished poet and translator under the name of A.M. Juster. This is an acronym for his Christian name, Michael J. Astrue, who for many years was a lawyer, biotech executive, and public servant, most notably serving as Commissioner of the Social Security Administration from 2007 to 2013. During this time, his political enemies tried to dig up dirt on him – but all they could find was that he wrote poetry on...

Gregory Roper, a professor of literature at the University of Dallas, joins the podcast to discuss medieval “mystery plays” (also called “miracle plays”). In England these plays, often grouped together in cycles spanning all of salvation history, were performed by town guilds for the festival of Corpus Christi. This tradition, which developed out of the liturgy, could be said to represent the revival of drama in Europe, and was an important influence on the Elizabethan theatre. Shakespeare...

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...

The renowned English theologian Fr. John Saward makes his podcast debut to discuss his new book on angels, the role of art and beauty in his theological work, and his turn away from the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar after years of studying and translating his works. Fr. Saward’s books named in this episode: World Invisible: The Catholic Doctrine of the Angels https://angelicopress.com/products/world-invisible-john-saward The Beauty of Holiness and the Holiness of Beauty: Art, Sanctity...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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. ...