"The Morals of Chess" By Benjamin Franklin. First published in "Columbian Magazine", December 1786. Playing at Chess, is the most ancient and the most universal game known among men; for its original is beyond the memory of history, and it has, for numberless ages, been the amusement of all the civilized nations of Asia, the Persians, [...]
"Priestesses in the Church?" by C.S. Lewis [Originally published under the title "Notes on the Way," in Time and Tide, Vol. XXIX (August 14, 1948), it was subsequently reprinted with the above title in the posthumous God in the Dock book, published by Wiilliam B. Erdmanns, Grand Rapids, MI). "I should like Balls infinitely better," said Caroline Bingley, [...]
"Tolerating Other Religions" By G.K. Chesterton "Illustrated London News" May 31, 1913 When I was a boy, in the old indescribable days which I can only describe as the great days of Stead, a thing met that was called the Parliament of Religions. It had all the evils of a Parliament. It had the narrow novelty, [...]
"Art Poetique". By Paul Verlaine (1844-1896). Translated by Norman R. Shapiro. Music first and foremost! In your verse, Choose those meters odd of syllable, Supple in the air, vague, flexible, Free of pounding beat, heavy or terse. Choose the words you use - now right now wrong - With abandon; when the poet's vision Couples the [...]
"In playing Shakespeare one is bound to be conscious of the audience. The compromise between a declamatory and a naturalistic style is extremely subtle, and needs tremendous technical skill in its achievement. In Chekhov, provided one can be heard and seen distinctly, it is possible, even advisable, to ignore the audience altogether and this was another [...]
The following email was sent by my good friend Father Christopher Zugger, a Byzantine Catholic priest and historian from Albuquerque, New Mexico: Titled Passion Week, this oratorio in Slavonic was composed in secret by Maximilian Steinberg, son-in-law of the composer N. Rimsky-Korsakov, in the 1920s. The Soviets banned the composition and performance of all sacred music [...]
Paul Scofield on how he created his Award-winning stage and screen role as Sir Thomas More in "A Man for All Seasons". From "Actors on Acting: The Theories, Techniques, and Practices of the World's Great Actors Told in their Own Words", pages 421-422. "What matters to me is whether I like the play, for one thing, [...]
Nina Lugovskaya, a teenaged girl whose recently rediscovered diary caused the arrest of her entire family, is sometimes called "The Anne Frank of Stalin's Russia." My friend Fr. Christopher Zugger recommends this documentary about her life and legacy. He calls it a stark contrast to the Pro-Putin propaganda usually put out by "Russia Today". Be forewarned, [...]
As today is the 80th anniversary of her martyrdom in Joseph Stalin's concentration camps, I strongly recommend watching the following documentary, which relates the life and martyrdom of Mother Catherine Abrikosova, a Byzantine Catholic Dominican nun, a former Marxist, and, since 2003, a candidate for Catholic Sainthood. In Russian with English subtitles. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L-bLZ5o0zyc
If you recognize the liturgical chanting in "The Deer Hunter", you might be an Eastern Christian. If your Church's fasting laws FORBID you to eat fish on Fridays, you might be an Eastern Christian. If you consider a 2 1/2 hour church service to be short, you might be an Eastern Christian. If [...]
