Category Archives: Uncategorized

Three Poems for the Weary Soul

Christ the Morning Star1 Gently Thou wakest me, adrift on seas of mist; a firm hand to my healing shoulder, a soft touch to my flushed cheek. Though I long to remain on the empty night— no stars, no moon, no wind to guide me elsewhere— Thou speakest thus kindly: Awake, my friend! A newContinue reading “Three Poems for the Weary Soul”

Update on Blog and Post Schedule!

Since I’ve begun this blog while on a break from university, I have become increasingly convinced of the importance of beauty, especially as it is communicated in and through words. Beauty is a wonderful meeting of order and surprise, a mystery which awakens man from sleep and invites him into the dreamworld of a moreContinue reading “Update on Blog and Post Schedule!”

The Purpose of Art & My Struggle to Write: A Reflexion on J. R. R. Tolkien’s ‘Leaf by Niggle’

Last Sunday I was getting ready to head home from Mass, which takes a little under an hour, and was wondering whether I might listen to an audiobook or pray a Rosary on the way home when a wonderful and providential thought came into my head. I had just finished J. R. R. Tolkien’s TheContinue reading “The Purpose of Art & My Struggle to Write: A Reflexion on J. R. R. Tolkien’s ‘Leaf by Niggle’”

The Glory of Repentance: Learning Courage and Hope from The Lord of the Rings

The following contains spoilers for those who have neither read nor seen The Lord of the Rings (specifically The Two Towers book, chapter one, or the film version of The Fellowship of the Ring). Several weeks ago, some friends and I were talking about our favourite books, and the topic turned (as it often doesContinue reading “The Glory of Repentance: Learning Courage and Hope from The Lord of the Rings”

Sharing Sorrow: Why We Read Sad Literature

The other night some friends and I were discussing sorrowful literature—why we read it and so often cherish it. Even if a book is mostly not sad, the parts of it that inspired sorrow in us remain in our minds, provoking a continued and deep reflexion in us, and very often they hold a specialContinue reading “Sharing Sorrow: Why We Read Sad Literature”

Faith through Friendship and Communion

Happy feast day! In honour of today’s Feast of the Queenship of Mary, here follows a reflexion on the Mass and Holy Communion based on a vision of the Mass given to Sister Lucia, one of the visionaries of Fatima, on June 13, 1929. The description from her memoir, and the picture of the paintingContinue reading “Faith through Friendship and Communion”

In the Garden of the Soul

Due to travelling and a wedding, I was not able to write a blog post last week. The question is, what were you doing instead of reading my blog? There are many more excellent things to do, and I pray that this blog does indeed inspire you to go and do them: to read aContinue reading “In the Garden of the Soul”

O Star, O Flame, O Mighty Wind

Here follows a poem I wrote over two years ago, inspired by the following passage from the Diary of St. Faustina. I have edited the poem only a little, and left it in its simplicity, for I knew almost as little then of poetry as I do now. April 4, 1937. Low Sunday; that is,Continue reading “O Star, O Flame, O Mighty Wind”

Filial Piety as Devotion & Self-Sacrifice in the Film Tokyo Story

In one of my university classes we viewed the film Tokyo Story,1 which presents Noriko, one of the protagonists, as an admirable woman who lives out the virtue of filial piety to the parents of her deceased husband. Although my family tried to impress such ideals upon me in accordance with the Christian worldview, IContinue reading “Filial Piety as Devotion & Self-Sacrifice in the Film Tokyo Story”