Christ Is Risen!
A Re-introduction to This Substack
Icon reproduction owned by author; purchased from St. Isaac of Syria Skete.
In recent months this Substack has received many new visitors and subscribers. Thus, I thought it a good idea to re-introduce it and me, the author. My initial focus was on writing about a slew of old Catholic books, books I had bought from various sources. That was, not surprisingly, a niche focus. But I always had in the back of my mind the desire to broaden out. I have been writing for close to fifty years: reviews (books and music), essays, verse, and journalism. Recent years have seen some success in Catholic publications such as Catholic Exchange, OnePeterFive, St. Austin Review, and Crisis.
At a certain point I had written about most of the old books—I decided to persevere and re-run pieces I had written in the past for various venues, as well as publishing new material. Some of those pieces garnered attention from readers, and here we are now. (I also had a separate Substack devoted to analyzing the works of philosopher and political thinker Hannah Arendt, Hannah Arendt Was Right, which is currently on hiatus and unlikely to be re-started, though I may make reference to it from time-to-time.)
A little about me. I am retired after a life of diverse pursuits: teaching, pumping gas, studying, washing dishes…maybe you get the picture. I worked for a public library system in Washington (the state). I grew up on a dairy farm in New York’s North Country. Here is a link to something published in 2014 with the story of my spiritual pilgrimage up to that point. Subsequent to that my wife and I discovered Catholic Tradition.
I’ll share three posts from this Substack to give you an idea of my interests. They are three of the most popular.
By far the most popular is one detailing some of the leftist sympathies of Catholic Worker co-founder Dorothy Day. I am planning a follow-up to this one in the near future.
Next is something I wrote about mobs, inspired by events in Minnesota.
Third, a piece utilizing the rock opera “Jesus Christ, Superstar” to examine Vatican II and the modern Church.
I usually post once a week, so, if you’re like me, you won’t feel overloaded with new things to read. I will continue to incorporate new material—though with no fixed agenda for topics to cover—along with older pieces. Sometimes I include poetry I have written. Book reviews are also a possibility.
Regarding the Pre-55: My wife is re-reading Maria von Trapp’s Around the Year with the von Trapp Family, a wonderful look at the liturgical, festal, and seasonal customs of an Austrian Catholic family. She brought the following passage to my attention: “We cannot be grateful enough that Pope Pius XII has given back to us the ancient Easter Vigil! Even as children, we felt that something was not quite as it should be when the Church broke out early in the morning of Holy Saturday in the threefold Alleluia, while the Gospel told us that Our Lord was resting in the grave to rise on Easter Sunday morning. Now the word of the Holy Father has put things straight, and Holy Saturday has regained its ancient character” (115). The proponents of the “pre-55” Holy Week never had the experience of von Trapp, because for them it is all theoretical, culled from books. Rather like those who think they can—like scientists bringing back extinct animals using DNA—resurrect the Rite of Sarum. What was said in earlier times applies today: beware of liturgical reformers, even if—or especially if—they come in the guise of “restoring things to the way they used to be.” (Trust us. It will be better!)
Books recently completed: Sermons of the Cure of Ars.
Wollenweber, Meet Solanus Casey.
Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues: I re-read this after an interval of some years. Clarity, precision, and Thomism more digestible for the average person.
And: On Easter night, I watched (for the first time) the much-lauded (deservedly so) “The Passion of Joan of Arc,” a 1928 silent version of her story using the court transcripts. Overwhelming. It shattered me and brought me to tears.
A parting thought: If one carries an ego, it will not fit through the door into heaven; however, the devil will welcome it and you through the wide portals into the realm of the damned.
After much thought, I decided beforehand to never have paid subscriptions. However, there is a possibility for donations. You can Buy Greg a Coffee at this link. I donate funds from here to an orphanage in India run by the Consoling Sisters. Money earned from my Crisis articles goes to a great Catholic school for boys in Kentucky, St. Andrew’s Academy.
I have two self-published books available on Amazon; both are in verse: Against the Alchemists, which is a loosely-linked catechism in verse; and, A Verse Companion to Romano Guardini’s Sacred Signs, a sort of commentary on Guardini’s wonderful little book on many aspects of the liturgy and worship.
Thank you for reading. I welcome comments, though always with the proviso that I am the boss here, and in extreme cases I will block people.
“Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life” (Byzantine Paschal hymn).