Announcing “Tradition & Sanity”

On April 13th, I launched my Substack “Tradition & Sanity,” with a post entitled “Why Here, and Why Now?”

Here’s a brief excerpt that will show the direction and content I anticipate for it.

Roots, branches, and flowers

…No fruit can be expected from a tree cut off from its roots or its branches. Our commitment to the great inheritance of faith and reason that is Catholicism is a matter of fidelity to the gifts and calling of God, which are irrevocable. What was sacred, remains sacred and great; what was true remains true; and so with all the treasures we have received.

Receiving and handing on is the natural way in which man lives as a rational, social, linguistic animal, engendering a society and simulaneously a culture at the heart of it; and since grace builds upon nature, the same is true of the Christian life: we live as members of the Mystical Body by receiving gifts and handing them on. That, in fact, is the Marian way of life…

 

What you can expect to find here

There will be, as you would have guessed, much about liturgy—and this means, for example, showing why the traditional (that is, Tridentine or pre-55) Roman Rite is essentially perfect in what it does and how it does it, commenting on the Propers of the Mass and on Gregorian chants, comparing aspects of old and new rites and of Eastern and Western rites.

But I also intend to share my passion for classical music (“from Perotin to Pärt”), for great works of art (by both past masters and living artists), and favorite poetry, from Beowulf to T.S. Eliot; I will delve into philosophical problems and Thomistic disputes (my doctorate is in philosophy and my “first love” has always been Aquinas...); I will open up cultural inquiries, comparing (for example) Roger Scruton and Alain de Botton on how styles of architecture communicate different worldviews. I will talk about my experiences as a Catholic in the modern world and in the traditionalist world. You can expect frank and forthright commentary on the liturgy and on what is happening in the Church; essays on timeless truths and perennial principles; forays into the fine arts, especially music, poetry, and architecture.

…Whatever I write on, I will be engaging it with all the resources at my disposal, from a traditional Catholic(’s) perspective. I hope to make it truly worth your time to receive my weekly email.

Read the rest there, and I sincerely hope you’ll subscribe (it’s free).