History
In the Habit: A History of Catholicism and Tobacco
Saints who smoked, popes who puffed, and others who snuffed. […]
Articles by John B. Buescher
Essay
Gnosticism vs. The Incarnation: The Ancient Battle Renewed
There is a tale, whose threads are too long to unravel here, of the meanderings of an idea through history—the idea that, as Nicolas Gómez-Davila parsed it, man is “a god imprisoned in the dull […]
History
America’s First Mass
Editor’s note: View a map of all the locations mentioned in this article. When and where was the first Mass offered in America? No one living today knows the answer to this intriguing question. But we can […]
History
The Hunter’s Point Bible War
On Friday morning, November 24, 1871, nine-year-old Catherine Ann Dennen entered her public school building and sat down in the school’s main room with her fellow students. The school’s principal entered the room and began […]
General
When the Revolution Comes
Did you know that G. K. Chesterton was not only an essayist, novelist, raconteur, and possibly a saint, but also a cartoonist as well? In 1911, as he was publishing his Father Brown stories and […]
General
Where would you most like to go to Mass?
Ultimately the proper response to the question is probably: anywhere, anytime, because it is the same Mass, the same sacrifice of the Lord on the Cross at Calvary. But having said that, try to consider […]
Ars Memoriae
In the 1960s, contrary to the inherited wisdom of mankind, educators in general and Catholic educators, too, decided that having students memorize things was a terrible notion. If I recall, the thinking was that memorizing […]
History
American Anti-Catholicism and the Confessional
The highest tides of anti-Catholic feeling in this country occurred in the 19th century. The standard explanation for this simply points to Protestant fears that the waves of Catholic immigrants, especially from Ireland, would take […]
History
So Many Jesuses, So Little Time
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of […]
General
Liturgical dancing and the Reformed tradition
My thanks to all who have commented on my recent article, “Lord of the Dance”. As for contemporary liturgical dance, there’s certainly enough current blame to go around, if blame is to be assigned. It […]