August 15 is the great Marian feast that honours the whole human person, writes Dr Sarah Jane Boss   For many centuries, the Feast of the Assumption was celebrated in the Church without any formal definition of the doctrine. In most places, it was the principal feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary and it is…

David Mills   Some years ago, a priest sent me occasional criticism of something I’d written. He tended to pick at small points. We’d had dinner a couple of times and were friendly, and I eventually responded that I’d find it easier to hear his criticism if he’d ever offered any comment but criticism. I…

Elizabeth Scalia In Harper Lee’s classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, there is a point where Atticus Finch, seeking to teach his son about making reparation for damaging another’s property (and about something else, too) orders his young son Jem to visit the bedside of sickly old Mrs Henry Lafayette Dubose and read aloud to…

Cardinal Michael Czerny SJ In the 1970s, as a graduate student at the University of Chicago, I came to know and appreciate the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl. He was born in Moravia, like I was, and with a similar Jewish background. Through Husserl, I encountered Edith Stein (1891-1942). As his student, she wrote her thesis…

Thomas McDonald I have a hole in my head – an extra one, that is. It’s in the temporal bone, where a useful skull covers the superior semicircular canals, maintaining an even pressure around the delicate parts of the inner ear involved in hearing and balance. My skull is not up to this relatively simple…

Lisa Hendey In a world where the 24/7 news cycle offers a ceaseless tide of disasters, a natural Christian inclination has become a polarising catchphrase. Whether the news is yet another senseless mass shooting, a disastrous act of nature, or the illness of a loved one, there’s a one-size-fits-all, yet real, response: prayer. Unfortunately, our…