Since the 17th century devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary has spread in parallel with the Sacred Heart devotion. The latter emphasises the love of Jesus for mankind and the concern of the rejection of such love, whereas the former focuses on the love the Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary has for her

As Christians, we are asked to imitate Christ. How do we do this? One way is to imitate Jesus’s action of holding, carrying, purifying and transforming tension; that is, by taking in the bitterness, anger, jealousy, hatred, slander and every other kind of thing that’s cancerous within the human community, and not giving it back

I first heard the music of Olivier Messiaen when I was a student in the 1980s, recently arrived in London to study Theology and Philosophy at Heythrop College. I loved classical music but knew nothing of music written in my lifetime. One evening I happened to be walking past the Festival Hall when an elderly

René Guénon (1886-1951) was a fallen-away Catholic and convert to Islam who is seen as father of the “Traditionalist” school – which in this context means that all existing religions are equally good and valid inheritors of a single primeval faith. This is more authentically reflected in some religions than in others – and for

Cryptic across 3 Dubiously approach leader of Yemen in secret matters (9) 7 Wind up on stage? (4) 8 Scandy set noir that’s odd, integrally different? (8) 9 Meeting places in the past one hears about (6) 10 David’s commander of forced labour takes a woman in this morning (6) 12 Capital deposit in bank

Ordinary Form Divine Office Week I Sunday, June 30: Ss Peter and Paul 1 Kgs 19:16B, 19-21; Ps 16; Gal 5:1, 13-18; Lk 9:51-62 Monday, July 1: Weekday in Ordinary Time or St Oliver Plunket Gn 18:16-33; Ps 103; Mt 8:18-22 Tuesday, July 2: Weekday in Ordinary Time Gn 19:15-29; Ps 26; Mt 8:23-27 Wednesday, July 3:

Twenty years ago this week I was on retreat in France preparing for priestly ordination. I remember it as a time overflowing with gifts of grace. For that reason it has since always been my preferred time for retreat, especially if, as this year, the time includes the Feasts of Corpus Christi and the Nativity

As this number of the weekly magazine you now peruse was issued, we celebrate the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the Church’s post-Conciliar, Novus Ordo calendar, the day after Sacred Heart is generally the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This year, that day, June 29, is the Feast of Ss Peter and

Ss Peter and Paul 1 Kgs 19:16B, 19-21; Ps 16; Gal 5:1, 13-18; Lk 9:51-62 (Year C) The Preface for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul honours them as those who, in their different ways, gathered together the one family of Christ. Peter is specifically honoured for his confession of faith and his gathering

Fr George Rutler, well known to Catholic readers on both sides of the Atlantic, famous for his pithy wit and wise counsel, is one of those voices crying out for truth in the confused wilderness of modern life. His new book is Grace & Truth: Twenty Steps to Embracing Virtue and Saving Civilisation (EWTN, 160pp,

The International Eucharistic Congress: A Spiritual Odyssey By John F Allen Gracewing, 383pp, £20/$27.50 In this book Mgr John Allen, who has attended all 12 International Eucharistic Congresses since 1973, offers a masterly account of these events for the general reader. Those seeking rich Eucharistic theology will find it in Allen’s able summaries of the

The Role of the Scroll by Thomas Forrest Kelly, WW Norton, 181pp, £19.99/$29.95 In 1387, Bishop John Fordham of Durham entertained King Richard II at his London palace with a lavish banquet. There were three courses, though not as we would recognise them today. In the first, guests feasted upon the heads of boars and