What People are Commenting
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Jewels of New Orleans & Brideshead Revisited
Just a Mistake
Re: Trans Prostitute's Funeral at St. Patrick's Cathedral
It was a mistake. Sure. The classic way modernists and commies react when they are called out.
It was a mistake…
J.J.R.
______________________
Sacrament of Confirmation Retreat
I am reaching out to you with a humble request for advice on hosting an upcoming retreat that I was tasked with for our grade 8 Confirmation class.
We will be having a mass and 30 minutes of Eucharistic Adoration after the retreat...but I am struggling to find a valuable and meaningful activity or activities to engage with the students. In the past we reviewed a film from a Catholic perspective and had a discussion around it. This was "adequate" but perhaps you have hosted events for youth that you can share some ideas for a deeper experience.
I appreciate any guidance that you can give - thank you!
Pax,
J.K.
______________________
TIA responds:
Hello J.K.,
Thank you for the consideration of asking our opinion.
We suggest that you show the video on Our Lady of Bethlehem and ask the youth to talk about this very beautiful and historic statue.
Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk
______________________
Jewels of New Orleans
I recently visited New Orleans, where I was born and raised, and showed my friends some of its Catholic shrines, and of course, Our Lady of Prompt Succor in the Ursuline Convent.
While at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in downtown New Orleans – which dates from 1840 - I learned something very interesting. It is the only place here in the United States that has kept the chanted Latin Mass going continuously from 1965 all the way to the present.
Sadly, the parish is “bi-formal”; each day there is both the TLM and the NOM. But still it is a great tribute to this city where Our Lady wept that there has always been a Latin Mass celebrated on the beautiful altar of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which you can see below.
The stained glass is quite extraordinary, especially the Orders of Angels above the high altar. And the ornately carved wooden altar and tabernacle still stands as a tribute to the Irish Catholics of New Orleans.
J.M.
______________________
Brideshead Revisited
I came across the list of “Good Catholic Books” to Read posted on your site and was wondering if there is an explanation as to why Brideshead Revisited is listed as one of the “Great Books to Avoid.”
There are some prominent individuals in traditional Catholic circles who say that it’s one of the best books. I’m wondering why there is such a disparity.
Thank you,
K.B.
______________________
TIA responds:
Good evening K.B.,
You asked why we do not recommend Brideshead Revisited. The reasons could fill an article, which is not the case to make here, though we may do it in the future. We are aware that many Catholics praise Brideshead Revisited and understand why they wrongly find it to be Catholic, as there are many references to Catholicism in the story as well as a conversion in the end. However, the manner in which Evelyn Waugh decides to portray a journey to the Catholic Faith seems to us to deviate from traditional Catholic moral standards.
A general description of the book reads:
"Through the story of Charles Ryder's entanglement with the Flytes, a great Catholic family, Evelyn Waugh charts the passing of the privileged world he knew in his own youth and vividly recalls the sensuous pleasures denied him by wartime austerities. At once romantic, sensuous, comic and somber, Brideshead Revisited transcends Waugh's early satiric explorations and reveals him to be an elegiac, lyrical novelist of the utmost feeling and lucidity."
Such a description is accurate to the general impression one receives when reading the novel, which is enjoyed by many secular persons who are not led to the Catholic Faith by reading it. Simply stated, there are impure and vulgar scenes in the book which, although not described at length, turn the mind towards immoral thoughts. We do not believe such scenes should be present in any truly Catholic novel.
Additionally, Brideshead Revisited describes a dysfunctional Catholic family, whose members often choose questionable paths. Catholic doctrine is not clearly set out in the story, but is confused by strange situations and the quirky personalities of the characters.
For instance, at one point in the story, the main character is living in sin with one of the daughters of the Catholic family. The Catholic woman's eldest brother is in charge of the family estate (Brideshead) and, though he, being a devout Catholic, disapproves of the couple, he permits them to live together in sin at the estate with him. Such a sin should never be tolerated under a Catholic roof, but the circumstances in the story can lead the reader to sympathize with the sinners. Nor does the author ever allude to the eldest brother's error in tolerating such an evil.
This is just one example of many other questionable scenes in the story. Although a Catholic reading the story can understand many of the references, it would leave a non-Catholic or a weak Catholic bewildered.
Finally, in the television series (1981) and movie (2008) renditions of Brideshead Revisited, the vague references in the book to a sodomite relationship are made explicit. It is true that modern movies tend to over-exaggerate immoralities, but such an insinuation cannot be entirely dismissed from the book, and the lighthearted way the situation is treated leads to toleration of the great sin of sodomy.
We hope these considerations help to clarify why we do not recommend Brideshead Revisited.
Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk
Posted March 7, 2024
______________________
The opinions expressed in this section - What People Are Commenting - do not necessarily express those of TIA
______________________
______________________
 |
 |
 |
Re: The Revolutionary New Interior of Notre Dame
After reading today's entry on the new designs imposed on us by the 'cold plastic artists' of our time, I think Our Lady would have preferred that the flames reduced the cathedral to ashes.
Those ashes would have at least been the remnants of grandeur.
S.S.S.