We continue our exploration of Robert Cardinal Sarah’s “The Day Is Now Far Spent”—a tour de force response to the present darkness in the Church. From the New York City skyline to the meaning of the word “Modernism”. We continue our discussion of Robert Cardinal Sarah’s “The Day Is Now Far Spent”. You can find the book here Robert Cardinal Sarah ca…

We begin our exploration of Robert Cardinal Sarah’s “The Day Is Now Far Spent”—a tour de force response to the present darkness in the Church. From the New York City skyline to the meaning of the word “Modernism”. We continue our discussion of Robert Cardinal Sarah’s “The Day Is Now Far Spent”. You can find the book here Robert Cardinal Sarah calls…

We begin our exploration of Robert Cardinal Sarah’s “The Day Is Now Far Spent”—a tour de force response to the present darkness in the Church. In this week’s reading, the cardinal pays a special tribute to such controversial churchmen as Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (all Ignatius Press authors). What he say…

We will be praying with and learning from Blessed John Henry Newman for many, many years to come. Joseph Pearce has been an excellent student, as well as an instructor of (or should I say “illuminator of”) the life and work of this great man, John Henry Newman, and who is now a bonafide member of the Cloud of Witnesses. It’s ALWAYS a joy to talk wi…

We discuss “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” by C. S. Lewis. Four adventurous siblings—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie—step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land frozen in eternal winter and enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a …

Episode 10 – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – William Shakespeare Though a staple in high school English classes, Julius Caesar is not a simple play. Seemingly irreconcilable forces are at work: fate and free will, the changeableness and stubbornness of ambitious men, the demands of public service and the desire for private ga…

Episode 10 – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – William Shakespeare Arguably Shakespeare’s finest and most important play, Hamlet is also one of the most misunderstood masterpieces of world literature. “To be or not to be”, may be the question, but the answer has eluded many generations of critics. What does it mean “to be”? And…

In this exciting novel set during the French Revolution, Charles Dickens expresses sympathy for the downtrodden poor and their outrage at the self-indulgent aristocracy. But Dickens is no friend of the vengeful mob that storms the Bastille and cheers the guillotine. As with all of his stories, his passion is for the unforgettable and unrepeatable i…

Episode 8 – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Jane Austen Jane Austen is arguably the finest female novelist who ever lived and Pride and Prejudice is arguably the finest and is certainly the most popular, of her novels. An undoubted classic of world literature, its profound Christian morality is all too often missed or willful…

Episode 21 – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – T.S. Eliot and “The Waste Land” (Of special note: excerpts from “The Waste Land” are read by T. S. Eliot) “Eliot’s place as a poet of the highest stature is assured. The Waste Land is the quintessential debunking of modernity and is also, simultaneously, a potent antidote to the po…

Episode 15 – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – St. Augustine The Confessions of Saint Augustine is considered one of the greatest Christian classics of all time. It is an extended poetic, passionate, intimate prayer that Augustine wrote as an autobiography sometime after his conversion, to confess his sins and proclaim God’s go…

Episode 13 – Bram Stoker and “Dracula” on Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce When solicitor’s clerk Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania on business to meet a mysterious Romanian count named Dracula, he little expects the horrors this strange meeting will unleash. Thus Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel of blood and passion begins, rapid…

We discuss “The Pilgrim’s Regress:: An Allegorical Apology for Christianity, Reason, and Romanticism” by C. S. Lewis. The first book written by C. S. Lewis after his conversion, The Pilgrim’s Regress is, in a sense, the record of Lewis’s own search for meaning and spiritual satisfaction—a search that eventually led him to Christianity. Here is the …

Episode 9 – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Nathaniel Hawthorne A key figure in the development of American literature, Nathaniel Hawthorne was also profoundly influenced by his ancestors and the Christianity that underscored their Puritan heritage. A literary classic, The Scarlet Letter presents a profound meditation on the …

Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is, according to many critics and fond readers, the great American novel. Full of vibrant American characters, intriguing regional dialects and folkways, and down-home good humor, it also hits Americans in one of their greatest and on-going sore spots: the fraught issue of racism. As Huck and Jim float do…

“In brief, however, the power of Tolkien lies in the way that he succeeds, through myth, in making the unseen hand of providence felt by the reader. In his mythical creations or sub-creations, as he would call them, he shows how the unseen hand of God is felt far more forcefully in myth than it is ever felt in fiction. Paradoxically, fiction works …

Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Charles Dickens St. Pope John Paul II described Dickens’ books as “filled with love for the poor and a sense of social regeneration . . . warm with imagination and humanity”. Such true charity permeates Dickens’ novels and ultimately drives the characters either to choose regeneration or risk d…

Episode 4 – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce podcast – Oscar Wilde and “The Picture of Dorian Gray” In true Faustian tradition, The Picture of Dorian Gray authored by Oscar Wilde tells the tale of a young man who sells his soul to the devil in return for youthful immortality, only to discover that the “devil’s bargain” is no bar…

Episode 20 – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – G. K. Chesterton and “The Man Who Was Thursday” “A powerful picture of the loneliness and bewilderment which each of us encounters in his single-handed struggle with the universe.” –C. S. Lewis — Chesterton’s own response, and riposte, to the Decadence of the 1890s can be found in …

Another phenomenal work by the prolific Joseph Pearce, this time bringing us the “Heroes of the Catholic Reformation: Saints Who Renewed the Church.” Our conversation covers a pivotal century which brings us many of the extraordinary spiritual figures of 16th century. Filled with fascinating insights, this is not just a book about yesterday, but of…

Episode 14 – Herman Melville and “Moby Dick” on Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce A sea adventure, a study of evil, and a cast of fascinating characters, including the crazed captain who is obsessed with hunting down the whale that maimed him — Moby-Dick is all of this and more. Based on the author’s experiences as a sailor, Herm…

Episode 11 – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – William Shakespeare part 2 The Merchant of Venice is probably the most controversial of all Shakespeare’s plays. It is also one of the least understood. Is it a comedy or a tragedy? What is the meaning behind the test of the caskets? Who is the real villain of the trial scene? Is S…

Episode 7 – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Beecher Stowe was appalled by slavery, and she took one of the few options open to nineteenth century women who wanted to affect public opinion: she wrote a novel, a huge, enthralling narrative that claimed the heart, soul, and politics of millions of h…

Episode 6- Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Jonathan Swift Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift is one of the greatest satirical works ever written. Through the misadventures of Lemuel Gulliver, his hopelessly “modern” protagonist, Swift exposes many of the follies of the English Enlightenment, from its worship of science to i…

Episode 3 – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Mary Shelley Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is one of the most influential and controversial novels of the nineteenth century; but has also become one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted. It has been vivisected critically by latter-day Victor Frankenstein’s who have transforme…

Episode 2 – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Emily Bronte Wuthering Heights is one of the classic novels of nineteenth century romanticism. As a major work of modern literature it retains its controversial status. What was Emily Brontë’s intention? Were her intentions iconoclastic? Were they feminist? Were they Christian or po…

Another outstanding addition to the Joseph Pearce canon! “Shakespeare on Love: Seeing the Catholic Presence in Romeo and Juliet” is a terrific read. Once again Jospeh Pearce helps us to see that the story we thought we knew is something very different when viewed with the Catholic Shakepeares len’s. Is Romeo a hero or a self indulgent cad? Is Julie…

Joseph Pearce is one of my all time favorite writers!!! What a joy to speak to him about “Candles in the Dark: The Authorized Biography of Fr. Richard Ho Lung and the Missionaries of the Poor”. Fr. Ho Lung is a fascinating figure: poet, teacher, mystic, and musician (reggae, no less). The child of Chinese Buddhist immigrants, this Jamaican priest i…