modern world
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Tolstoy on human life
This morning, I came across* — literally — this passage from Tolstoy's Confession which is a pure marvel and which so well announces The Death of Ivan Ilyich, written seven years later: "At first it seemed to me that these were gratuitous, misplaced requests. I believed that all this was already known, that if Continue reading
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The abandonment of Benedict XVI
"Eli, Eli lama sabachthani?" 1 When Benedict XVI signifies, in a few simple words, that he is renouncing the office of Pope, it is an earthquake that shakes the world and strikes Catholics. The most outlandish rumors are circulating and everyone is wondering about the causes of this decision which, even if it Continue reading
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The death of intimacy
Everywhere, on the Internet, in newspapers, or on television, personal experience is displayed, exhibited, and intended as a reference. This indecency is based on an inversion of values. It is founded above all and everywhere on the idea of the same. The idea of the same thinks: "I lived this, my experience reflects a universal feeling. I want to say what Continue reading
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A short history of Envy, from hero to scapegoat
The modern world is constantly presenting us with scapegoats. Lance Armstrong, Richard Millet, Jérôme Kerviel, John Galliano, to name but a few, each in their own field, with completely different causes and reasons, have recently embodied the scapegoat, the rightly punished culprit, the troublemaker put in his place. Continue reading
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Christian testimony
When I started this blog, the idea of writing about the liturgy quickly came to me. Not to claim expert status, but to share my experience about what represents the heart of a Christian's life. So there were two paths that had to merge: I had to tell the Continue reading
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In the heart of darkness, life
After seeing "Tree of Life," I for a long time forbade myself from writing about this film. Two forces were clashing within me. Subjugated by the poetry, by the state of bliss in which I was immersed, I was afraid of disturbing the surface of this work. I became so wrapped up in the mystery of this film that Continue reading
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What is Steve Jobs the name of?
"Steve Jobs 1955-2011," read the Apple website on October 5, 2011. Until the end, this unique signature, minimalist, elegant, and effective. His signature. The noise created by the death of this American business leader took the world by surprise. A little, and the comparison was made, as for Lady Continue reading
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A year that ends...
As the year draws to a close, we often take a furtive look back. Don't linger too long. You never know how many things you've forced yourself to bury might reappear, like those impromptu, rude, and irritating pop-ups on the internet. The exercise you can do is to Continue reading
Bernanos , stupidity , Catholicism , Ernesto Sabato , ethics , literature , politically correct , priest , religion -
In the shadow of Ernesto Sabato
When Ernesto Sabato died on April 30th at the age of 99, he repeated to himself the words of Maria Zambrano: To die, that elusive action that is carried out by obedience, happens beyond reality, in another realm. In his house in Santos Lugarès ("Holy Places" near Buenos Aires), Ernesto Sabato obeyed this last injunction. He Continue reading
Argentina , stupidity , Catholicism , counter-revolution , Ernesto Sabato , war , history , forgiveness -
Priest "Generation Benoit XVI"
Dear Father, It is with great pleasure that I bid you farewell. Not because I am happy that you are leaving the Chapel of Our Lady of the Lily, but because I am happy to have met you and that you are continuing your priesthood by showing the example of the priest according to Benedict XVI. Yesterday, for the feast of the Continue reading
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Newman and Socrates
The links between ancient Greek philosophy and Christianity are numerous. The most famous of the Greek precepts: Gnothi Seauton, "Know thyself," inscribed at Delphi, retains a certain mystery. Another part of the phrase has remained with us: "But not too much"... Know thyself... But not too much! Plato leads Socrates to reflect on the Delphic formula in Continue reading
Catholicism , ethics , ancient Greece , history , Newman , Notre-Dame du Lys , Plato , politically correct , priest , religion , Socrates , Zenit -
Commemorative phrase
A friend contacted me to ask for the exact quote from Ernst Jünger (from Storms of Steel) that we liked to repeat among officers of the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment. I am posting it on this blog as I remember that General Antoine Lecerf was fond of this quote and that it fits him like a glove: He Continue reading
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And by Saint Antoine… (Death of General Antoine Lecerf)
Antoine is no more. He left on Good Friday. April 22, 2011. He is in the Father's house. Antoine is Antoine Lecerf. Army Corps General Antoine Lecerf. A master of war. A brilliant leader of men. One of the most extraordinary men I have ever known. When you first met Antoine Lecerf, Continue reading
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original fault
Despite Shûsaku Endo's doubts about the true Christianity of the Japanese, as evoked in the admirable "Silence," it also seems to me that the Japanese have a real fundamental point in common with the Christian in the ease with which they put themselves in the place of the other. Is this not one of the founding bases of Christianity, one Continue reading