Ladydale Diary
Nativity of St. John the Baptist, 2021
I am once again writing this week’s diary on Thursday and not on the customary Friday. Last week, this was due to my travelling to Massena, New York on Friday; this week, it is due to Susannah and Evangeline travelling to Nashville tomorrow, leaving me home alone with Leo and therefore limited in my ability to work. More on the Nashville trip presently, but first to tell of my trip to New York.
The purpose of my trip was to lead a literary retreat with some Dominican sisters and also to give the graduation address at Holy Name of Jesus Academy, a girls’ boarding school that the sisters run. In addition, I also gave a couple of talks that were open to the public.
The sisters had asked me to lead them in a discussion of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and also to host a roundtable on Narnia and sundry other topics. These three sessions were an absolute delight, not least because the sisters are so knowledgeable of literature and so on fire for the goodness, truth and beauty which great literature conveys.
The first of the public presentations was on the Great Books and how they can save us from slavery; the second was on Shakespeare’s Catholicism. The graduation address focused on the question of truth and why the correct asking and answering of this question is crucial to a good education.
Apart from my duties, the weekend at the convent afforded me the opportunity to attend daily Mass and to join the sisters for Lauds and Vespers. It was, therefore, something of a spiritual retreat which was most welcome and much needed.
Returning home on Monday, I hit the ground running in order to catch up with all the work that I had neglected, of necessity, during my travels.
On Tuesday evening, we had the monthly online meeting of the Troubadours. For those unfamiliar with this, the Troubadours are five friends who meet each month to discuss a topic of interest, inviting all and sundry to attend. Apart from myself, the other five Troubadours are Dale Ahlquist, President of the Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton; Christopher Check, President of Catholic Answers; William Fahey, President of Thomas More College of Liberal Arts; and Daniel Kerr, headmaster of St. Martin’s Academy. This month’s topic was saints who should be better known. I chose the English Martyrs, St. Robert Southwell and Blessed Nicholas Postgate.
Yesterday afternoon (Wednesday), I recorded the discussion for the FORMED Book Club with Father Fessio and Vivian Dudro of Ignatius Press, continuing our reading of the best of Chesterton’s essays. Then, yesterday evening, I taught the latest class in the online course on G. K. Chesterton for Memoria College. This week, we looked at Chesterton the novelist, focusing primarily on The Man Who was Thursday. This morning I was interviewed on Archangel Radio about my recent article in Crisis Magazine on Dante’s Divine Comedy. Later this afternoon, I’m going to be a guest on Father Hezekias’ radio show to discuss my lecture on Shakespeare next Tuesday for the Institute of Catholic Culture. Tomorrow morning, I’ll also be talking about this upcoming lecture on the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio.
As for writing, I’ve written an essay on Chesterton as a “jolly journalist” for the Imaginative Conservative and a summary of The Canterbury Tales as the latest essay in the “Great Literature in a Nutshell” series for Crisis Magazine. Needless to say, with such a packed schedule, I’ve made no progress with the book on which I’m currently working.
Tomorrow morning, as soon as my weekly online class for Red Cultural in Chile (on Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar) is finished, Susannah and Evangeline will set off on the six hour drive to Nashville, Tennessee. The purpose of the trip is to stay with our friends, Michael and Crystal Kurek, and to see performances on Friday and Saturday evening of Michael’s new musical, How do I Love Thee?, which is based on the relationship of the Victorian poets, Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning. As mentioned, I’ll be home alone with Leo and am looking forward to spending time with him.
Blessings to my friends in the Inner Sanctum!
