articles by Anthony Esolen

37.2 — Mar/Apr 2024

Before the Fall


37.2 — Mar/Apr 2024

An Indecent Proposal


37.1 — Jan/Feb 2024

Child’s Play


36.6 — Nov/Dec 2023

Departures & Advents


36.6 — Nov/Dec 2023

Community Properties

Modern Post-Conversion Identity in the Light of Augustine’s Example


36.6 — Nov/Dec 2023

Eager Hirelings


36.5 — Sept/Oct 2023

Our Angelic Defenders


36.4 — Jul/Aug 2023

The Comforter's Fire

Understanding the Holy Spirit in Italian hymns


36.4 — Jul/Aug 2023

Clergy Exposé

Diogenes Unveiled: A Paul Mankowski Collection edited by Philip F. Lawler


36.4 — Jul/Aug 2023

Older & Wiser

Nostalgia Endures While Optimism Fades


36.3 — May/Jun 2023

All of Us Sparrows

“His Eye Is on the Sparrow”


36.2 — Mar/Apr 2023

Liberation Poetry


36.1 — Jan/Feb 2023

The Victorious King

The Hymn for the Vespers of Epiphany, Hostis Herodes impie


36.1 — Jan/Feb 2023

Marriage Fading

Revolutionaries to the Romantics: Drop Dead


35.6 — Nov/Dec 2022

Triune Home

“O Father All Creating” by John Ellerton (1876)


35.6 — Nov/Dec 2022

Fr. Mankowski's Pen


35.5 — Sept/Oct 2022

How Do I Use Thee?

On George Herbert's "Unkindness"


35.5 — Sept/Oct 2022

Poetry & Democracy

Tocqueville & the Sorry State of the Arts


35.4 — Jul/Aug 2022

Marching Together


35.3 — May/Jun 2022

The Shores Beyond

Saint Anatolius's Fierce Was the Wild Billow


35.3 — May/Jun 2022

True Grit

on the Untamed Tongue of a Medieval English Monk


35.2 — Mar/Apr 2022

Our Love, Crucified

"O Come and Mourn with Me Awhile," by Frederick Faber


35.2 — Mar/Apr 2022

Remembering Alice von Hildebrand


35.1 — January/February 2022

He Is Near

"On Jordan's Bank"


35.1 — January/February 2022

A Liar & the Father of Lies

Milton's Satan & the Confusion of the Mind


34.6 — Nov/Dec 2021

Spiritual Colors

"Venite ad me omnes" by Felice Anerio


34.6 — Nov/Dec 2021

The Ephemeral Man


34.5 — Sept/Oct 2021

A Hero for Our Time

"Forsaken Once and Thrice Denied" by Cecil Frances Alexander


34.5 — Sept/Oct 2021

Sexual Being

The Love of Purity Opens Our Minds to a Radiant Mystery


34.4 — July/August 2021

The Ring & the Gem

"Come Unto Me, Ye Weary" by William Chatterton Dix


34.4 — July/August 2021

To Strut & Fret an Hour Upon the Stage

The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution by Carl R. Trueman


34.4 — July/August 2021

Our Suffering, Our Solace

Dante's Way of Boundless Love


34.3 — May/June 2021

A Hymn for His Courts

"Pleasant Are Thy Courts Above" by Henry Francis Lyte (1834


34.3 — May/June 2021

What Television Shows

An Ancient TV Guide Suggests a Program for Today's Choices


34.2 — March/April 2021

Rules for Rhymes


34.2 — March/April 2021

Maleficent Obsession

The Long Dark Tunnel of Resentment


34.2 — March/April 2021

Public Houses


34.1 — January/February 2021

Forget Me Not


34.1 — January/February 2021

Fighting for Love

What the World Needs Now It Hardly Knows


33.6 — Nov/Dec 2020

The Bridegroom Cometh


33.6 — Nov/Dec 2020

The Ugly and the Good

Why We No Longer But Still Could Have Beautiful Things


33.5 — September/October 2020

United at the Cross


33.4 — July/August 2020

Pantocrator Lite


33.4 — July/August 2020

No Option

Clear Out the Rubble & Rebuild!


33.3 — May/June 2020

A Whole Poem


33.3 — May/June 2020

Deliberation, Inc.

Human & Divine Societies Require Careful Thought & Discourse


33.3 — May/June 2020

The Fog of Love

Sin Covers a Multitude of Loves


33.2 — March/April 2020

High Praise & Mercy


33.1 — January/February 2020

Godward Bound


33.1 — January/February 2020

About Face

On Beauty & the Personal Being of God & Man


33.1 — January/February 2020

Forbidden Lies

Speaking Truth About the Sexes Is Not Optional


32.6 — November/December 2019

O for a Thousand Hymns to Sing!


32.6 — November/December 2019

Listening Up

Historical Truth, Beguiling Stories & Three Kinds of Hearers


32.5 — September/October 2019

Washed in the Blood


32.5 — September/October 2019

Feral Sexuality

on the Inhuman Transformation of Transgenderism


32.4 — July/August 2019

His Sweet Name

Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee


32.3 — May/June 2019

Light of Light

The Liturgy of the Hours


32.3 — May/June 2019

Deliver Us from Evil

Justice Demands an Assessment of Injustice


32.2 — March/April 2019

Hymns Ascending

See, the Lord Ascends in Triumph


32.2 — March/April 2019

The Boy Genius

Finding Him Again Through the Patriarchal Group


32.1 — January/February 2019

Seven Gems from Calvary

The Seven Words on the Cross


32.1 — January/February 2019

Surprised by Delight

Divine Love & the Love of Man & Woman Surpass Mere Consent


31.6 — November/December 2018

Come Unto Me

Come Unto Me, Ye Weary


31.5 — September/October 2018

The Wedding Guest

O Father All Creating


31.5 — September/October 2018

Urban Prospects

The Cities of Man & the Dwelling Place of the Lord


31.4 — July/August 2018

Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken


31.4 — July/August 2018

Right Before Our Eyes

Life & Love Are Real Despite Theatrical Illusions


31.3 — May/June 2018

Festal Joy

This Is the Hour of Banquet and of Song


31.3 — May/June 2018

Father Scanlan's Legacy


31.2 — March/April 2018

When Worship Goes Wrong


31.1 — January/February 2018

The First Blood

Victis sibi cognomina


30.6 — Nov/Dec 2017

What Was Done Before


30.6 — Nov/Dec 2017

The Greatness Commission

Christ, Individualism & the Meaning of Cultural Diversity


30.5 — Sept/Oct 2017

How to Write a Hymn


30.4 — July/Aug 2017

All the Colors of the World

Sometimes a Light Surprises


30.3 — May/June 2017

Let's Learn the Craft


30.3 — May/June 2017

Reclaiming Childhood Through Poetry

Rebuilding Christian Culture Among the Ruins


30.3 — May/June 2017

Campus Descent

Where Higher Ed Meets the Lower Regions


30.2 — March/April 2017

The Light of the Cross


29.6 — Nov/Dec 2016

The Advent of the Everlasting Day


29.6 — Nov/Dec 2016

The Still Small God

The Mustard Seed & the Wonders of His Kingdom


29.5 — Sept/Oct 2016

Hymns of the Ages


29.4 — July/August 2016

Worship for the Weary


29.3 — May/June 2016

Loosened Tongues Employed


29.3 — May/June 2016

The Master's Voice

Our Choice Is Obedience or Jesus as Anti-Christ


29.2 — March/April 2016

Loving Sacrifice


29.1 — Jan/Feb 2016

What Star Is This?


28.6 — Nov/Dec 2015

O Great Humility


28.6 — Nov/Dec 2015

By Their Parades Ye Shall Know Them

The Gods & Worship of Athens, Rome & Toronto


28.5 — Sept/Oct 2015

To Hear the Bridegroom's Voice


28.4 — July/Aug 2015

Our Dear Land


28.3 — May/June 2015

Muddled Hymns


28.3 — May/June 2015

No Country for Young Children

What Kind of Society Can Countenance Such Evil?


28.2 — March/April 2015

A Fast for the Feast


28.2 — March/April 2015

Suffer the Children

How Can the Young Flourish Without Peace?


28.1 — January/February 2015

Schooled for Sacrifice


28.1 — January/February 2015

Mission Nary Impossible

The Unevangelized May Be Better & Worse than Savages


27.6 — Nov/Dec 2014

Love Came Down


27.6 — Nov/Dec 2014

Tales of Forbidden Stereotypes

Real-Life Men & Women & the Tragic Loss of Human Comedy


27.6 — Nov/Dec 2014

Identity Thievery

In Christ All Sinners Are Truly Made New


27.5 — Sept/Oct 2014

What Did He Do?


27.4 — July/August 2014

Bread & Ruminations


27.3 — May/June 2014

A Circle of Grace


27.3 — May/June 2014

Gone & Forgotten

on a Lost World & Our Alien Nation


27.3 — May/June 2014

Stand Firm

Or End Up on the Wrong Side of Eschatology


27.2 — March/April 2014

An Easter Trinity


27.2 — March/April 2014

Poetry Above Compulsion

Higher Education Should Advance the Glorious Liberty of the Sons of God


27.1 — Jan/Feb 2014

And He Shall Purify


26.6 — Nov/Dec 2013

Like a Thief in the Night


26.6 — Nov/Dec 2013

A Divine Gift of the Muses

The Great Epics Are Theological & Mark the Hard Path to Beatitude


26.6 — Nov/Dec 2013

At Dusk in the Jungle

A Deadly Culture Needs More than Legal Remedies


26.5 — Sept/Oct 2013

The Lord of The Harvest


26.4 — July/August 2013

Pauline Scholar, Meet Homeric Scholar

How Textual Analysis Misses Authorial Genius & Literary Inspiration


26.4 — July/August 2013

Patriot Dust


26.3 — May/June 2013

Blessed Assistance

on the Un-humanitarian Charity of Martin de Porres


26.3 — May/June 2013

Our Quiet Lord

Pentecost and the Voice on the Mountain: The Silence of Holiness


26.2 — Mar/Apr 2013

Faith Against Faith

Whittaker Chambers, Potemkin Villages & the Ongoing War


26.2 — Mar/Apr 2013

At the Cross of Jesus


26.1 — Jan/Feb 2013

Scarborough Needs Men

Manly Chastity, Hedonism & the Law of Non-contradiction


26.1 — Jan/Feb 2013

A Musical Work of Mercy


26.1 — Jan/Feb 2013

Same Country, Different Worlds

The Events of Christ's Life Remind Us That We Have a New Race to Run


25.6 — Nov/Dec 2012

Spenser's Feast

on the Theological Depth of a Neglected Wedding Hymn


25.6 — Nov/Dec 2012

Creator of the Stars of Night


25.5 — Sept/Oct 2012

Ascending & Descending Glory


25.4 — July/August 2012

All the Lonely People

The Corrosive & Far-Reaching Fallout of the Sexual Revolution


25.4 — July/August 2012

A Song for a Nation


25.3 — May/Jun 2012

Student Assembly

Today’s Mass Education Pushes Children Away from Virtue into Mere Hygiene


25.3 — May/Jun 2012

In the Key of Christ


25.2 — March/April 2012

God’s Place & Ours

On Mutability & the Lost Virtue of Steadfastness


25.2 — March/April 2012

Fast & See That the Lord Is Good


25.1 — Jan/Feb 2012

What Is Man?

on What Raskolnikov Knew & Translators Have Lost


25.1 — Jan/Feb 2012

Songs of Thankfulness & Praise


24.6 — Nov/Dec 2011

In the Bleak Midwinter


24.6 — Nov/Dec 2011

Prodigal Cant

The Lord's Truth & the Casualty of Politics


24.5 — Sept/Oct 2011

Pupils Delighted

on Wondering or Wandering Through College Education


24.2 — March/April 2011

My Pain & Gain

on the Blessings of a Bum Leg


24.1 — January/February 2011

Secular Grendel

Ruminations on the Monstrous Envy of the Soul-Devouring State


23.6 — November/December 2010

All Things New

Pagan Despair Ends with the Hope & Charity of God in Christ


23.6 — November/December 2010

Caesar’s Limit

A State Under God Cannot Be Idolized


23.5 — September/October 2010

Sanity & Matrimony

Ten Arguments in Defense of Marriage (Part 2 of 2)


23.4 — July/August 2010

Sanity & Matrimony

Ten Arguments in Defense of Marriage (Part 1 of 2)


23.4 — July/August 2010

Commencement Day

on Letting Our Children Go Home (A Graduation Address)


23.4 — July/August 2010

Hagiophobia

Hatred of Sanctity Runs Deep


23.3 — May/June 2010

Humor on the Move

In the Christian World, Comedy Is King


22.7 — September/October 2009

Except the Lord Build

on Education & Houses of the Lord (A Graduation Address)


22.7 — September/October 2009

Married with Reservations

Our Private Misgivings Have Public Consequences


22.6 — July/August 2009

Notre Madame et le President

There Was No Moral Common Ground


22.5 — June 2009

The Unquiet Men

on Those Who Are Leaving the Reservation


22.3 — April 2009

Nowhere Man

Without Remembrance There Is No Eternal Life


22.3 — April 2009

Past Present

The Grateful Living Will Rise Up


21.10 — December 2008

Potterville Nation

on the Wonderful Life Most Think Impoverished


21.9 — November 2008

The Beat Escape

Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest


21.6 — July/August 2008

Trust Busters

When Authorities Smash Windows


21.5 — June 2008

The Final Past Time

on What Baseball Could Have Taught the Greeks About Death


21.4 — May 2008

Without the Cornerstone

When Secular Builders Labor in Vain


20.10 — December 2007

Finders Weepers

on the Books We Discover but Fear to Read


20.10 — December 2007

Child Everlasting

On the Omnipotent Humility That Saves an Old & Infantile World


20.9 — November 2007

The Mass Upended

and David Mills on Restoring Primitive Jocularity to the Liturgy


20.9 — November 2007

Pilgrims Planted

The Patriot Loves His Land Because It Is a Shadow


20.8 — October 2007

A Time to Move On

on Sending Our Children into Eternity (A Graduation Address)


20.6 — July/August 2007

Esther’s Guarded Condition

Dying When Common Sense & Common Decency Have Departed


20.5 — June 2007

Heaven Knows

Christian Irony & the secrets of Kings & Gods


20.5 — June 2007

Our Sorry Freedom

How the Culture of Tolerance Destroys by Forgiving


20.2 — March 2007

Filthy Rich

The Unnoticed Gift of Trickle-Down Decadence


20.1 — January/February 2007

Davey’s Song

on the Divine Music of an Autistic Son


19.9 — November 2006

Thank God We’re Not Equal


19.8 — October 2006

Hearts Uplifted

Or, How to Sing Your Way Out of Hell


19.6 — July/August 2006

Dozens of Cousins

on Learning from Those Who Have to Like You, Even When They Don’t


19.5 — June 2006

Over Our Dead Bodies

Men Who Are Willing to Lay Down Their Lives Are Truly Indispensable


19.4 — May 2006

Caedmon’s Edge

on the Fair Advantage of a Medieval Bible Translator


19.4 — May 2006

State of Separation


19.3 — April 2006

Body & Soul Uplifted

Dante’s Magnificent Vision of the Resurrection of the Flesh


19.2 — March 2006

No More Hims of Praise

on the Contemptible Mutilation of Hymns


18.10 — December 2005

A Mighty Child

on an Apostle’s Encounter with the Son’s Children


18.9 — November 2005

An Ironic Folly

On the Divine Wisdom of Tilting at Windmills


18.9 — November 2005

Sins & Sensibility


18.8 — October 2005

XXX-Communicated

on Why Pornography Is Not the Sin We Say It Is


18.7 — September 2005

A Requiem for Friendship

Why Boys Will Not Be Boys & Other Consequences of the Sexual Revolution


18.6 — Nov/Dec 2005

Chest Errors


18.4 — May 2005

Where Went the Neighborhood?

On the Neighbors We Have Lost But Desperately Need


18.3 — April 2005

A Manna for All Seasons

The Sabbath Challenge to the Petty Gods of Profit


18.2 — March 2005

Dog-Eared Pursuits

on the Importance of Not Reading


17.8 — October 2004

The Lovely Dragon of Choice

The Freedom Not to Be Free


17.6 — July/August 2004

Pi in the Sky

A Sidebar in Jonathan Witt's "The Gods Must Be Tidy"


17.5 — June 2004

Servants of the Day


17.4 — May 2004

A Geography of Kind

The Preservation of Landscapes & the Beauty of the Sexes


17.2 — March 2004

Shooting the Rapids

on Manhood in the Making


16.8 — October 2003

What Sports Illustrate

on the Obvious Truth About Young Men & Religion



more from the online archives

21.10—December 2008

Savior in a Manger

Early Christian Teaching on the Incarnation & Redemption by Patrick Henry Reardon

33.2—March/April 2020

The Fairy Tale Wars

Lewis, Chesterton, et al. Against the Frauds, Experts & Revisionists by Vigen Guroian

18.3—April 2005

Book Worms

on Textbook Publishers Who Lie About Islam by Terry Graves

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