What Sports Illustrate

Anthony Esolen on the Obvious Truth About Young Men & Religion

A few years ago, when I was traveling with my family through Italy, we stopped in the Calabrian town where my grandfather was born. There something happened—a trivial incident—that I return to whenever I wish to appreciate anew the wisdom of the Creator, who in his exuberant comedy created us male and female.

We were in my cousin Francesco's shop when his young son came racing home from school. He stayed only long enough to let his father know he was off to the church, and before his father could reply, the door had swung shut. "The church?" I asked Francesco. "It's Wednesday afternoon. Why is he going to the church?"

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Anthony Esolen is a professor at Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts in Warner, New Hampshire, and the author of many books, including Real Music: A Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church (Tan, with a CD), Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture (Regnery), and The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord (Ignatius). He has also translated Dante’s Divine Comedy (Random House). He and his wife Debra publish a web magazine, Word and Song (anthonyesolen.substack.com), on poetry, hymnody, language, classic films, and music. He is a senior editor of Touchstone.

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