Consider the aerial view of Windsor Castle shown in the upper picture. The first impression one has is of a setting for a fairy tale—the immensity of the edifice, the marvelous variety of its parts, the delicacy and strength affirmed in all of them, everything suggests that one is in the presence … Read more

The famous painting by Velázquez, Las Meninas [The Maids of Honor], is rightly considered one of the great works of pictorial art. The scene portrays the childish and candid grace of the Infanta, the most dignified and respectful tenderness of the young noble ladies who serve her, and on the left, the … Read more

We were recently asked to comment on the fact that the custom of granting awards to the best students is being abolished in several schools. At the root of this new policy is the idea that the public bestowal of awards is doubly harmful: exciting vanity in the beneficiaries of the honors … Read more

A friend of mine of German extraction, who is just becoming initiated into the savory and succulent delicacies of Portuguese literature, recently told me about the passage I have transcribed below. Let us savor it together, word by word, or better, drop by drop. At times we will delight in the lush … Read more

The French Revolution caused a large number of people, disgruntled with the concessionist policies of Louis XVI and the violence of the republicans, to emigrate to other countries. When the Bourbons were restored in 1814, these émigrés returned to their country with exactly the same mentality they had left 25 years earlier. … Read more

One of the themes of the Brotherhood Campaign [the Brazilian Bishops’ annual charity drive] invited all Brazilians to reflect upon the maxim: “We are all brothers, we are all equal.” To such reflections, I dedicate my words of today which, regardless of their merit, at least have the distinction of being a … Read more

Our spiritual life is the life of grace within us; through it we become children of God. For our spiritual life to be preserved and to develop, a series of actions are required that constitute the life of piety. How must that life of piety be? What deviations must be avoided? These … Read more