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A blog for Catholic men that seeks to encourage virtue, the pursuit of holiness and the art of true masculinity.

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March 30, 2021 By Ryan Scheel 1 Comment

History Is A Memory. Tradition Is Alive.

King James IV of Scotland (r.1488-1512), one of the last Catholic monarchs of Scotland, was considered a true Renaissance man devoted to learning and enlightened rule. In addition to his pursuits in science and the arts, he had a particular interest in language and its origins. He was a polyglot and the last King of Scotland to speak Scottish Gaelic.

In an attempt to understand the development of language and to determine if God had instilled an innate divine language in mankind, the king conducted a linguistic experiment in language deprivation. 

King James ordered that a set of twin orphans be sent to live alone on the remote island of Inchkeith to be cared for by a mute woman. The purpose of this was to observe what language, if any, the children would develop and use to communicate. 

His hopes that he could discover the pure divine tongue from this experiment were fruitless. The children developed a series of claps and gesticulations to communicate their needs and would at times mimic the noises of the island’s native animals.

Divorced from history and tradition, the children were only capable of the most basic forms of communication…

There is a parallel in this experiment to the world and culture in which we now live. As modernism, consumerism, and relativism erode away the deep and foundational traditions of the Christian West, we find ourselves more and more incapable of grasping, and even less so, communicating the deep truths and faith that our ancestors so carefully guarded. 

Our modern society often lives in a self-imposed banishment to an Inchkeithon where we settle for the basest of pursuits, substituting philosophy for a soundbite, discernment for rashness, chastity for concupiscence, and eternal things for things that pass.

The antidote to this spiritual and cultural muteness, the escape raft from this isolated island, is a rediscovery of our history and traditions. 

It is the accumulated wisdom and knowledge of those before us that allow us to contemplate the complex and mysterious nuances of higher things like the divine, the family, and your own mortality. History and traditions provide us the lexicon to articulate and understand the innate desires of the immortal soul beyond our animal instincts. 

“Remember the days of old, consider the years of generations past. Ask your father, he will inform you, your elders, they will tell you.” Deuteronomy 32:7

A gentleman or gentlewoman studies and learns history. They protect and pass on traditions. They understand their mortality and plant trees in whom’s shade they will never rest. They add to the deposit and that gets left to the generations to come. They don’t live only in the present, but in the past and the future. They incorporate the richness of the past, the joys and struggles of the present, and the hope of the future.

To begin to understand history and tradition and to incorporate them into your life, one should understand the difference between them. A fundamental difference is that history exists as a memory, but tradition lives now. Learning history allows you to understand why things are; tradition lets you understand how things were. History forms tradition, tradition animates history.

So firstly, learn history. Read histories by Butler, Gibbon, Herodotus, Josephus, Livy, & Tacitus. 

Read novels and literature by Cervantes, Boccaccio, Alighieri, & Chaucer. Read about archaeological and anthropological finds. Visit museums and libraries. 

But, more importantly, learn your traditions. Discover how your grandfather lived as a young man. Cook the recipes your great-grandmother made. Research the name of your 5th great-grandfather. Learn the feast days and traditions your cultural ancestors celebrated. Learn the liturgical and devotional traditions of the Church that have been largely forgotten since the Council.

Most importantly of all, understand your place in tradition and history. All of your ancestors and those who built our culture are the links in a chain behind you. The future links will be your children and grandchildren. You must be the one to bind them together and form an unbroken chain. Make sure your link is strong. Do not allow those who come after us to be left mute and unequipped like those twins orphans on Inchkeith.

Filed Under: Culture, Education, Faith, Family, Tradition, Uncategorized

January 13, 2021 By Jacob Imam 6 Comments

Loyalty and Localism

For all of the oddities of hipsterdom, they get at least one thing right: buying local. Corporations care more about their ROI than the quality of the goods produced; they care more about their profit than their product. Part of the return to a true, profound Christian polity is a return to caring less about what company will yield the greatest returns and more about what company will do a city good.

For those of you who aren’t hipsters out there, you may be shaking your head already: “Hipsters are weird”; “The quality of local stuff isn’t better, or not enough to justify the higher price”; “Don’t financially support mediocrity”; “Trading with foreign places builds peace between neighboring peoples”; “sometimes you just can’t get oranges locally”; and so on go the first rebuttals. But hear me out. 

Locality is related to loyalty, because loyalty is nothing but love—love for something insofar as one belongs to it. The nature of loyalty stands out when we forsake the better for the sake of the closer. 

St. Thomas Aquinas validates this principle when he asks the question: “Whether we ought to love those who are better more than those who are more closely united to us?” and concludes “we ought, out of charity, to love those who are more closely united to us more, both because our love for them is more intense, and because there are more reasons for loving them.”

His last point is really the point. Budweiser has one reason for eliciting and sustaining our love, and that’s the love of consuming it. Its basic taste. Its consistent distribution throughout the entire world that enables us to chug it whenever we want. On the contrary, we have many reasons for loving our local brewery, the one “more closely united to us”: we may love the family it supports, the pride it inspires, the opportunity it provides for festivals, the land on which it works, and so on.

Every time you buy a Bud, some small percentage of your money goes to Belgium and to Brazil, dissipated out into a global corporation that does not give a damn about your community. This hardly seems like the economic relation that should stir the spirit of the good ol’ local boys, but it is a perverse feature of liberal states that its citizens tend to love their nations, and so their national brands, over their neighbors, and the production that takes place at a neighborly scale. Through the manipulation of American flags, eagles, and old-fashioned monopoly, corporations have successfully faked “closeness” and gained our loyalty. 

Others of you non-hipsters still agree with them, that we should buy locally, and are guiltily saying to yourselves right now, “Yes, I know I should shop local, I just don’t; it’s too easy to just jump on Amazon” or “Coors is just so much more affordable.” Well, just stop it; deepen your loves, as C.S. Lewis would say: “we are far too easily pleased.” Say farewell to Starbucks, wave goodbye to produce shipped from New Zealand, ignore the Czech Republic’s beer! Focus on loving your neighbor rather than on yourself, shirk off Black Friday (which is still ongoing somehow?), and start budgeting to help Greg sell his coffee down the road. 

Hipsters don’t get off easily themselves. It seems to me that their movement is less about buoying up and devotion to their neighbor than it is a general anti-corporatist vibe. At best, it’s a love of the arty aesthetic. In a strange way, this aesthetic is becoming corporatized itself: it doesn’t matter whether I’m in London, Pittsburgh, or Cape Town: all “local” shops look the same. The predictability of Starbucks isn’t the problem for them—no, they don’t mind, even actively desire, all coffee shops to look the same; it’s just the universal ownership they hate; it’s the leftist, “down with the 1%” spirit.

While I’m keen on their critique of Starbucks, I’m a bit nonplussed about their negative motivation to buy from “the corner shop.” In fact, it seems, in a certain way (and I know I’m generalizing so all exceptional hipsters out there, please forgive me), that they are fleeing from the corporatists and not moving toward the localists. The movement to the local must be a drive of love, not of hatred; a desire to support our neighbors rather than run out our enemies. Their love may be for the taste of the local, you say—but even then, their affinity is akin to the obsessed football fan’s preference for Bud-Lite: it’s about their palate and not other people. 

In both cases, we need to recall the Lewisian dictum: don’t be too easily pleased. Long for more; desire beatitude; deepen your loves. Love bespeaks belonging, having people to depend on and depend on you. It is profoundly personal. So shirk off the love of products for the love of people. But, of course, the product does matter.

So let’s get back to the criticism mentioned above: what if the brewmaster at the local pub struggles to make good beer? Well, that happened to us in our town. For a couple months, the guys would only bring to our monthly, First-Friday festival, a strawberry milkshake IPA. (I’m really not sure how anyone ever came up with that idea, let alone in the Rustbelt, but I digress.) We bought it, sure, out of solidarity and support. But with some fraternal correction, he stopped his pink mistake and started bringing his true-to-form classic American lager. Then we weren’t just buying out of love for the man but also for love of his product. Double win.

The product, and even the act of producing, really does matter. As a result of the current corporate takeover, through their ubiquity across every small and large town in America and beyond, we have forgotten how to do things ourselves. Skills are habits of souls. If we’re out of the habit, we lose the skill. This is most easily seen by the fact that we have lost the power of navigation—we can’t get anywhere without our phones lighting our path. But this is true about our hobbies as well. Why would you ever buy a coffee roaster when it’s cheaper, or at least more convenient, to buy a drip on the go? Why go through the hassle of buying brewing equipment when you can get a case of Corona for eighteen bucks? For those who do try to create their own goods, to fight against corporate-induced sloth, there is a market full of people who are habituated to “knowing what they’re going to get”, to buying the predictable, to the commodification of all consumable goods and not to the local. So we are not only a people that need to relearn what good taste is, we are also a people that needs to rediscover how to produce it. However, we will only ever give people the chance to learn, both how to produce as well as how to consume, if we turn to the local. 

So today I encourage you to focus on where your loyalty should lie. Go out and buy those feather-laden eggs, the wilting rosemary, and the expensive meat. Make it into something delicious and say a prayer for your fellow citizens who produced it.

—

Jacob Imam is the president of New Polity (newpolity.com), a DPhil candidate and prize scholar at the University of Oxford writing on theology and economics. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

December 1, 2020 By Sam Guzman 4 Comments

The 2020 Catholic Gentleman Gift List

It’s that time of year again: time to start thinking about Christmas gifts for the Catholic gentlemen in your life. Here are 10 gift ideas sure to delight any Catholic Man.

1. The Catholic Gentleman: Living Authentic Manhood Today

What it means to be a man or a woman is questioned today like never before. While traditional gender roles have been eroding for decades, now the very categories of male and female are being discarded with reckless abandon. How does one act like a gentleman in such confusing times? The Catholic Gentleman is a solid and practical guide to virtuous manhood. It turns to the timeless wisdom of the Catholic Church to answer the important questions men are currently asking.

Buy Now

2. Watch

A fine timepiece is a miracle of mechanical construction. Every man should have at least one nice watch. There are many different kinds: quartz (battery powered), mechanical (hand-wound), automatic (self-winding), and solar (solar-powered). Watches range from under $100 to many tens of thousands, and the choices are nearly infinite. However, a nice watch doesn’t have to be expensive. My Timex Marlin (pictured) is a handsome, well-made, mechanical watch that retails for about $200 or so. If you don’t know where to start, buy the man in your life a Marlin. It’s a truly gentlemanly timepiece.

Buy Now

3. Bible

Catholic men should read Scripture. As St. Jerome says, “Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ.” Scripture is a treasury of stories, poems, letters, and historical accounts that can dramatically enrich your spiritual life. Consider buying a Bible as a gift. My go-to Bible is the Knox translation. It’s a unique and readable Bible translation from Msgr. Ronald Knox and approved by Pope Pius XII. Baronius press has a fine edition available here:

Buy Now

4. Monk Manual

Monk Manual is the planner I use. Founded by a Catholic husband, father, and creative, it is designed to employ the best practices of psychology and productivity, while also integrating the meaningful, purposeful action of monks. It’s the perfect way to bring ora et labora to your daily tasks.

Use the code “gentleman” when ordering for 10% off.

Buy Now

5. Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary Illuminated Edition

The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary is an ancient traditional office that is a shortened and modified version of the monastic breviary in honor of the Blessed Virgin. Every man should have a daily prayer practice, and the Little Office is an excellent choice if you don’t know where to start. This beautiful illuminated edition is unique and feels quite medieval. Give it a try.

Buy Now

6. Coffee

Coffee is one of the most consumed drinks on the planet, and my mornings would be barren and bleak without it. But not all coffee companies are created equal. Why not support Catholic monks and farmers when you buy your beans? Here are three excellent options:

  1. Mystic Monk Coffee – Coffee roasted by Carmelite Monks in Wyoming
  2. Humble Habits – Coffee sold by Byzantine Catholic Monks in Wisconsin

7. Regina Cigars

Cigars are the perfect gift for any man—as long as he isn’t a puritan, that is. Regina cigars is an amazing, Catholic-owned company dedicated to bringing you fine cigars. They also donate a portion of all proceeds to supporting orphans in Honduras. What could be better?

PS: Get 10% off your order between now and Christmas with the code CG10XM19.

Shop Now

8. Grill Gun

A flame thrower for your grill? Yes, please! These grill starters were invented by a Catholic husband and father in our area. Support him and his family by buying a Grill-gun. Get that charcoal blazing in as little as 60 seconds. Any man’s sure to love it and have endless fun turning things to cinders! 

Buy Now

9. In Via Rosary

I’m not going to lie, In Via rosaries are some of the most expensive out there. That said, the craftsmanship is top-notch and each rosary purchased gives a free rosary to person in need. 

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10. Fountain Pen

A fine writing instrument brings pleasure to daily writing tasks. I have several. The variety of levels of quality and price points is immense. Browse on your own, or if you’re overwhelmed by choices, the pearwood fountain pen from Faber Castell, pictured above, is a great gift option.

Shop Now

Filed Under: Uncategorized

March 4, 2020 By Sam Guzman Leave a Comment

A Simple Lent: 5 Ways to Focus on What’s Important

Life is complex. As a husband and father, blogger, podcaster, full-time employee, and full-time graduate student, it often seems like the responsibilities I face continue to multiply endlessly, while the time allotted to accomplish them does not.

No sooner do I make progress in one area of life, than another domain for which I am responsible seems to spin out of control. It can be, to put it mildly, exhausting. And I know I am not alone in feeling this.

Despite my busy life, I continually long for simplicity. I am forever on a quest to, in the words of Thoreau, “simplify, simplify.” The fact that I have not yet gone insane or completely burned out is evidence of both the grace of God and that I have to some extent achieved this—though I have a long way to go.

Lent is an excellent time to examine our lives, take stock of our priorities, and reassess how we are spending our time. Here are a few things I have learned in my struggles to simplify and fight back against the chaos of life. Perhaps they can be helpful to you too.

1. Prioritize

The quest for simplicity begins with simply asking the question: “What is important to me?” If you can’t answer this question forthrightly, you will never achieve any level of peace. You will constantly be a slave to external demands that will leave you embittered and at the whims of everyone else. So decide what’s important, even sacred, to you. Draw a boundary around these sacred things and say No to anything that threatens to violate it. Don’t feel guilty for this, either. No is a tremendously powerful word.

For me, some of these sacred commitments in my life are faith and family. Without the foundation of prayer and worship, my life will quickly deteriorate. God, the Blessed Mother, the angels and saints—these come first in my life. Caring for my soul must come before anything else, or I will never be able to give of my self generously. For you cannot give what you do not have.

Immediately following this is my commitment to my family. Family time is important to me, and I often say “no” to good things that threaten that time in order to preserve as much time for those I love. God has entrusted my wife and my children to me in a sacred trust. They are my primary responsibility in life. I have heard far too many tragic stories of fathers who were too busy with everything else—even worthy things—and who neglected their families. As a result, their wife and children suffered and the consequences of those wounds continued generationally. I refuse to let anything violate this boundary.

2. Reduce Consumption

The average American sees approximately 4,000 ads per day. The point of advertising is for corporations to fabricate desires—to make otherwise content people discontent so that they will spend money. And it works tremendously well. If it didn’t, corporations wouldn’t spend billions of dollars each year doing it.

If you think you are immune to the power of advertising, think again. We are all susceptible to it, and it works on us unconsciously and subliminally. Many of the products we choose to consume are due to ads we may have seen months or even years ago that still linger in our subconscious.

Continually stimulated by advertising and filled with the desire it creates, it is almost impossible to be at peace. We find ourselves plagued by a restless discontent that we can’t really name. The only thing that seems to satisfy it, even temporarily, is buying something.

So what to do? It is nearly impossible to avoid altogether, but there are some things you can do. The most important thing is simply to acknowledge the power of a consumer culture and be aware of its affect on you. Next, Shut off your TV and spend less time on the internet. Stay away from Amazon and cut back on Instagram.

Fill you mind with all that is good and true and beautiful. Spend time in nature and connecting with loved ones. Sit with friends around the camp fire, play an instrument, take a walk. Do something creative rather than consumptive. Finally, give generously. The more you wake up to the needs of others, the less likely you will be to consume—and practically, you’ll be amazed at how much more content you’ll be.

3. Live in the Moment

We face two powerful temptations on a daily basis: to live in the past, or to live in the future. Both temptations should be avoided. There is only one moment in which we can live, and that is right now.

Living in the past too often fills us with regret about things we can no longer change. We find ourselves worrying about how things would be different if we had made better choices, or how much better our life would be if circumstances had been different. But even if we are remembering happy memories, it can still steal the joy of the present moment where life is actually lived.

Living in the future can likewise plague us with anxiety. We have no idea what the future will bring, and it is all too easy to allow our imagination to run wild with scenarios, most of them negative. This fear can paralyze us and keep us from making important choices that we need to make in the present. Fear is the root of many faults, and living too much in the future rarely produces peace.

The only moment God gives us is the present moment. It is the moment where God and his grace is found. It is the intersection of eternity and time where we make choices that will shape who we become. If we can learn to be content in the present moment, instead of continually trying to escape it, we can find God and his peace that passes all understanding.

4. Practice Gratitude

Gratitude is essential to a joyful life. Inherent in gratitude is humility and wonder at the graciousness of God’s gifts. It also contains awe at the recognition that all is gift. There is nothing good that does not come to us from the merciful hands of God. Gratitude is the polar opposite of entitlement. It is the recognition that we deserve nothing. We are owed nothing. Every breath, every beat of our hearts, is a privilege filled with grace.

G.K. Chesterton went so far as to say, “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought.” A bold statement to be sure. Why? He adds because, “Gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”

Gratitude also reminds us that real joy is rarely found in the extravagant things the world offers us. I recently read about a new $2 million dollar car boasting paneling made from wood that is thousands of years old. I really have to wonder if the new owner will experience real joy from this ostentatious purchase. Perhaps a temporary thrill, yes, but real joy (much less gratitude) I doubt.

Joy is found in giving thanks for the simple gifts of life. A beautiful sunrise. A loving smile from your spouse. A good cup of coffee. The fresh smell after rain. The more we can cultivate gratitude for these simple gifts, the happier we will be.

A simple practice is to write down three things each day that you are grateful for. Make it a habit, and the more you do it, the more you will realize that you are surrounded by abundance.

5. Pray

Prayer is the breathing of the spiritual life. The minute we cease to do it, we spiritually begin to asphyxiate. There is no better way to find peace in the midst of the storms and chaos of life than to pray.

Prayer gives depth to our spiritual life and draws grace into our souls. It gives us awareness of a heavenly realm where saints and angels are always at our sides, ready to help us in the trials of life. And it helps us remember eternal values when temporal responsibilities press in upon us. The sufferings of this life are short, but eternity is long. Prayer gives us eyes to see this.

This Lent, refocus your prayer life. Seek to deepen it and develop it. Cultivate consistency above all, regardless of what you feel. Prayer is not always an experience of ecstasy or sweetness, and even the greatest saints experienced dryness and even darkness in prayer. But regardless of what you feel, God is close to you—far closer than you can imagine. Rest in this fact. Hold the awareness of his presence with you always, and assuredly, you will find peace.

Filed Under: Gratitude, Lent, Uncategorized

November 13, 2019 By Sam Guzman Leave a Comment

The 2019 Catholic Gentleman Christmas Gift List

It’s that time of year again: time to start thinking about Christmas gifts for the Catholic gentlemen in your life. Here are 10 gift ideas sure to delight any Catholic Man.

1. The Catholic Gentleman: Living Authentic Manhood Today

What it means to be a man or a woman is questioned today like never before. While traditional gender roles have been eroding for decades, now the very categories of male and female are being discarded with reckless abandon. How does one act like a gentleman in such confusing times? The Catholic Gentleman is a solid and practical guide to virtuous manhood. It turns to the timeless wisdom of the Catholic Church to answer the important questions men are currently asking. 

Buy Now

2. The Catholic Gentleman Rosary

This manly rosary features heavy, gunmetal steel beads, military grade paracord, and a crucifix with relic dirt from the catacombs. It is the ultimate spiritual weapon for any Catholic man.

Buy Now

3. Hallow App

We all know we should pray more, but with busy, overstimulated lives, it can be easy for prayer to fall through the cracks. Not to mention we don’t really know how to pray most effectively. Hallow is a meditation and prayer app for Catholics, rooted in the Catholic contemplative tradition. It features daily scripture meditations, guided rosaries, sleep sessions, and more. It is the perfect companion for those seeking to deepen their prayer lives. Sign up for Hallow yourself or gift it with their gift cards.

Buy Gift Cards

4. Monk Manual

Monk Manual is the planner I use. Founded by a Catholic husband, father, and creative, it is designed to employ the best practices of psychology and productivity, while also integrating the meaningful, purposeful action of monks. It’s the perfect way to bring ora et labora to your daily tasks.

Use the code “gentleman” when ordering for 10% off.

Buy Now

5. Imitation of Christ – Illuminated Edition

The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis is one of the best spiritual books ever written, and after the Bible, it is one of the most printed. But unlike the Bible, most editions of the Imitation are cheaply made. That’s why I was delighted to see that Sophia Institute Press is publishing a gorgeously illuminated heirloom version of this spiritual classic. It will make a stunning addition to your library.

Buy Now

6. Coffee With a Cause

Coffee is one of the most consumed drinks on the planet, and my mornings would be barren and bleak without it. But not all coffee companies are created equal. Why not support Catholic monks and farmers when you buy your beans? Here are three excellent options:

  1. Mystic Monk Coffee – Coffee roasted by Carmelite Monks in Wyoming
  2. Guadalupe Roastery – Coffee grown, roasted, and sold by Catholics
  3. Humble Habits – Coffee sold by Byzantine Catholic Monks in Wisconsin

7. Regina Cigars

Cigars are the perfect gift for any man—as long as he isn’t a puritan, that is. Regina cigars is an amazing, Catholic-owned company dedicated to bringing you fine cigars. They also donate a portion of all proceeds to supporting orphans in Honduras. What could be better?

PS: Get 10% off your order between now and Christmas with the code CG10XM19.

Shop Now

8. Calligraphy Gift

There is little chance this gift will arrive in time for Christmas, but it will still be unforgettable. Mr. Duckett produces authentic, hand-drawn calligraphy inspired by ancient Celtic and medieval manuscripts. His work is absolutely stunning. He will produce custom designed products with a meaningful quote of your choosing.

Learn More

9. Hand-Carved Icon House

Icons are more than just art—they are windows into the heavenly realm. Handmade in Canada by a Byzantine Catholic artisan, these stunning, hand-carved icon houses create a beautiful space in which to house your icons and are perfect for your family altar, shrine, or prayer corner.

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10. Corda Candles

Corda Candles are handmade by a Catholic and feature many heavenly scents to choose from, including one called “Carpenter Shop” inspired by St. Joseph and another called “Battle Cry” inspired by St. Michael.

Shop Now

Filed Under: Gifts, Uncategorized

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