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Bishops, I Beg You, Take Heed, by Anthony Esolen – Brown Pelican Society of Lousiana

Bishops, I Beg You, Take Heed, by Anthony Esolen

Saint of the Day for January 5: Saint John Neumann (March 28, 1811 – January 5, 1860)

January 5, 2026

Cardinal Sarah on Sacred Music, the Four Last Things, and True Peace, by Edward Pentin

January 5, 2026

Vision of Saint Bernard, 14th century [Museum Schnütgen, Cologne]

By Anthony Esolen, The Catholic Thing, Jan. 3, 2026

Anthony Esolen is a lecturer, translator, and writer. Among his books are Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture, and Nostalgia: Going Home in a Homeless World, and most recently The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord. He is Distinguished Professor at Thales College. Be sure to visit his new website, Word and Song.

My wife likes well-made and handsome objects for the house, so whenever I look for gifts to give her, I go to antique stores, or to stores selling unwanted objects from estate sales. Even if it’s only a box for trinkets, I make sure it’s joined with dovetails and not with cheap little nails that work loose. Bakelite, for old kitchen utensils, is better than plastic; it’s a little heavier, and it acquires a mellow toning over the years. We have landscape paintings in oil pastels, framed behind that sort of old-style glass that makes it seem as if a window were opened into a world beyond.

I might say the same thing about books and their covers. For I do judge books that way. You must, when you come upon a lot of shelves and you don’t have all day to scan the books one by one. I judge by the garish covers that began to prevail in the 1960’s, sometimes for good books but far more often for garbage – think of the latest slapdash book ghost-written for the latest forgettable politician. …

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