We’ve found plenty of lenses through which to view theology and its many treasures. But so far, none have been quite as powerful as music, especially the masses written by some incredible composers, Johannes Ockeghem’s Missa Caput and John Tavener’s Missa Wellensis. We’ll discuss these works in detail, but listening…

The fine line between idol and icon is one that is often difficult to walk for us viewers, and comes with distinct theological consequences. Jean-Luc Marion makes this incredibly clear in his work, The Crossing of the Visible, putting forth his ideas on what constitutes an icon as opposed to…

Now that we’re familiar with the concepts of play, symbol, and festivity, it is much easier to find examples of and connections to them in Christian worship and the liturgy. Play is the most apparent of these ideas and the most easy to address. Cyril of Jerusalem addresses this in…

Divine revelation and beauty have a deeply intertwined relationship. Given that divine revelation in itself is an expression of God’s beautiful love for us, this may seem obvious, but reversing the directionality from divine revelation as an expression of beauty to beauty as an expression of divine revelation leads to…

In December of 2019, I attended the annual presentation of Handel’s Messiah at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center in Notre Dame. I had always known the Hallelujah chorus but had never actually listened to the entirety of his work dedicated to the coming of Christ and was really excited to…