Edmund the Martyr
“And then the heathens became madly incensed because of this faith, for he always asked Christ to his help. Then they shot at him with missiles, as if for their sport, until he was entirely…
Category: Best of F&F Archive
The Giant of Chaldor
There was once a tribe of frightened, little people, making their way – and mostly losing it – across a great empty plain toward the Mountains of Mome. Their leader was the Giant of Chaldor.…
A Willing Victim: Easter in Narnia and Middle Earth
Although the reader may be more familiar with Christmas in Narnia, in relation to Christian festivals in C. S. Lewis’s fantasy, Easter may resonate more when exploring Christian themes. The same is also true of…
A Death in Fantasyland: A Meditation on Mortality
My heart was racing as I made my way down the stairs. I knew I had to call the ambulance. In the muddled haze of thoughts, I made my way into the dining room. I…
Salaam, Maryam
It was a simple clay building, with little pomp or decoration. A single girl dwelled within, and the locals called her Blessed Maryam for her piety. Now, at the dawning of the day, she held…
The Phantasia: Fairy Tales as Bastions of Hope
Very early on, children read in fairy tales that all sorts of monsters exist, and that everyone needs rescuing. The people need rescuing from the monsters, and the monsters need rescuing from themselves. The dragons,…
Eternity Begun: A Meditation on St. Elizabeth of the Trinity
The dead can be our friends and mentors, perhaps even more fundamentally and intimately than those we live and work with every day. We have many invisible brothers and sisters who watch us serenely and…
Day of Wrath: Sweeney Todd and the Search for Salvation
I have some Catholic reflections on the haunting use of the traditional Latin requiem chant Dies Irae in "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street", the 1979 musical by Stephen Sondheim, which was turned…
Paschal Mystery: The Death of God and the Paradox of Salvation
One of the objections that has been raised frequently against the Christian concept of redemption through the cross, is that God would not require a blood sacrifice in order to forgive sins, nor indeed that…
Is There No Muslim Amongst You?
“Is anyone there to help me?” he called out. Although his tongue was parched, his voice was loud and clear; in the still, deathly air, there could have been no doubt about it. In response,…