In this episode, I wanted to share an essay I recently presented at a Great Books group on reading imaginative literature. Mortimer Adler and Charles van Doren describe a paradox regarding the reading of imaginative literature: it is the most difficult kind of reading and yet it is also the most common. It is easy to be moved by literature, yet it is difficult to know why we are moved. In this essay, I try to unpack the paradox a bit and explore the difficulty in analyzing beauty. The essential idea presented here is that while being moved by literature is subjective and personal, the cause of the movement is always objective and transcendental. I present Adler and van Doren's method for reading imaginative literature in a way that goes beyond the subjective experience to the transcendental movement that makes great literature great. Show Notes How to Read a Book, Mortimer Adler and Charles van Doren Beauty in the Word: Rethinking the Foundations of Education, Stratford Caldecott FestinaLentePodcast.com…

Description In this episode, we welcome back as our guest Pope St. John Paul II as we continue reading through his encyclical letter, Fides et Ratio . This episode features chapter one followed by my commentary and a few points of reflection as we look at this text through the lens of festina lente. A new resource I’ve introduced this episode is an active listening guide. You can find a link to this guide in the shownotes below. Show Notes Time Stamps: 0:00 Intro 01:41 Ch. 1 Section 1: Jesus, the Revealer of the Father 12:22 Ch. 1 Section 2: Reason before the Mystery 25:49 Commentary: Interconnectedness of Faith, Revelation, and the Incarnation 27:35 Commentary: The Incarnation; Deeply Personal and Profoundly Mysterious 29:41 Commentary: The Role of Reason 34:41 Commentary: The Sacramental Character of Revelation 37:57 Commentary: The Essential Question of the Chapter Fides et Ratio Text http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_14091998_fides-et-ratio.html Active Listening Guide http://festinalentepodcast.com/index.php/2019/07/20/active-listening-guide-for-chapter-one-of-fides-et-ratio/…

In this episode, we welcome as our guest Pope St. John Paul II as we begin reading through his encyclical letter, Fides et Ratio . This episode features the opening address and introduction followed by a few points of reflection as we look at this text through the lens of festina lente. Show Notes Time Stamps: Intro 0:00 Opening Address 1:40 Introduction: Know Yourself 2:27 Commentary: Importance of the Reflective Life 18:46 Commentary: Social Dimension of Seeking Truth 23:04 Commentary: Fides et Ratio through Festina Lente 28:15 Fides et Ratio Text http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_14091998_fides-et-ratio.html…

In the first episode of the Festina Lente Podcast, we spend some time exploring the idea of festina lente. Topics include a brief overview of the history of festina lente, ideas in the life of the minds, festina lente as a life principle, festina lente and virtue, and the future of this podcast. Show Notes Time Stamp for Part 2-12:26 Arvo Pärt: Festina Lente for Strings Orchestra and Harp Dr. Christopher Perrin’s Video on Festina Lente Death Comes for the Archbishop Waiting for God, Simone Weil Alexander Books Podcast Interview Part 1 Part 2 Leisure: the Basis of Culture, Josef Pieper Person and Being , W. Norris Clarke, S.J. Reading Fides et Ratio, Youtube…