Drawn to Rome, Part 5: Beauty (#490)

A glimpse of something beautiful can put you on the road before you have a name for the destination. In this episode Greg returns to the moment in The Lord of the Rings when Sam sees a white star through the shadow of Mordor, and to the way Tolkien and Lewis kept writing the same thing: beauty is not an ornament. It is a pathway. He traces that hunger through a childhood Christmas song, the Magi following a star, and the recognition that the Catholic house had kept that beauty and given it a face — Mary, the crucified Christ, stone and glass and a line of chant that was not performing an experience but letting you into one. The Catechism, John Paul II’s Letter to Artists, and Augustine all say the same thing in different words: created beauty never fully satisfies. It stirs a nostalgia it cannot finish. The draw is not that Catholics have better art. It is that this house is thick with it, and ordered toward the One who is beauty.

SUPPORT THIS SHOW Considering Catholicism is free and ad-free for everyone, thanks to listeners like you. Become a patron for a Q&A video every other week, the Podcast Albums (50 topical playlists), Deep Dive courses, and a monthly live session: https://patreon.com/consideringcatholicism

Or give a one-time or recurring gift with PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5LGR5E89Z7Y2Y

CONNECT WITH US • Website & contact form: https://consideringcatholicism.com • Email: consideringcatholicism@gmail.com • Leave a comment on Patreon (I read every one!)

RATE & REVIEW If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating (and even better, a review) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen — it really helps new listeners find us.

SHARE THE SHOW Know someone who’s curious about Catholicism? Send them a link or share an episode on social media. Thank you!

Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat.