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Book Anouncement: "Seeking the Heart of Christ: Christian Reflections on the Interior Life" by St. Claude La Colombière

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  My most recent traditionally-published book is now available for pre-order : Seeking the Heart of Christ: Christian Reflections on the Interior Life , by St. Claude La Colombière (1641-1682).  See the publisher's blurb below: "Discover the wisdom of St. Claude La Colombière (1641–1682), the Jesuit saint who was the confessor to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and championed devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In Seeking the Heart of Christ: Christian Reflections on the Interior Life , you will find a treasury of spiritual reflections that inspire deeper faith, encourage virtue, and guide the soul toward holiness. This remarkable collection of sermons explores essential topics of Christian living, including the sweetness of virtue and the humble submission to the will of God. La Colombière also offers profound meditations on the need for repentance, the benefits of frequent Communion, and the transformative power of the Mass. He addresses the practical struggles of li...
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Reflections on the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary Inspired by the Theology of the Body

Back in 2011, I prepared a set of reflections for the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary for the use of a prayer group that had a particular focus on Pope St. John Paul II's  Theology of the Body .  They are included below, and an easier-to-read PDF version is available for download at my website .     Reflections on the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary Inspired by the Theology of the Body Prepared by Brandon P. Otto The First Luminous Mystery: The Baptism in the Jordan "Christ sanctified Baptism by being Himself baptized." 1 As we reflect on Christ's Baptism, let us also reflect on our own Baptism and the effect it had in us. Through original sin, we, as men, are "deprived of participation in the Gift, … alienated from the Love that was the source of the original gift, the source of the fullness of good intended for [us]." 2 By the power of Christ's Cross, present in Baptism, we can be free from this deprivation and ali...
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The Battle for Paradise According to St. Ephraim the Syrian

 Introduction The little essay below is one I wrote back in 2015, an account of St. Ephraim the Syrian's interpretation of Genesis 3, drawing on his Hymns on Paradise and his Commentary on Genesis .  It is not much more than a synopsis of St. Ephraim's views, but it at least makes those interesting views a little more accessible.   The Battle for Paradise According to St. Ephraim the Syrian “ Joyfully did I embark on the tale of Paradise—a tale that is short to read but rich to explore”: thus did St. Ephraim declare ( Hymns on Paradise 1.3 in Sebastian Brock’s translation), and so it is. In the text of Scripture, men spend little time in the true Paradise (though in Greek a garden like Susannah’s is called “paradise”), yet those few verses are flowing with spiritual milk and honey. Many have explored these passages (as did St. John Paul II in his monumental Theology of the Body ), but here we explain the reading of Ephraim, the Harp of the Holy Spirit. Paradise was ...
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New Republication and Unpublications

I have added a number of old papers to my website.  One of them, "The Marriage Liturgy and the Married Life," is an interesting reflection based on the Byzantine Rite of Crowning; it certainly wasn't for a class, and I don't think I ever attempted publication of it.  (In connection with this essay, one might want to peruse my undergraduate thesis, "The Symbolism of the Mystery of Crowning." )  Most of the rest are old school papers, mostly from my graduate courses: "Θεία νύξ: The Mystical Union as Unknowing in St. Gregory of Nyssa and Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite" (2012)  "The History and Legacy of Photios I, Patriarch of Constantinople" (2014) "The Exegetical Principles of Joseph Ratzinger" (2014) "The Spirituality of St. Hildegard of Bingen" (2015) "The Effects of Liturgy on Culture" (2016)  Finally, I have rescued from the abyss of the Internet my very first published writing, "The Best Meani...
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The "Clovisiade" of Jean-Marie-Gabriel Darrodes de Lillebonne

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  The Clovisiade of Jean-Marie Gabriel Darrodes de Lillebonne  Background By the 1800s, zeal for Christian epics had burned up all its fuel: though long narrative poems were still quite popular (as seen, in English, in Southey, Scott, Tennyson, Longfellow, etc.), the epic style was now outré .  Even by the 1700s, few were hits, besides Klopstock's Der Messias (1748-1773).  The quest to craft a Christian epic was quixotic in the 1800s: even more delusional was the hope that readers would pay for it. Yet such material considerations did not stop Jean-Marie-Gabriel d'Arodes de Lillebonne (1781-1838).  He wrote a few shorter poetic works—some Diverse Little Works (1805), and a book of Odes to the Emperor Napoleon (1806)—but his chief-work was the The Clovisiade, or, The Triumph of Christianity in France .  It was intended as a monumental work of 24 cantos, matching the Iliad or the Odyssey (though still short of Nonnos of Panopolis' 48-canto Dionysiaca );...
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New Options for Book-Buying

Previously, I have only released my self-published books on Amazon, as their self-publishing service is easy to work with, and they are by far the most popular bookstore in the world.  However, for good reasons, many do not like to use Amazon; for anyone without a Kindle, Amazon's eBooks are unusable.  So I am beginning to expand my eBook distribution to other storefronts. The first new storefront is Rakuten Kobo.  My recent free collection of Pope Leo XIII's social encyclicals is available on Kobo , and I have just released my translation of Francis Jammes' The Rosary in the Sun on Kobo as well.  My other books will be added on Kobo as their various Amazon exclusivity deals run out.  (Which means, if you want to read them for free on Kindle Unlimited, do so soon: only Amazon exclusives can be a part of Kindle Unlimited, so they'll be removed from the service when the deals run out.)   In the near future, I am hoping to also offer my books on Apple Bo...
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Free Book Release: "The Social Teachings of Pope Leo XIII: Encyclicals and Excerpts"

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  The Social Teachings of Pope Leo XIII Encyclicals and Excerpts Download EPUB here Download AZW3 (Kindle) here Download on Kobo   [EDIT: It was brought to my attention that there might be copyright issues with the reproduction of these translations.  I am clarifying with the Libraria Editrice Vaticana, and this book is temporarily delisted until I receive a response.] The recently-elected Pope Leo XIV chose his regnal name due to the social teachings of his predecessor, Pope Leo XIII (r. 1878-1903).  To make said teachings more easily available, I have collected Pope Leo XIII's encyclicals on social issues, as well as excerpts from encyclicals that show Pope Leo applying his principles to concrete situations.   This collection includes the entire "Leonine Corpus" canonized by Étienne Gilson in his The Church Speaks to the Modern World: The Social Teachings of Leo XIII , as well as numerous encyclicals not included by Gilson.  Texts are taken from ...
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