小草影院鈥檚 Fifteenth Annual
Symposium on Transforming Culture

FAC 324

Mr James Kolakowski, The Heights School

Preconditions for Wonder – An overabundance of riches has obscured the beauty before our eyes. The issue with man’s challenge of seeing is not a lack of beauty but a failure of preparation to accept the vision before him. Transforming culture requires reacquainting ourselves with man’s proper state, accepting our nature as dependent beings who can only possess a heart capable of wonder through a liberation from earthly goods. This presentation will focus on the virtue of 鈥渇rugality鈥� as essential to seeing and rightly judging beauty, with examples from Aquinas to Gaudi. This virtue responds to the question we face existentially at every moment: where am I going with my life, with my heart? Is the meaning of life to ensure pleasure, or to respond to the 鈥渓ovelessness that pulls us down鈥� with a practical humility that can lift us up? Without a spirit of poverty, wonder is not possible.

Sr. Anna Joseph Nelling, University of Saint Francis

Written By God’s Finger: Belonging and Beauty in Fairy Tales – In the absence of a Christian worldview, fairy tales are taken at face value and interpreted as old-fashioned or irrelevant. Modern retellings seek to create their own meanings, isolating heroes and heroines, elevating villains, and prizing independence as the ultimate virtue. In the face of such isolation, identities become distorted and a false sense of belonging develops. Rightly viewed, these stories open hearts young and old to wonder at the glory the Divine Author lavishly bestows. By cultivating a Catholic imagination, readers can rediscover the authentic truth of fairy tales, awakening the inherent beauty of their own hearts at the same time.

Miss Elizabeth Peterson, 小草影院

The Myth Incarnate: Exploring Lewis’s Imaginative Fiction Post-Mythopoeia – In his early fiction, especially Spirits in Bondage, C. S. Lewis’s attitude towards myths and fairy tales is full of bitterness and skepticism. He mourns a perceived loss of meaning following World War I, and blames a fictional God for abandoning humankind to a life devoid of joy. After receiving J. R. R. Tolkien’s poem 鈥淢ythopoeia鈥� (dedicated to himself), there is a shift in the themes of Lewis’s fiction. Instead of viewing the genre of myth with cynicism, Lewis approaches it as a foundational art form pivotal for conveying truth. Lewis’ fiction becomes increasingly more mythic, culminating in Till We Have Faces, his retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche. Lewis enfleshes the idea from 鈥淢ythopoeia鈥� that myths contain the seed of God’s revelation to humankind. Lewis uses a myth to convey a message about the truth of myths, but the very story he is telling is that message.

FAC 323

Dr Edward Mulholland, 小草影院

Wonder Words: Poetry, Languages, and the Sonorous Imagination – A world that resists memorization can still be a world that marvels at the beauty of the spoken word. In a retrospective on the role of poetry in my own education and in 35 years of teaching, I will demonstrate that poetry is key not only in one’s native language but in the learning of other languages as well. The role of sound in the formation of the imagination is a privileged gateway to wonder.

Miss Maggie Schoening, 小草影院; University of Notre Dame Echo Program

What Are the Preconditions to Receiving the Living Word Even Before Faith is Given? The Theological Exploration of Wonder and A Sense of Narrative – In Divine Revelation, God never forces Himself upon His creation to know Him and offers humanity the freedom to choose His Will. In His Providence, He grants His children the gift of faith to know Him. Yet, in our intellect, are there preconditions to receiving His Living Word even before faith is given? This work suggests two preconditions: wonder and the sense of narrative. Exploring the thoughts of theologians like Giussani, Guardini, Bouyer and the philosopher Byung Chul-Han, this work wrestles with the capacity of the human faculties to understand the unifying reality of Revelation and where the gift of faith bridges the gap. The hermeneutic of love is introduced as the final key to plunging into the mysterious depths of Revelation as 鈥渓ove expands one’s vision to see the mystery of reality鈥� (Fr. Christopher Seith in Rekindling Wonder: Touching Heaven in a Screen Saturated World). All is not lost in our culture, for humanity can still wonder and know the narrative in a relentless education of the heart.

Mr Will Kerschen, Archdiocese of Chicago

From Wonder to Wisdom: John Senior and the Retrieval of Wonder in Catholic Life and Education – A core theme of Catholic thought and Western civilization, sometimes called the 鈥淧erennial Philosophy鈥� and explicated especially by Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas, coalesces around the conviction that reality is intelligible. This wisdom once defined the tradition, and is the foundation upon which it rests. In modernity, however, the Perennial Philosophy has increasingly faded from academic and popular consciousness; it has not been refuted, but rather abandoned. As John Senior observed, the Perennial Philosophy itself remains evergreen; what has changed is modern man’s capacity to grasp it. Senior outlines a practical path for regaining this capacity. Prior to intellectual wisdom must come the awakening of 鈥渨onder鈥� toward reality. Wonder, in turn, presupposes the experience of immediate, sensory 鈥渄elight鈥� in the world and in natural things. Catholic educators, parents, and pastors should heed Senior’s practical insights as he sketches this path from delight to wonder and ultimately back to wisdom.

FAC 308

Ms. Ava White, Great Hearts

鈥淓ach Pearl a Prayer鈥�: The Rosary as a Model for Artistic and Literary Renewal – The Rosary is a tangible sacramental, a meditative prayer recalling God’s great love story with mankind, visible evidence for Mary’s motherhood and presence, one of the richest sources of poetic language and imagery in the Universal Church…and a powerful model for artists seeking the good, true, and beautiful. According to the Church Fathers, the beauty of Mary has been present in God’s mind since before the creation of the world, and it is through her cooperation with the Divine Will that Catholics are able to depict the face of God. Through an examination of the teachings of the Church Fathers, the history of the Rosary as prayer unifying multiple art forms, and the literary themes of the Rosary which harmonized poetry, music, and narrative in 1920’s America, this study proposes the Rosary as an ideal model for the regeneration of beautiful artwork in the Church and the world.

Ms Gabrielle Nagle, Great Hearts Irving Upper School

Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait and the Evolution of the Iconography of Christian Prayer Beads – This paper will examine the evolution of the iconography of Christian prayer beads as seen through Van Eyck’s masterpiece, The Arnolfini Portrait. Although prayer beads have been depicted for centuries in Medieval art, they were depicted in mostly sacred contexts. Jan van Eyck’s portrait shows a very different portrayal by placing them in a domestic setting, marking a crucial turning point in how these sacramentals were represented. This begs the question, how does the portrayal of Christian prayer beads in The Arnolfini Portrait reflect a shift in their cultural meaning from merely sacred symbols to markers of personal devotion? Ultimately, this paper will contend that The Arnolfini Portrait stands as a pivotal moment in the evolution of the iconography surrounding Christian prayer beads illustrating how what once was a sacramental solely being depicted in sacred settings entered the visual vocabulary of everyday, domestic spiritual life of the laity.

Ms. Maggie McClelland, Chesterton Academy Knights of Our Lady

鈥淪omeone Made This for Us鈥�: Why the decorative arts, traditional crafts, and historic trades should be cultivated, invested in, and taught. – It is an inherent need of the human person to craft a life in which they are reflected, a life in which man is able to participate in the nature of Christ as Creator and come to know the world through creative work within it. This paper seeks to give a defense for the need to cultivate the skills of traditional crafts, trades, and decoration in our lives, and teach them to children. This is done so that we can work to craft a life in which the human person is reflected, our inherent creativity is expressed, we become more attune to the world around us through a careful, diligent practice of a traditional art form, and cultivate the sensibility and preference to that which is the fruit of human creative work in a world that is becoming rife with mass-produced, 鈥渘eutral鈥� objects, and AI generated 鈥渁rt.鈥�

FAC 307

Mr John Haigh, 小草影院

Total Eclipse of the Heart: Electric Light and the Loss of Wonder – The sun has flamed out in the modern era lived under electrical light. It deadens man’s ability to see-a truth revealed in the unbroken glare and hum of modern life. Electric light, once the symbol of human progress, has dulled our senses, replacing the drama of passing daylight and season with a motionless (and emotionless) glare. As the flattening light of our factories, offices, and screens has increasingly invaded the heart of our homes and sanctuaries, the human spirit has correspondingly dimmed. This presentation explores how electric light’s illumination has killed the mystery of time, reshaped architecture and imagination alike, and exchanged revelation for uniformity. And yes-the latest revolution called AI, that great obscurer of the radiance of being, will not go unaddressed.

Mr. Derek Brooks, Benedictus Art

Deflecting Beauty’s Vengeance: Recontextualizing Art in Classical Schools – Thomistic epistemology is succinctly summarized in William Blake’s aphorism that 鈥渨e become what we behold.鈥� In the present day, what we behold has increasingly become whatever is offered to us through the devices in our homes and in our hands. If Aquinas is correct, then what we are becoming is defined ever more by the images supplied through the devices that have captured our attention. As so much of identity formation occurs during adolescence, students are particularly vulnerable to the assault. In 鈥淒eflecting Beauty’s Vengeance,鈥� attendees will hear about the process employed by Derek Brooks of Benedictus Art as he seeks to recontextualize the world’s great masterpieces in schools across the US in order that students might be formed not by the tyranny of technology but by beauty.

Mrs. Emily Lopez, Kansas City on a Hill Young Adult Apostolate

Lost in the Canvas: The Young Adult’s Struggle to Paint a Purpose-Driven Life – We are living in an age of profound cultural shift driven by the growth of the existentialist tenet that 鈥渆xistence precedes essence鈥� (Jean-Paul-Sartre). By examining the responsibility to self-create one’s identity, we see a fundamental shift in the millennial and Gen Z experience. We will review contemporary research and data highlighting a generation actively seeking authenticity, purpose-driven careers, and mental health support amidst the pressures of radical freedom. This presentation will analyze the increasing incapacity or indifference to recognizing the inherent mystery of existence itself. Data on declining trust in traditional institutions, an increase in self-autonomous isolation, and the pervasive search for meaning frames the growing symptoms of an overwhelmed generation. Tasked with creating meaning in a radically free environment leads to exhaustion and numbs perception of the dignity inherent in both the natural world and the human person.

FAC 301

Mr. Christopher Rziha, University of Notre Dame

鈥�’Hermosura sobre hermosura:’ The Eucharist as Source and Summit of Beauty in the Writings of St. Juan de 脙vila.鈥� – This study analyzes the link between the Eucharist and Beauty in the sermons of St. Juan de 脙聛vila, a sixteenth-century Spanish priest and Doctor of the Church. Following the thought of Thomas Aquinas, who speaks of Beauty in relation to the divine Logos, Juan de 脙聛vila consistently maintains that an encounter with Christ in the Blessed Sacrament is an encounter with the source and summit of Beauty. As a result, Juan encouraged the practice of frequent reception of Holy Communion during an era in which many of the faithful received no more than once a year. For Juan de 脙聛vila, partaking of Jesus’s Body and Blood was simultaneously a participation in the highest Beauty and the highest Good; thus, he advocated frequent Eucharistic reception as a way of encouraging moral, social, and even political reform. In short, for St. Juan de 脙聛vila, true Eucharistic Beauty really will save the world.

Mr. Gabriel Heffernan, Kapaun Mt Carmel Catholic High School

And the Word was Made Flesh: The Eucharist as Drama – Theatre is classified by traits that distinguish it from other mediums. Theatre is a live event in a particular place, performed in present tense, with a predetermined structure and understood conventions. Primarily however, theatre makes a lasting impact like Calvary. Calvary is the greatest drama. Every mass, that singular event becomes present tense live before our eyes. There is no fourth wall, no proscenium curtain, and no suspension of disbelief. It is not a cheap representation but the actual word becoming flesh. The 鈥渓ogos鈥� Himself is present: body, blood soul and divinity. The conflict is there, the story unfolds and the climax is the raising of the host for all to see. St. John Paul II says the task of the actor is 鈥渁 function not unlike the priest: to open up through the materials of the world, the realm of transcendent truth.鈥� That transcendent truth is the Incarnation.

FAC 324

Dr. Matthew Ramage, 小草影院

The Church, the Lover Who Sings: Liturgy, Creation, and the Beauty That Reawakens Wonder – This presentation explores the beauty of creation as a privileged locus for reawakening wonder in a disenchanted world. Rooted in Scripture and the rich heritage of the broader Catholic tradition, it retrieves the classical vision of the cosmos as God’s 鈥渇irst book.鈥� Unpacking John Paul II’s teaching on the 鈥渟acramentality of creation,鈥� it will emphasize how the world shines as an epiphany of divine love, summoning man to mirror its harmony in daily life. Special attention will be given to the oft-neglected image of creation as a cosmic hymn of praise, where all beings are united in thanksgiving to their Creator while awaiting man’s voice to bring the song to completion. The ultimate goal is to help listeners recover a contemplative literacy toward creation, showcasing the Catholic Church as the preeminent 鈥渢he lover who sings鈥� as her liturgy gathers our voices into creation’s hymn of wonder, gratitude, and praise.

Dr. Michael Taylor, Thomas More College of Liberal Arts

Beauty, the Basis of Cult and Culture – We pass this life in exodus, in the exitus of creation, moving towards our ultimate return to our source in the bosom of the Father who, 鈥渟et forth in Christ… to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.鈥� In his 2013 Lenten Address, Pope Benedict XVI said that our first response to God’s love should be that of a 鈥渨onder- and gratitude-filled accoglienza (welcoming, gathering).鈥� On many levels, it is this receptive 鈥済athering鈥� that is the core of the West’s quaerere Deum, which, according to Ratzinger, 鈥渞emains today the basis of any genuine culture.鈥� This presentation will explore the analogical levels of gathering in the truth, good, and beautiful, from the experience of our senses, to the knowledge of God, towards the unification achieved through religion and culture, all as the mode of God’s gathering of all of Creation back to himself through Christ.

FAC 323

Dr Andrew Chronister, Kenrick-Glennon Seminary

Preaching Wonder in St. Augustine’s Sermons – In my paper, I will discuss a key aspect of St. Augustine of Hippo’s homiletic praxis: his attempts to prompt wonder in his congregation. Throughout his sermons, Augustine of course is intent on doing many things: articulating the truth of the faith, explaining the meaning of scripture, promoting virtuous living, etc. But the manner in which he does these things is important: rather than simply conveying information, St. Augustine views the sermon as an opportunity to stir up wonder in his congregation, to invite his 鈥減arishioners鈥� into a communal contemplation of the glory of God that leads to an increase of love in their hearts for God and neighbor. I would like to explore this topic especially with our contemporary context in mind in order to offer some suggestions for how preachers might preach more effectively and for how the laity might engage the homily in a more fruitful manner.

Fr. John Winkowitsch, OP, Western Dominican Province

Beauty: Source of Evangelization & Summit of Sanctity – Beauty must be the source and summit of effective evangelization. Source, insofar as all evangelization must begin with beautiful communication. Summit, insofar as the goal is to become beautiful saints. I will lay out this journey from source to summit in four parts. First, since transcendentals make deep communication possible, I will determine which can effectively evangelize contemporary culture. Second, using St. Thomas Aquinas as a guide to examine the qualities of beauty, I will show how evangelization through beauty can effectively draw people towards unity, goodness, and truth. Third, I will present the conversion point, a personal relationship with Jesus in His Church, which is the goal of evangelization and the starting point of sanctification. Fourth, using Hans Urs von Balthasar as a guide, I will show how a relationship with Jesus sanctifies through a conformation to the transcendentals, culminating in a life of saintly beauty.

Dr. Sean Innerst, Augustine Institute

The Primacy of Praise: Making Doxological Disciples – Augustine鈥檚 famous sermon 336 (from which is drawn the celebrated phrase Cantare amantis est, 鈥渙nly the lover sings鈥�) was framed around the incipit of Psalm 149:1: 鈥淪ing to the Lord a new song; his praise is in the assembly of the saints.鈥� We in the Church today spend a great deal of energy in planning and staging evangelical activities of all kinds. One might even get the impression that the Christian鈥檚 primary mission is, well, mission. The great North African Father, however, held that wisdom 鈥� which be believed to be the central aim of every Christian life 鈥� is best expressed and achieved by reverence. As he says in his Enchiridion on the theological virtues, if we would be wise, 鈥淕od [must] be worshipped with faith, hope, and charity.鈥� Taking Augustine鈥檚 prompt as a starting point, this presentation will show, both from Scripture and Church teaching, that our principal mission is to be, and to make doxological disciples, those who will sing God鈥檚 praises 鈥渋n the assembly of the saints.鈥�

FAC 308

Dr James Chastek, Chesterton Academy of the Twin Cities

The Beauty of Pure Act as Hermeneutic in Theological Controversy – Beauty taken broadly includes the sublime, where a sublime object amazes by a perfection surpassing all proportion to our cognitive powers. So taken, the pure actuality of God is the measure of all sublime beauty. Although the sublimity of pure act is not apparent when one first proves its existence, it comes into sharper focus when used to resolve large questions in theology. What follows are two examples of difficult theological problems pointing to elegant resolutions in the sublimity of pure act. The first is one taken from Trinitarian theology, involving Cajetan’s response to the question of how the divine relations can be the divine essence, which he resolves by pointing to how pure actuality transcends the limitations of finite absolute and relative being. The second is taken from God’s governance of creatures, where we consider Thomas’s response to how it is peculiar to God’s pure actuality that he causes necessary effects to arise from secondary causes acting freely or contingently.

Dr. John Rziha, 小草影院

鈥淥ne thing I have desired .. to behold the beauty of the Lord.鈥� (Ps 27:4) The Significance of Thomas Aquinas Appropriating the Term Beauty to the Divine Son – Drawing from both the Greeks and the Fathers, Thomas speaks of 3 characteristics of beauty: integritas (perfection), consonantia (proportion), and claritas (clarity)(ST I.39.8). Thomas mentions these characteristics within the context of explaining what attributes can properly be appropriated to the divine Son. Following the example of the apostles, John and Paul, Thomas applies intellectual terms to the Son, like Word and Wisdom. These intellectual terms refer to the fact that God is the exemplar cause of all things (that God is the divine artist who has an idea (blueprint) for all things in His intellect). When applied to God, the term beauty explains how God is an intellectual form that causes the order within creation. Likewise, beauty in creation consists of different aspects of order: proper order to an end (integritas), proper order within the thing itself (consanantia), and the ability to communicate that order to the observer (claritas).

Rev. Frank Caponi, Villanova University

鈥淎 great image of brightness excellent鈥�: Imaged Beauty and the Imago Dei – This paper takes up three themes in the Angelic Doctor’s work: claritas, participatio, and imago Dei. I will develop the claim that claritas is best understood as 鈥渙ntoluminescence,鈥� that is, the varied brightness of the ways of participating in Esee Ipsum Absolutum. To do so, I argue that the generation of the Son by the Father is the primal act of claritas, and the wellspring of all claritas in the created realm. Thus, it is image which enacts claritas – from the 鈥渋mage of the invisible God鈥� to an image in paint or stone or concept. In the created realm, these imagings constitute the hierarchy of participatio by which intellectual and creative acts share in the absolute Claritas of the Triune God. This reading of created splendor will then be applied to two related questions: (1) what precisely is an image?; (2) what does it mean to contemplate imaged beauty, both divine and creaturely?

FAC 307

Fr. Etienne Huard, Conception Abbey and Seminary

From Awe to Renewal: How Beauty Reorders the Moral Imagination – Mountains in Scripture mark the meeting of human frailty and divine glory. On Sinai and Horeb, Moses and Elijah ascend into thunder and cloud, into the trembling that precedes revelation. Beauty and wonder arise there not as comfort but as the purifying awe that opens the heart to truth. Drawing on Aquinas, who teaches that beauty 鈥減leases upon being seen,鈥� and Balthasar, who understands beauty as the radiance of divine self-giving, I explore how such encounters awaken moral vision and renew the imagination. Through Scripture, theology, and the lived experience of a mountain storm, this reflection considers beauty not as an ornament but as a revelation, an epiphany that reorders desire and restores the integrity of perception. In a culture numbed by distraction and irony, rediscovering awe becomes a moral and spiritual necessity -a participation in the divine generosity that shines through creation and calls culture toward genuine transformation.

Dr. Josh Cole, 小草影院

The Unique Beauty of Logic in Mathematics – Einstein said, 鈥淧ure mathematics is, in its own way, the poetry of logical ideas.鈥� We consider the simple, but elegant proof of the Art Gallery Theorem as an example of the beauty of logic in mathematics. The domain is Geometry, and the problem is a practical one: we view application and concreteness as important elements of the mathematical art. Perhaps this is why Geometry endures as the central image of math as a liberal art. While logic is also important in many fields other than math, we maintain its unique character is crystallized in mathematics: no considerations other than logic bear upon the validity of a mathematical demonstration. Math also involves intuition and discovery, and so is more than logic. But the way math shows forth the unique beauty of logic is one reason math is an essential element of a liberal education.

Mr. Nicholas Galiatsatos, Ave Maria University

Cultivating A Neptic Eye: Iconography, Spiritual Vigilance, and the Recovery of Wonder in a Visually Impoverished Age – In an era marked by the erosion of human perception, the capacity to behold the mystery of being demands renewal through beauty, wonder, and love. Eastern iconography offers a profound remedy, particularly through the concept of the 鈥渘eptic eye鈥�– a vigilant, prayerful gaze rooted in monastic hesychasm. The icon serves as a sacramental medium for awakening the spiritual senses, as the iconographer, embodying nepsis, infuses the image with ontological density, transforming material forms into sanctified poetic phantasms that reveal the glorified reality of Christ, angels, or saints– their rhythmic simplicity, perfection, and eternal beatitude. This neptic vision extends to the beholder, fostering a poetic sensitivity that refines attention and pierces the veil of ordinary sight. By directing focus toward spiritual significance, icons counteract modern indifference, echoing Pieper’s call to rediscover wonder. Through contemplation, the icon triggers a participatory ascent, where beauty ignites love and restores the lover’s song of praise.

FAC 301

Dr. Jennifer Bryson, Ethics and Public Policy Center

From Dull World to Dazzling Universe: How the Saints Renew Wonder – The discovery of St. Francis at age fourteen, and with him the saints, shattered the assumption of Ida Friederike G枚rres that Catholicism was 鈥渂oring and without any discernible meaning鈥� and that life consisted of merely a 鈥渇amiliar, exasperatingly monotonous pattern.鈥� When we encounter the saints, writes G枚rres, 鈥淭he wall鈥� of our small, earthly life, 鈥渉as broken through; outside, new stars circle, dazzling and intoxicating.鈥�

This presentation will share, through the work of the renowned hagiographer Ida G枚rres (1901-1971), how the saints can bring wonder to our world. In learning to see their lives, explains G枚rres, 鈥淯nnoticed lines and colors emerge,鈥� revealing 鈥渉idden, overlooked, and misunderstood goodness as a vibrant surprise.鈥�

Dr. Meraiah Martinez, 小草影院

A Few Examples of Beauty and Wonder in Mathematics – A 2014 study found that when shown an equation, mathematicians often react in the same way one might react to an artistic masterpiece. In this presentation, we will consider some equations, problems, and solutions in mathematics that are often found to be beautiful or to provoke wonder, including Euler’s identity (voted the most beautiful theorem in mathematics) and the Collatz Conjecture. In the process, some reasoning as to why mathematicians find these beautiful or wonderful will be given. No prior mathematical knowledge is required for this presentation.

Dr. Joyce Konigsburg, DePaul University

Wonder and Awe as Lenses to Beauty and Divine Mystery – Whether people identify as religious, spiritual, or secular, from time to time they encounter the mystery of reality and experience feelings of being part of a larger wholeness through the human emotions of wonder and awe. Spiritual and religious practices employ these emotions as starting points for relational encounters with the Divine and reflection on the beauty of creation. After briefly discussing some of the reasons humanity has devalued the emotions of wonder and awe in contemporary life, the paper describes the differences between wonder and awe and their physiological, psychological, and social effects on a person. Next, the paper examines the value and importance of wonder and awe among various religious traditions and secular spiritual seekers. The paper concludes by explaining how the emotions of awe and wonder facilitate deeper understanding, appreciation, and interaction with physical reality and mediate possible spiritual, transcendent encounters with Ultimate Reality.

FAC 208

Mrs. Vivian Dudro, Ignatius Press

Seeing Woman-and the Beauty of Being a Creature-through the Eyes of Gertrud von le Fort – 鈥淭he hand that rocks the cradle鈥�, 鈥淭he power behind the throne鈥�-both of these sayings reveal the influence of women on culture. But there are good mothers and neglectful ones, great queens like Esther and wicked ones like Jezebel. Where lies the difference? In her work The Eternal Woman, the twentieth-century German author Gertrud von le Fort masterfully explains the metaphysical symbol of woman: She represents the human creature surrendered to the Creator as his willing, fruitful coworker. The invisible beauty of the human soul in loving union with God is made visible in the pure virgin, the radiant bride, and the glowing mother, and all three of these female images are realized in the highest degree in God’s greatest creature of all: Mary. Her humble fiat is the key to understanding the beauty of being a creature who can transform culture for the better.

Mr. David Shaneyfelt, The Alvarez Firm

Sublime Beauty at the Crucifixion: The Witness of Women – The Gospels mention at least seven women who stood at the foot of the Cross – Mary, Mary, Mary, Salome, Susanna, Joanna, and Holy Mary. We get different details for each of them through Scripture and history. Really interesting details that are worth paying attention to. When you focus on these details, you will never overlook these extraordinary women again. Their presence at Jesus’ Crucifixion presents us with an arresting, sublime beauty that transcends this otherwise horrible gruesome scene of execution. Women, why women? And only one man, John? This presentation aims to unpack that beauty and make it our own. The presenter is a California attorney who hosts a popular podcast lecture series that covers the 鈥淭rial of Jesus Christ (and the History Behind It),鈥� as well as multiple profiles of the Characters at the Crucifixion, available on Spotify or at www.onecatholiclawyer.com.

Mrs Tamarah Rockwood, University of Birmingham, UK

Who Gets to Shout: Gender and the Exclamation Mark in Poetry – This study examines the exclamation mark as a gendered punctuation choice in contemporary poetry, arguing that the mark functions as an invitation into the poet’s emotional interiority. Analysis reveals that women poets disproportionately avoid exclamatory punctuation, instead employing linguistic hedges that create protective distance between speaker and reader. This pattern reflects broader cultural pressures on women’s emotional expression: the exclamation mark risks accusations of hysteria, excess, or unseriousness, while the hedge preemptively softens rejection. The research extends this framework beyond punctuation to consider feminine vulnerability in religious and cultural iconography, examining figures such as the Virgin Mary, whose radical receptivity is venerated through self-effacement against Lady Godiva, whose deliberate exposure operates as political agency. The study proposes that punctuation choices encode strategies of self-protection and visibility, revealing how women writers navigate the double bind of emotional authenticity and social survival within public sphere literary and cultural systems.

FAC 324

Mr. Joseph Turco, The Catholic University of America

St. Basil and the Wondrousness of Pagan Poetry – St. Basil in his address 鈥淭o Young Men on How They Might Derive Benefit from Greek Literature,鈥� wrote to a Christian audience which was wondering whether there was indeed benefit for themselves in literature which, although beautiful, was ostensibly bereft of Christ. Basil’s letter came at a time when Christianity’s cultural advancement and the ensuing intellectual persecution of Julian necessitated the Church’s renegotiation of the value of secular education for the Christian life. While Basil’s contribution was particular to his time and place, the questions he addresses are perennial for Christians seeking to live with a sense of wonder which embraces the beauty one finds around oneself, most especially when the sources of said beauty come from non-Christian places. I argue that Basil through the circumstances of this letter’s authorship and his concluding admonition against melancholy shows himself a valuable model for Christians searching for beauty in pagan art.

Mr. Thomas Hoerner, Catholic University of America

T.S. Eliot, the Minor Prophets, and the Beauty Ever-Ancient, Ever-New – The most neglected portions of the Bible are found in the 鈥淏ook of the Twelve,鈥� the Minor Prophets, as St. Augustine dubbed them. These books are short, and generally exposit more minor themes of salvation history than the larger literary prophets. The smaller scope of these books, however, allows each one to act as a focused vignette into Israel’s history. T.S. Eliot’s 鈥淐horuses from the Rock鈥� takes its central theme from the Book of the Prophet Haggai and continually pulls from the prophet. This presentation will consult 鈥淐horuses from the Rock鈥� as an example of illumining and beautifying exegesis. I will then review the minor prophets which are most neglected: Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Joel, Nahum, and Obadiah. I will briefly present the ecclesial tradition surrounding these texts and the poetic kernels from which the themes of these books may be expanded into poems like Eliot’s.

FAC 323

Dr. Carrie Duke, University of Saint Francis

Seeing and Experiencing the Divine as a Remedy for the Cultural Abyss – Within every human heart there exists the desire for transcendent unity with the summum bonum. We have seen popular culture in America lose its focus on Jesus Christ as the true summum bonum. This loss of focus can be traced to attacks on the Church’s hierarchy and to the Church’s relinquishment of traditions. In opposition, popular culture seeks transcendent unity through sex and consumerism, which developed from radical ideas advanced by figures such as Freud, Reich, Mead, Crowley, and Kinsey, who influenced popular writers, filmmakers, and musicians from the mid-century onward. Today, young people are led to believe there is no higher unity than through the materialist, sexualized self. One solution to overcome the cultural abyss of modernity is to reinvigorate Christian practices of fasting, venerating icons, and experiencing the traditional liturgy to re-enchant our culture toward unity with God.

Mr. Nathan Williams, Regis-St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology, University of Toronto

鈥淭o become humble in front of this overwhelming misery:鈥� Seeing in the Documentaries of Werner Herzog – In his nearly 60 years of filmmaking, Werner Herzog has directed dozens of documentaries, each functioning as a creative essay in anthropology. He has inquired on topics as diverse as the relationship of humans to the natural world, paleolithic art, the impact of the internet, folk religious practices, and competitive livestock auctioneering. Although forthrightly ambiguous about his own belief in God, Herzog retains traces of his former Catholicism via his camera, allowing viewers to share in a way of seeing that looks unflinchingly at the beauty, chaos, wonder, and tragedy of the world, with a clarion exhortation for us 鈥渢o become humble in front of this overwhelming misery鈥� (to quote the director in The Burden of Dreams). Incorporating ideas on rationality and culture from Luigi Giusanni, this presentation contends that Herzog’s documentaries are propaedeutic artifacts that can educate our vision to see the mystery of being that is before us.

FAC 308

Mr. Dane Litchfield, University of Dayton

Developing an Anagogical Hermeneutic for Sacred Art and Architecture – In his account of the renovation of the Abbey of Saint-Denis, Abbot Suger describes a specific stained-glass window that offers him the experience of anagogical prayer as described by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. In this specific instance, the light filtering in through the cerulean window serves as a vehicle for the soul’s ascent to God. This scene from the birth of Gothic architecture allows for a hermeneutic to emerge regarding the arts which stresses the mediatory and anagogical capacities of materiality, by which the entire interpretation of sacred art and architecture acquires profound spiritual depth. This paper argues for a greater function of Dionysian symbolism in the Western Zeitgeist, ultimately allowing for a greater understanding and experience of the divine through the arts and whole of materiality.

Ms. Katherine Kelly, Studio io

The Immateriality of Light and Stained Glass as a Liturgical Medium – It is through Christ the Light of the World-both the Son and Sun-that all is illuminated. Looking at the chemistry and physics of transmitted light, glass, and glassmaking, we will explore how stained glass is an exemplary liturgical medium. Stained glass, by way of the medium of the glass itself, fulfills the description set forth in the Book of Revelation: 鈥渢he wall was constructed of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass.鈥� The diversity of the depth, colors, and textures of glass shapes and transforms light from the fallen natural world into the transfigured. It allows for painting with immaterial light which is attempting to draw us all deeper into the spiritual realm.

FAC 307

Mr. Jake Samour, Catholic Diocese of Wichita

The Dance of Lovers: Beauty, Wonder, and the Gift of Seeing – Drawing from Adrian Walker’s 鈥淏eing as Dance: Toward a Perichoretic Understanding of Difference,鈥� this presentation explores a theological anthropology of being in which giving and receiving, leading and following, interpenetrate as dimensions of one dynamic whole. Being itself is a dance-a living rhythm of communion where difference becomes harmony and love becomes the condition for seeing. In dialogue with Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI), who calls beauty 鈥渢he arrow that wounds the heart and opens the eyes,鈥� and John Paul II, who teaches that man images God 鈥渘ot so much in solitude as in the communion of persons,鈥� this vision understands love as the movement that reveals truth. The lovers’ dance-mirroring the divine perichoresis-becomes both symbol and school of vision. As they move together, beauty shines forth, and wonder is awakened. In the beauty of their steps, the lovers learn again to see, and in seeing, to wonder.

Deacon Henry Zmuda, St. Madeleine Catholic Church

Hidden in Plain Sight: God’s Revelation of the Beauty in the Sacrament of Marriage – In Genesis, God surveyed the beauty of his creation and found it 鈥渧ery good鈥� (1:31). Yet, in His wisdom, God said, 鈥淚t is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him鈥� (2:18). In that Edenic setting, the Creator establishes marriage, the two-in-one flesh union between husband and wife, as a union so profound that the Christ elevates it to the level of a sacrament, a mystery that reveals the union between Christ and His Church (Eph 5:32). In the Church, Christ restores the Garden of Eden, making marriage the means by which man and woman can once again eat from the fruit of the Cross, the new Tree of Life, by their sharing in the Eucharist. This presentation will further contemplate the beauty of God’s plan for man and woman, a plan hidden in plain sight, yet today so often overlooked and neglected.

FAC 301

Rev. Nick Blaha, Blessed Sacrament Parish, Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas

Despoiling the Nahua: The Secret Treasure of the New World – Patristic debates surrounding the suitability of select pre-Christian philosophical forms for the elaboration of Christian theology and dogma set a lasting precedent for the judicious adoption of what is most humane in non-Christian civilizations, and recognizing in them the 鈥渟eeds of the kingdom鈥� that served as preparation for their eventual reception of the Gospel. Scholarship on the decisive encounter between pre-colonial Mesoamerica and the Christian Gospel in the Guadalupe Event has made a convincing case that a *preparatio evangelica* was at work in the indigenous civilization of Mexico. The expression of longing for paradise and a consequent attentiveness to beauty in Nahua poetry and myth serve as a pattern in which we can recognize our own own longing for communion with the Incarnate Logos, however attenuated it has become, and restore sublimity to the proclamation of the Gospel.

Mrs. Sarah Winter, Independent Scholar

Only the Lover Weeps: Reading the Ancient Nahua Poetry of Longing in Light of the Guadalupe Event – Building on the previous presentation, this close literary/poetic reading of pre-colonial Mesoamerican poetry considers the Nahua Flower Songs as patterns of authentic cultural forms, and examines how such artifacts function as 鈥渨eeping,鈥� and therefore call down comfort in the very place and in the very terms of their grief. 鈥淏lessed are they who mourn.鈥� Throughout the song-poems the words 鈥渨eeping鈥� and 鈥渟inging鈥� are used interchangeably, not merely, we argue, as a conventional trope, but as a vital insight into the nature of language and even culture itself. Only one who mourns will be comforted and, in the words of Walker Percy, only an exile, 鈥渁 man in a predicament,鈥� can receive 鈥渘ews from across the seas.鈥� For the Nahua, as indeed for us, this news arrives as a sign: 鈥渁 woman clothed in the sun,鈥� Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose salutation answers the query of the songs, her body standing as sign bearing the Signified.

FAC 219

Dr. Ryan Marr, Mercy College of Health Sciences

Witnessing with Wonder: Beauty, Imagination, and the New Evangelization – In the contemporary context, Catholic apologetical efforts often proceed along intellectual lines, seeking to persuade non-Catholics through rational argumentation. This approach, while well-intentioned, does not do justice to the full breadth of the Catholic worldview, which is all-encompassing and thus engages both the emotional side of human nature as well as the aesthetic and ethical dimensions of reality. In this light, imagination and an encounter with beauty can play an instrumental role in the conversion process. My presentation will seek to demonstrate this claim through an engagement with David Bentley Hart’s ontology of beauty, primarily as laid out in his widely praised work The Beauty of the Infinite. The talk will end with a constructive proposal about witnessing to the truth of the faith in a way that adequately engages not only the intellect but also the emotions and the imagination.

Professor Bo Bonner, St. Mary’s University, London; Mother of Good Counsel School

The Beautiful Changes: McLuhan and Wilbur on the Ground Shifting Nature of Wonder – Told through the auspice of Richard Wilbur’s poetry, this talk will demonstrate how Marshal McLuhan’s theories of mediums, the figure/ground distinction, and the relationship of environment to anti-environment give insight how beauty evokes wonder.

FAC 208

Mr. Tom Hoopes, 小草影院

Does Solo Entertainment Kill Wonder? Cicero and the Smartphone – What is the status of wonder in a world of streaming shows on smartphones, music on noise-canceling headphones, and video gaming. We increasingly desire solo entertainment – perhaps sharing it anonymously – as researchers have pointed out, such as Christina Rosen in her book The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World. Yet shared experience is so fundamental to who we are, Cicero said, that 鈥淚f a man could ascend to heaven and get a clear view of the natural order of the universe, and the beauty of the heavenly bodies, that wonderful spectacle would give him small pleasure, though nothing could be conceived more delightful, if he had but had someone to whom to tell what he had seen,鈥� he said. As children, our experiences are incomplete until they have been shared. But media trains us to reject this fundamental human dimension.

Mr. Andrew Whaley, 5 Cups Inc

From Daytime Pub to Open Office: Remote Work and the Collapse of the Third Place – This presentation will explore the impact of the new digital media, ubiquitous broadband, and remote work on the 鈥淭hird Place鈥�. For centuries, these interstitial spaces, such as coffeehouses and cafes, were places of real daily leisure and community. Eating, drinking, reading, and writing formed the context for conversation and human connection. In the last 10-15 years, these spaces have become primarily places of remote work during the day and have closed at night, resulting in one more loss feeding both the 鈥淓pidemic of Loneliness鈥� and the 鈥淐ulture of Contempt鈥�, leaving us more isolated and at odds than ever before. We will examine how this form of community shifted in the context of the broader culture and explore what a purposeful recovery would look like and how it could form what Von Balthasar termed an 鈥渋sland of humanity鈥� in which the beauty of the human person can be perceived and flourish.

FAC 207

Dr. Kathleen Sullivan, Christendom College

Struck by Beauty: A Surprising Transformation in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park – In Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, Henry Crawford tells his sister Mary that – for a lark – he plans to make 鈥渁 small hole in Fanny Price’s heart.鈥� Yet this amoral plan goes awry, for in a surprising plot twist of the story, Henry Crawford finds himself sincerely falling in love with Austen’s protagonist, Fanny Price. The beauty of her character drew him in; his experience proves that goodness is attractive. I propose to analyze Henry’s pursuit of the good and ultimate failure to attain it through the following questions: How does an encounter with moral beauty awaken our desire for goodness? Why does Henry begin to see Fanny in a new way? What are the obstacles that prevent Henry from attaining what he desires? Although Henry ultimately fails in his quest, he is left knowing that beholding anything less than the morally true will be unsatisfactory.

Dr. Marisa Pierson, Independent Scholar

Restoring Wonder with the ‘True Myth’: G. K. Chesterton and Charles Dickens on the Beauty of Christmas – In The Everlasting Man, G. K. Chesterton says that Christianity 鈥渕et the mythological search for romance by being a story and the philosophical search for truth by being a true story.鈥� When considering the Nativity, Chesterton explains, this fusion of romance and truth inspires a childlike wonder, as 鈥渢he idea of a baby and the idea of unknown strength that sustains the stars鈥� are united. In this presentation, I discuss an example of this childlike wonder from Charles Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol. Although this short novel could easily be dismissed as a merely secular celebration of turkeys and pudding, a careful reading reveals its significant insight into the connections between festivity and faith. Scrooge cannot reach conversion-or 鈥渞eclamation,鈥� as Dickens calls it-without returning to his childhood and restoring his ability to wonder at both the beauty and the truth of the Christmas story.

FAC 324

Dr. Mariele Courtois, Dr. Lindsay Kennedy, Dr. Sharon Marie Houlahan, and Prof. Krystyn Schmerbeck, 小草影院 Center for Technology and Human Dignity

The Beauty and Wonder in Beholding Disability: Theological, Aesthetic, Pscyhological and Educational Perspectives – This panel seeks to extend Josef Pieper’s observation that 鈥淢an’s ability to see is in decline鈥� to demonstrate how this is often particularly true for societal failure to perceive the beauty and message in the encounter of disability. Disability frequently is interpreted solely from a biomedical lens as constituting a lack. This approach can miss important realizations from a Christian perspective about the relationship of disability to God’s providential plan, the potential for virtuous development amidst a life journey than includes both adversity and surprise, the call to cultivate hospitality toward our shared interdependent nature, and the reality that many disabled persons attest to the enjoyment of authentic flourishing in their lives, the value of which they do not define solely in relation to the existence of physiological imperfection alone. Disability scholars such as theologian Brian Brock draw from an Augustinian lens to argue that disability can be an opportunity to wonder at the mystery of God’s power and an occasion to celebrate the broad possibilities for the expressions of beauty in creation. Other scholars such as Amos Yong suggest that only in heaven will our vision be perfected to allow us to gaze upon all our neighbors with the fullness of love and appreciation rather than fear or disappointment. This panel will consider responses to and lessons from the reality of disability through the methods and insights of various disciplines. These 小草影院 faculty panelists will describe the significance of a disability-theology critique for technological development; explain the significance of depictions of persons with disabilities in theatre; offer insight into psychological approaches for welcoming the fullness of the human person in the clinical setting; delineate principles and practices emerging in approaches to classical liberal arts education that seek to respect the dignity of all students.

FAC 323

Professor Timothy O’Donnell, Ivy Tech Community College

The Enchanted Cosmos in Catholic Thought: 脡tienne Gilson on Beauty, Wonder, and Contemplation in the Digital Age – Following 脙鈥皌ienne Gilson’s metaphysical realism, this paper argues that beauty and wonder are discovered not in the artificial worlds of fragmented digital consciousness but within the enchanted order of the created cosmos. Beauty, a transcendental of being, manifests harmony and intelligibility, directing the soul to God, ipsum esse subsistens.^1 Wonder arises in response, preserving the openness of the intellect to mystery and sustaining true philosophy.^2 By contrast, technological networks, designed to manipulate attention through dopamine-driven fragmentation, corrode wonder and reduce beauty to distraction. In Catholic thought, beauty and wonder are not optional embellishments but essential to intellectual and spiritual formation and renewal. Their true dwelling is in creation itself-above all in the Divine Liturgy, where Heaven and Earth meet.^3 The recovery of wonder through beauty in the cosmos is indispensable for resisting digital reductionism and reawakening the moral imagination.

Dr. Edward Macierowski, 小草影院

The Beauty of the Intellectual Life – Josef Pieper’s 1948 essay 鈥淟eisure and Cult鈥� was marketed to English readers under the title 鈥淟eisure, the Basis of Culture.鈥� He unites the themes of liturgy and festivity in several of his works. These insights can illuminate Aristotle’s project for the attainment of human happiness in activity in conformity to virtue. Everyone wants to be happy, but not everyone is clear about what happiness consists in. Is it pleasure? A life of action? A life of contemplation? Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics considers not only virtues of character like fortitude, temperance and justice, but also five virtues of thought, whereby the soul engages truth. Here Aristotle opens a horizon for a happiness beyond the more obvious realms of pleasure and political action: the happiness of the intellectual life.

Fr. Stefano Zamagni, Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family

Wondering at the Owl. On Intellectual Delight at Creation in Antonio Rosmini’s Theosophy – Blessed Antonio Rosmini (1797-1855) expresses man’s moral task in the world with the following precept: 鈥淟ove being, wherever you know it, in the order or degree in which it presents itself to your intelligence.鈥� My presentation will aim to expose how Rosmini’s notion of 鈥渙bjective beauty鈥� allows a metaphysical deepening of wonder in light of from the revealed fact of divine creation. Rather than being mere 鈥渁ccidental鈥� and 鈥渙ptional鈥� to created being, wonder is rooted in beauty as essential relationship between the objective order of being and the subjective need for delight. Objectively speaking, beauty is the 鈥渙rder of truth鈥� in which the multitude of the created world is integrated in the uni-totality of the organism of being. Subjectively speaking, beauty calls for 鈥渋ntellectual delight鈥� of a knowing and loving creature. What is wonder, then? Wonder is the relationship itself as 鈥渁dmiration when the multiplicity in the one is very large and surpasses [man’s] ordinary understanding.鈥� Hence, through human contemplation of the Creator’s work, beauty and wonder appear to be co-extensive.

FAC 308

Sr. Karoline Marie To, RSM, Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum

Beyond Pragmatism: The Human Body, Human Dignity, and Beauty in Catholic Bioethics – Bioethics is often viewed as a pragmatic discipline, rooted in case studies, the casuistic tradition of moral theology. However, is it only a purely practical discipline? In this paper, I propose an alternative view of bioethics as a lens into the beauty of God through the appeal in Catholic bioethics to human dignity. First, I provide a brief history of human dignity in Catholic bioethics and Magisterial teaching. Second, I argue that human dignity reveals the beauty inherent in creation, particularly in the human body in its integrity and as the temple of the Holy Spirit. Finally, I propose that the beauty shining forth in the human body ought to serve as a guiding principle for understanding human dignity and for discerning what is right. Ultimately, the beauty inherent in embodied persons holds a profound significance for bioethics.

Mr. James Reid, 小草影院

The Inner Life of Paintings – If we look attentively at a masterpiece of art, we find it actively shows forth the mystery behind appearances in nature. Lines, shapes, tones, and space unfold rhythmically and organically within the work, magnifying God鈥檚 creative and sustaining act and His providential governance of creation. This unfolding does not stop at the frame, but rather continues with the unfolding of the picture toward the viewer, as the painting acts across distance. This unfolding constitutes the work鈥檚 radiance or claritas. It illumines the soul of a viewer standing many yards away, and provokes a reciprocal opening up, a rapturous outgoing of the soul toward the radiant form, an ecstasis. We will 鈥渨alk through鈥� a couple of masterpieces, exercising our perceptive powers to see kinesthetically, in breadth, height, and depth 鈥� the way people used to look at art and the world before modern habits of vision flattened appearances.

FAC 307

Dr. Richard Bulzacchellil, University of Dallas

Putting Words to the Ineffable: Theology and the Languages of Philosophy and Poetry – The faithful have always struggled with the challenge of expressing the self-revelation of the Infinite God of Truth and Beauty in human language, because, like us, our language is finite and fragmentary. We grope for words to express what we believe-indeed, what we know. If, at times, words hit their mark with a satisfying ring, at other times, they fail us, and we resort to expressions only of what we do NOT profess. Even the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, and today’s theologians, face these limits in our attempts to express the content of God’s self-revelation–what we call, 鈥渄ogma鈥�. Theologians, therefore, speak in two primary 鈥渓anguages鈥�–two modes of thought and expression-and must move between them without a break. In the language of Philosophy, theologians, express with precision what reason can grasp, and what it cannot, in that of Poetry, the language of the heart.

Dr. Sarah Maple, Mount Saint Mary College

Chaos in Clarity: An Abstract Language of Prayer at the Monstero Benedettino SS. Pietro e Paolo – Monasteries, at the heart of culture-making, seek to form a deeper, more integrated humanity (FI, 3). In the 1979 re-founding of the Benedictine community at Cascinazza, an unsuspecting lay member formed the visual language of the monastery and larger community’s culture. In a time when Abstract Expressionism spoke of the remnants of a fragmented, rebellious, and nihilistic culture and generation of artists, these Benedictines embraced the art form as a mode of renewal and redemption. Decorating their halls and liturgical spaces with such works, Abstract Expressionism spoke for [a culture of] the Incarnation through the artist William Congdon. Enriching the community’s religious imagination, Congdon’s abstracting art was continuously transfigured by his increasing devotion to Christ. Whereas a traditional study of aesthetics applies metrics to the forms of ‘art,’ personalist philosophers advocate ‘art as the virtue of man.’ If, ‘when pure, culture reveals and strengthens the nature of man’ (FI, 7), in what context may we seek clarification of the traditional aesthetic measures of proportion, clarity, and integrity? This paper reconsiders traditional aesthetic forms by Aquinas’ own metrics of subjective and objective observations of 鈥渂eauty鈥� and seeks to offer an imperfect beauty, or rather a cruciform aesthetic, of the ‘real.’

Dr Peter von Buelow, University of Michigan

The Venerable Antoni Gaudi, 鈥淕od’s Architect鈥� and designer of Sagrada Familia – This year marks the 100th anniversary of the death of the Barcelonian architect, Antoni Gaudi. His sense of beauty in architecture is exemplified by several buildings in Barcelona, the most notable being the church of Sagrada Familia. Dedicating much of his life to the design and construction of this magnificent structure earned him the title of 鈥淕od’s Architect鈥�. Sadly dying while it was still in the early phases of construction, the church is now scheduled for completion this year. Gaudi himself was a very devout Catholic and was declared Venerable in April 2025 after his cause for canonization was opened by the arch diocese of Barcelona. Gaudi designed Sagrada Familia primarily through models which were used to complete the work. This presentation explores the design process and examines the unique details of Gaudi’s structure. After over 100 years of construction Sagrada Familia remains a beautiful example of Gaudi’s work.

FAC 301

Dr Vincent Rone, Franciscan University of Steubenville

The Soundtrack of Heaven – This paper argues how Catholics today can rediscover awe and beauty in sacred music by showing how we, as listeners, have been entrained to associate certain compositional devices with the otherworldly. I first trace the strong predilection Romantic composers developed for signifying the otherworldly in music. I then show how that harmonic tradition passed into two almost antithetical inheritors: Film/videogame and Catholic sacred music. I also provide several musical examples demonstrating how these compositional techniques operate within their respective media: Sacred music of Franz Schubert to James MacMillan and multimedia examples from The Robe to The Legend of Zelda. Catholics today can understand how composers have adopted an originally secular musical device and sacralized them over time within liturgical contexts. More importantly, Catholics are invited to recognize music’s broad ability to signify an encounter with the numinous when sound is ordered toward the greater Glory of God.

Mr Conner McCain, St. Joseph’s Seminary

Learning to See: The Liturgy as the School of Wonder – This paper uses the Road to Emmaus at Luke 24 to explore two aspects of the Christian life. First, that the sight which comes from faith goes deeper than the physical sense of sight: 鈥渢heir eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.鈥� They see Christ right in the moment that he disappears from them physically. But they do not lose sight of him The second point I would like to draw out of this narrative is that it is the Eucharist which opens their eyes: 鈥淛esus was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.鈥� It is the liturgy which teaches us how to experience the rest of the reality. We learn how Christ wants us to see all of reality by repeatedly 鈥渟eeing鈥� the Body of Christ in the species of bread. It is in the liturgy that we learn what true sight is.

Dr. Daniel Kuehler, Hillsdale College

To Hear the Good: Sacred Polyphony as a School of Wonder and Beatitude – The vast treasury of Catholic sacred music is as rich and varied as the great cathedrals, yet the unique body of polyphony that flowered during the Renaissance offers more than serene, restrained beauty. It reveals truths about the nature of man and the nature of reality. Inspired from Augustinian and Thomistic thought, I propose that this kind of sacred music, especially imitative polyphony, accomplishes three things: it gives sonic form to the principle 鈥済oodness is self-diffusive鈥�; it provides in abstracted form a model of the Christian life which is the imitation of Christ; and it reveals a unique way in which man participates in the divine life of the Trinity vis-脙 -vis the divine Logos. In a culture saturated by music designed to overstimulate the passions and attenuate the higher faculties, sacred polyphony reminds man of his intelligible nature, of the beatitude he seeks, and of his relation to the Trinity.

FAC 208

Mrs. Emily Klaus, Catholic Campus Ministry Association

Beauty that Transforms: Encountering Christ in the Margins – In a world marked by fragmentation and disenchantment, beauty has the power to restore our capacity for wonder and to open our eyes to the presence of Christ where we least expect Him. This presentation explores how beauty is not merely decorative but transformative, inviting us into deeper solidarity and justice. Drawing on insights from the Campus Ministry Service & Justice Innovation Hub, I will consider how encountering beauty in human dignity, community, and acts of compassion reawakens our imagination for justice. Theological aesthetics reminds us that to see Christ in others-especially those overlooked by society-is to discover a profound wonder that reshapes our lives and ministries. Through stories, practices, and reflections from campus ministry contexts, this talk proposes beauty as a vital pathway for forming students and ministers who can both delight in God’s gifts and respond to the urgent call for justice.

Sister Mary Ruth CK, School Sisters of Christ the King

Beauty and the Education of the Poor – As a transcendental, true beauty is not meant to be reserved for an elite few but is intended to be shared with all. In this time and place where wide gaps exist in human formation, how are we to ensure that our attention to beauty is animated by charity? How can those who have been drawn closer to God through experiences of beauty provide such opportunities for others? In this presentation, I will argue that educating the poor and giving them the very best that our rich Catholic tradition has to offer is a moral imperative. Furthermore, the poor and suffering must be seen as sources of beauty and powerful reflections of the face of Christ.

Dr. Clare McGrath-Merkle, 小草影院

The Beauty of the Poor: The Mysticism of St. Vincent de Paul – St. Vincent de Paul wrote 鈥淗ow beautiful it is to see poor people if we consider them in God and with the esteem in which Jesus Christ held them!鈥� (Conferences XI, 26). Vincent thought that the poor were in greater conformity to Christ and were 鈥渋cons of Christ,鈥� who Himself became poor and desired to reveal Himself through the poor, as Alvaro Quevedo Patarroyo wrote. According to Giuseppe Toscani, it was the awareness of the terrible circumstances of the poor that plunged the saint 鈥渋nto adoration, that is to say, into action for the Love of Christ…鈥� For Vincent, this did not involve a bending down in condescension or mere sociological considerations. Toscani saw Vincent as working in a state of ecstasy in his work, one not of drudgery but great joy. For Vincent, to evangelize the poor, was to not only experience the charity of God but His beauty.

FAC 207

Dr. Benjamin Brown, Lourdes University

Hating the Beauty of God in C.S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces – It has often been suggested in recent decades that beauty is the transcendental of evangelization, at least for the modern era. If only we can display the rich beauty of the Gospel and the heritage of the Church, the thought goes, it will entice and open hearts. While certainly that is at times true, C.S. Lewis suggests in his arguably greatest novel, Till We Have Faces, that God’s beauty might also be a source of hatred just as much as God’s truth or goodness, for at least two reasons: beauty attracts those we want to keep for ourselves, and it demands the sacrifice of true love. Lewis deftly intertwines themes of beauty and ugliness, attraction and repulsion, love and selfishness, in a presentation that is itself at once movingly beautiful and insightfully true, while also warning us against naivet脙漏 in how we treat with beauty.

Sr. Mary Jacinta C.K., School Sisters of Christ the King

Only the Lover Sings… …And Only Those Who Hear the Song can Respond. – Both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien refer to God creating through song. If God has been singing over each one of us since the beginning of our existence, any song we sing is only in response to His song (CF 1 John 4:19). Yet, in order for us to respond, we first need to hear the song. Hearing God’s song of particular love expressed in countlessly varied ways reveals the path to wonder and awe, a path that will lead to the freedom to enter the song. Using Aristotle, Aquinas, and the KU Humanities program initiated by John Senior, we will explore how being in touch with the transcendentals prepares us to readily respond to the Lord’s calling for each one of us.

Dr. Arielle Harms, Augustine Institute Graduate School of Theology

Religious Imagination and Catechizing for Discipleship – In an informal poll of cradle Catholics in my Catechetics class this fall, not one of them had a personal experience of catechesis being beautiful or inspiring wonder. In fact, not only had they not had the experience, they didn’t think it was possible that catechesis could be anything but boring. Yet, boring Catechesis doesn’t make disciples. To make disciples, Catechesis needs to awaken religious imagination, inspired by Divine Pedagogy, rooted in the narratio of Salvation History, and taking on a Liturgical form. In this presentation, I propose to explore these three aspects of Catechesis and show how, when taken together, they offer a Catechesis that is inherently beautiful and inspires wonder, leading to the formation of disciples.