Anthony Esolen

With the voluminous writings of Pope Leo XIII as his guide, Esolen explains that Catholic Social Teaching isn’t focused exclusively on serving the poor. Indeed, it offers us a rich treasure of insights about the nature of man, his eternal destiny, the sanctity of marriage, and the important role of the family in building a coherent and harmonious society.

You will step away from these pages with a profound understanding of the root causes of the ills that afflict our society, and — thanks to Pope Leo and Anthony Esolen — well equipped to propose compelling remedies for them.… (meer)

A remarkable volume -- part music appreciation, part literary analysis, part theological presentation, part church history lesson, part devotional...with a whiff of polemic thrown in. (Dr. Esolen has no sympathy for the 'improvements' foisted upon older hymns in the interest of providing the 'inclusion' dictated by political correctness, nor does he have a very high regard for what passes as modern hymnody these days. It is somewhat ironic that the accompanying CD changes the wording in the second line of the second verse of "Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven" to reflect the very p.c.-run-amok Dr. Esolen deplores.) The Catholic point of view of the author is not overly emphasized. -- The book might have benefited from the inclusion of fewer hymns (some are given almost breathless treatment), and the accompanying CD might have benefited from a closer coordination with the text -- inclusion of some of the more unfamiliar hymns that Dr. Esolen describes, as well as some he discusses at greater length, would have been appreciated. Still, such shortcomings do not seriously spoil a fine volume that I read with much pleasure and joy -- and edification.… (meer)