The pleasures of reaction

The master aphorist Don Colacho says: "We reactionaries provide idiots the pleasure of feeling like daring avant-garde thinkers."


Perhaps he speaks of progressive critics who think they are on a march to enlightenment. They leave backwards thinkers behind.


Or perhaps he speaks of his admirers who quote him profusely and deem themselves to be part of a rising cognoscenti. 


The entire set of aphorisms is worth reading. The Anglosphere owes a debt to the translator Stephen, who has considerably boosted the reputation of this insightful Colombian.

Gerard Manley Hopkins Conference returns to Regis March 23-25

Events begin at 6 p.m. Friday with light soup and conversation at Regis’ Main Hall, Room 333. Actor Richard Austin will deliver a performance of Hopkins’ poetry at 7:30 p.m.

Paper presentations begin at 8:15 a.m. Saturday in the same room.

Sophia University’s Fr. Peter Milward, S.J., who endured Japan’s massive earthquake, will speak “On the Silences of Newman and Hopkins” at 11 a.m. that day. (Unless his travel arrangements have been affected.)

The Hopkins Memorial Mass will take place in Regis’ chapel at 4:45 p.m.

Sunday presentations will also begin at 8:15 a.m.

Victoria McCabe (contact information) should have more detailed information for those who wish to know more.