One of the many perverse events of the French Revolution was its regular public executions, at which crowds would gather to watch and cheer. A famous exception was the execution of the sixteen Carmelite sisters of Compiegne, when the crowd reportedly watched in silence. They seemed to realise that something truly horrific was happening, as they watched the sisters praying, singing, and kissing the statue of Our Lady, before they went up the scaffold to the guillotine. It is n

In these first weeks of Easter we see the paschal candle in all its glory. Taller than it will be as the year goes by, during Eastertide it is lit at all Masses, and until Pentecost it is always placed in a prominent place near the altar or ambo. Go up close to the candle and you will see the sign of the cross either carved into it or painted onto it. You will see the calendar year, and the Greek alpha and the omega, showing that Christ is the beginning and end of all history

What does Resurrection mean? At this moment in our world there is, no doubt, the feeling that death and destruction are more apparent than the focus of the religious festivity we celebrate at Easter. What does resurrection mean then in the face of war, death, destruction, the cost-of-living crisis, and the spectre of our country possibly running out of fuel? The response to the historic problem of human suffering and disappointment can take only two paths. The first is that o