Here's a look at our upcoming issue, dedicated to the life and legacy of Pope Benedict XVI, with contributions from Archbishop José H. Gomez, Christopher Caldwell, Father Paul Scalia, Michael Hanby, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Archbishop Thomas Wenski, Peter Kwasniewski, and many others.
One year ago today we shared our pitch for Tʜᴇ Lᴀᴍᴘ with readers. It was impossible to know how much enthusiasm our project would meet with and how generous (and patient!) our supporters would be.
That seems like a terrible reading of Darth Vader. Isn’t the whole moral drama of these movies bound up in the fact that he not only repents for his sins, but renounces the wicked power that he has acquired by rejecting love?
Maybe because the Church was founded by Christ upon St. Peter to canalize sacramental grace and because Donatism was condemned a long time ago and because the current policy in China is just a concordat like any other, while Netflix is Blockbuster for lazy people?
Our third issue is at the printer’s now and will ship at the end of next week. Don’t miss out—if you haven’t subscribed yet, sign up by midnight this Friday (11/20) to receive it when it ships!
The post-Trump news slump continues online. Traffic has declined at leading news sites almost every month since January peak and from a year ago. Latest figures from ComScore:
A while ago we asked readers where we should host our first-ever in-person happy hour. The overwhelming favorite was South Bend. So please join us on Friday, November 12 at St. Joseph's parish hall from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. All, as they say, are welcome.
NEW: 60 Catholic Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives issued a "Statement of Principles" with a message to U.S. bishops that "the weaponization of the Eucharist to Democratic lawmakers for their support of a woman’s safe and legal access to abortion is contradictory".
We hate to toot our own horn, but there really is no other magazine in America that routinely accepts essays on topics like rope-and-pulley windows out of the slush pile. A reminder to pitch us at editor
@thelampmagazine
.com.
Today we are pleased to announce that
@NicXTempore
will be joining The Lamp as a full-time managing editor. In addition to editing, he will also be writing for the magazine regularly.
Ahead of our upcoming Benedict XVI symposium, a reminder that seminarians and religious are eligible for a free subscription to the magazine. Email complimentary
@thelampmagazine
.com and we'll hook you up!
Putting the finishing touches on our sixth issue, which will go to the printer by the end of this week. Here’s a preview of the cover.
Subscribe by July 15 if you haven’t already so you can receive it when it mails!
Would do anything to restore the feeling of getting great magazines in the mail before everyone was publishing on the web. I remember having at least ten subs at any one time as a teenager.
"For me, Catholicism before Vatican II was a window opening out to the world beyond the Berkshires. Its ceremonies spoke of a history before Plymouth Rock, and its liturgy linked us to every Catholic on earth," writes Mary Ann Glendon.
"At night I pray to Christ, beg beyond reason or logic, that Judas somehow, some way, found grace and was made new again. I pray for Judas."
@TimothyNerozzi
As we prepare issue seven for press, a reminder that we welcome letters for publication at letters
@thelampmagazine
.com, including ones like this classic from the archives of Triumph.
We’re sorry for causing distress to
@PunkyMantilla
, but her piece was never rejected. It was delayed by one issue, as is common in magazine journalism. We’ve reached out to her privately to handle her issue and would love to see her article in The Lamp.
Got the third issue of
@thelampmagazine
today!
Story time:
Now, for those who don’t know me, I’m primarily an angry son of a gun and a redneck, before I am a writer.
So, I have no problem burning bridges when the situation calls, even at the expense of my own career.
"Attentive readers will note that I began by recounting the story of the last time I shocked a priest during confession, and will infer from that—quite rightly—that this has happened to me several times. Let me tell you about the first."
Join us next week for a Zoom happy hour featuring
@matthewwalther
,
@LeahLibresco
,
@biillyb
, and contributors to the magazine for a fun conversation, questions, and probably some cameos from unruly babies and/or toddlers.
Our latest issue was handed over to the postal service today and should begin to arrive in the mailboxes of our print subscribers soon! A link to download the issue PDF was sent to all subscribers, print and digital, this afternoon. Send us a photo of your copy when it arrives!
"prestigious magazines" are not created by God. they came into existence when people got together to start them. instead of complaining about existing magazines, start your own. instead of complaining about the status quo, change it. nothing so exciting as starting something new
The digital edition of issue one is now available to subscribers, with the print to follow shortly. Access it here (current subscribers check your email for password)
Our website should be back online shortly after we’ve resolved some server issues that occurred this morning. Apologies and thanks to all for your patience. We aren’t going anywhere!
We’re offering a sale again: take 40% off the price of your new, renewal, or gift subscriptions from now until the end of the year using the code 40OFF22 or this link
“You can teach all the truth you want, and you can get everything right about how to sanctify the world, but if you have no means of arranging and enforcing teaching or the sacraments, you haven’t really got a Church.”
@GregoryCaridi
Here’s a peek at the contents of our newest issue, shipping out to subscribers in two weeks. Don’t forget to subscribe or renew now so you can receive it!
We recently streamlined our process for offering free subscriptions to seminarians and religious. If you are interested in getting the magazine for free, you can now use a coupon code on our online subscription page. DM or email subscriptions
@thelampmagazine
.com for code.
“What really worries me is that the mean-minded enemies of Christian civilisation have noticed the real character of monarchy, and realized that, even in its gentle British form, it is a menace to them,” writes
@ClarkeMicah
“By invading Ukraine, Vladimir Putin confirmed all the worst anti-Russian prejudices in the world. He condemned his country to a new dingy period of isolation, censorship, and institutional stupidity.”
@ClarkeMicah
> Why do ducks have flat feet?
To stamp out burning fires.
> Why do elephants have flat feet?
To stamp out burning ducks.
contest
@thelampmagazine
.com
A while ago we asked readers where we should host our first-ever in-person happy hour. The overwhelming favorite was South Bend. So please join us on Friday, November 12 at St. Joseph's parish hall from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. All, as they say, are welcome.
"In spite of their manifold oppositions, Gibbon and Brown are actually more similar than one would initially think, and it is these similarities that come to the fore of Brown’s long-anticipated intellectual memoir."
@smalwigwamlight
Also, as of late last week we are officially sold out of issue one, which means that we are increasing our print run for number two. This was something we hoped might happen five or six issues from now. Thank you all so much!
In memory of the late Gerald Russello, whose birthday would have been today, read his final published essay on his years of teaching religious education in New York.
"Upon rereading The Wind in the Willows, my conviction has grown only stronger that Mr. Badger of the Wild Wood comes from a very old Catholic recusant family."
London readers—please join our editors
@matthewwalther
and
@NicXTempore
on the evening of Monday, August 1, at the Nags Head for an informal happy hour at 7:30 p.m.
You can now preorder your Lamp-branded tote bag, made in New Hampshire of durable 15oz cotton and available in small or medium sizes. Shipping is free and begins late next week!
Small ($25):
Medium ($30):
Write for us instead, Professor! We know you have a great piece in you on George Smiley, the hope of the post-war European order, and the Catholic roots of the E.U.
Never been one of them, but the intellectual demise of First Things is depressing and a bad sign for those who care about the mental and cultural state of all things Christian and Catholic