Death Comes for the Archbishop
Purple Catholic Saturday Post
Good morning and happy Saturday.
I am very excited to announce a new project from the Purple Catholic this morning: The Purple Catholic Literature Collection.
In our own personal quests to become holier, we may tend to overlook literature in favor of devotionals or theological treatises to try and further our understanding of our God. But to do so would be to our detriment.
Literature allows us to explore and have a greater understanding of the lives of those around us and before us. Pope Francis wrote in 2024, “The marvellous diversity of humanity, and the diachronic and synchronic plurality of cultures and fields of learning, become, in literature, a language capable of respecting and expressing all their variety.”
Whether it be St. Augustine’s Confessions or perhaps William Faulkner’s Go Down Moses, literature brings our minds out of our local bubbles to see and understand the victories and struggles of others. It helps us to grow a deeper love for our fellow man and can better equip us to evangelize.
That is why I am starting a new podcast on the Purple Catholic called the Literature Collection. Each season will focus on one book, and it will be read in its entirety. Additionally, I will have conversations with guests about the historical and spiritual context of the book, and conversations about the book’s topics and how we can see the themes in our everyday lives.
Death Comes for the Archbishop
This first season focuses on Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop. It is a novel published in 1927 that shares a fictional account of the founding of the Diocese of Santa Fe. Just after the Americans had annexed New Mexico at the conclusion of the Mexican-American War, the church saw it fit to establish a see there and sent a French missionary priest, Fr. Jean Marie Latour, in Ohio to the southwest.
Fr. Latour has to balance the spiritual and cultural differences between Native Americans, Mexicans, and white Americans. He has to rein in corrupt priests and travel vast distances on muleback to visit his parishes. It is truly a difficult life.
Although Fr. Latour is a fictional character, his life is based on that of Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy, the very real first Archbishop of Santa Fe, who encountered similar challenges in his own life.
Some of my guests for this program include historians, evangelists, and priests, and we will have strong conversations about the themes of this book.
There is also a print companion to this book available for pre-order on Amazon and for Kindle. This way, you can read along with the book as you listen to the podcast. The book also features several interesting appendices relevant to the story.
All sales from the book and ebook from now through July 2025 will be donated to Aid to the Church in Need.
Subscriptions and schedule
New episodes will be released weekly both here on PurpleCatholic.com and on your favorite podcast platform. All subscribers will have access to all episodes.
I have now enabled paid subscriptions on PurpleCatholic.com. Paying subscribers will have early access to each episode and commercial-free versions of the program.
Here is a release schedule:
Paying subscribers: First episode to be released on Sunday, June 29, and all subsequent episodes on Sundays
Free subscribers: First episode to be released on Wednesday, July 2, and all subsequent episodes on Wednesdays
There are more features coming for paying subscribers soon, and I will include details here when they are available.
Everyone will continue to receive these Saturday Posts, Media Alerts, and Ave Maria Radio News.
My hope is that together, we can grow to have a better and richer understanding of the human race that God created through literature, through the products of imagination. I look forward to joining you on Death Comes for the Archbishop.
Listen to the trailer for Death Comes for the Archbishop:
Solemnity of Pentecost
Pentecost, like Easter, has an extended vigil that can be said the night before, and some places take advantage of this opportunity. The readings during the extended vigil show the work of the Holy Spirit throughout salvation history: from the tower of Babel to Moses on Mount Sinai to the upper room.
The shortened vigil features one of the extended vigil’s Old Testament readings and psalms, Romans 8:22-7, and John 7:37-39.
At Mass during the day for the Solemnity of Pentecost, we will hear Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 104; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13 or Romans 8:8-17; and John 20:19-23 or John 4:15-16, 23-26. We will also hear the Sequence Veni, Sancte Spiritus.
Here is a calendar for the rest of the week:
Monday, 9 June - Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church
Wednesday, 11 June - Memorial of St. Barnabas, apostle
Friday, 13 June - Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, priest and doctor
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in them the fire of your love.
In the news:
The United States
“The monstrance is a monstrosity!” - National Eucharistic pilgrimage faces protestors - The Pillar
Does “Petrocentrism” have downsides? - George Weigel in Denver Catholic
Have faith: You can beat screen addiction - Sr. Helena Burns, FSP in the Catholic Register
The Vatican
Pope Leo speaks by phone with Russian leader Putin - The Catholic Register
Commission tells pope universal safeguarding guidelines to be completed this year - OSV News
The World
“It’s genocide:” Bishop Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe (Makurdi, Nigeria) on persistant attacks - ACI Africa
Swiss authorities investigating organization behind the “suicide pod” - National Catholic Register
Italian government changes tax program that allowed some money to go to Catholic Church - The Pillar
Have a good weekend,
Matthew