Perry Smith

What Causes a Brat? The occurrence of a brat is not random. It is the predictable result of psychological and moral deficiencies that arise when a child is not properly formed in virtue. According to classical Christian anthropology, especially St. Thomas Aquinas, human beings are designed to grow in virtue as they mature. These virtues do not appear overnight. They must be cultivated slowly, intentionally, and consistently. Parents play the central role in this cultivation. Their task is to...

The culture of Christian lands was once pagan. Yet as converts multiplied and the Gospel spread, entire nations gradually embraced a new faith and a new moral vision. From this conversion arose entirely new cultures, cultures built upon what people held closest to their hearts: the Catholic Faith. This faith did not merely change what people believed on Sundays. It changed how they understood marriage, family, work, law, beauty, suffering, and the purpose of life itself. As hearts were...

There is a moment every parent eventually faces, a quiet, unsettling realization that good intentions are not enough. We look at our children, at the culture pressing in on them, and we feel the gap between the home we want to build and the one we are actually living in. For years, I watched families I loved wrestle with this. Faithful parents. Good parents. Parents who wanted holiness for their children but felt overwhelmed, under formed, or simply unsure where to begin. And I realized...