The Letter from Rome, 2023
What follows is a recovered email correspondence between Teodor Maren and Dr. Mara Leclerc of the Vatican Apostolic Archive, conducted between February and August of 2023.
Deacon Michael Halbrook
Faith, family, work, and life - all intertwined.
Permanent deacon of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. Husband, father of four sons, builder of Catholic technology, and writer of essays, fiction, and homilies.
Prague, 1942
What follows is drawn from a set of handwritten notes found inside a chalice case in the possession of Teodor Maren at his death, and from a partial journal kept by Father Josef Novák between 1938 and 1942.
The Dissolution, 1540
What follows is reconstructed from three sources: a letter from Prior Edmund Holt of Rievaulx to an unknown recipient, dated October 1539; a probate inventory from the estate of Richard Askham, wool merchant of York, dated 1571; and a brief entry in the household accounts of the Askham family covering the years 1540 to 1544.
Mara's Proposal
He packed on a Sunday evening, the night before his flight, with the specific care of a man who had been thinking about what to bring for three weeks.
The Argument Building
He wrote to Mara from the kitchen table on Sunday evening, the October dark fully arrived outside the window, the house quiet around him.
The Library on Sunday
Ambrose was waiting outside the library door when Joshua came down from breakfast.
The Phone Call
She called on a Wednesday evening, which was not what he had been expecting.
The Second Gathering
The second gathering had been planned for the first week of November, and it was postponed because Ambrose spent three nights of that week in a hospital.
The Palace at Milan
Two Lamps, Issue 27: Saints Charles Borromeo & Gregory the Great, the archiepiscopal palace at Milan, an autumn evening in 1583
Lamplight 06: Notes on October
Two Lamps Companion - Issues 22 through 25 - October 2026