As we make our way through the Jubilee Year, Bishop Conley is choosing great works of literature, poetry, music, art and film to highlight "the good, the true and the beautiful," things we should see or experience along life’s journey to inspire our hearts and minds. Click here for more Diocese of Lincoln Jubilee 2025 Resources
Read January: “Universal Faith – American Soil”
Books:
“Death Comes for the Archbishop” by Willa Cather
Film:
“For Greater Glory” (2012)
Art:
The statue of “La Conquistadora” (“Our Lady of Conquering Love”), in the Santa Fe Cathedral in New Mexico
Music:
Frank La Rocca’s “Mass of the Americas”
Poem:
“The River of the Immaculate Conception” by James Matthew Wilson
Additional Suggestions
Books:
“Oregon Trail” by Francis Parkman
(“Shadows on the Rock” by Willa Cather)
Film:
“Lilies of the Field” (1963)
“Cabrini” (2024)
Art:
Visit the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha (free)
Music:
“Symphony #9 The New World Symphony” by Antonin Dvorak (performed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra at the Lied Center in Lincoln Feb. 26, 2025)
Poem:
“Concord Hymn” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
Read February: “The Journey of Life”
Books:
“The Odyssey” by Homer
Film:
“The Way” (2010)
Music:
The Red Book of Montserrat (Llibre Vermell de Montserrat)
Poem:
“The Hound of Heaven” by Francis Thompson
Art:
“The Voyage of Life,” Thomas Cole
Additional Suggestions
Books:
“The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien
For children: “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien
Film:
“O Brother, Where Art Thou?” (2000)
For children: “Treasure Island” (1950)
Music:
“String Quintet in C” by Franz Schubert
“The Moldau” by Bedřich Smetana
For children: “The Musical Life of Gustav Mole”
Poem:
“The Pillar and the Cloud (Lead Kindly Light)”by St. John Henry Newman
“The Canterbury Tails,” by Geoffrey Chaucer
“The Wanderer,” Anglo-Saxon poet
For children: “My Heart’s in the Highlands” by Robert Burns
Art:
“Altarpiece of Ghent” by Jan van Eyck
For children: “Father Hennepin at Niagara Falls (1678)” by Thomas Hart Benton
Website:
benedictinstitute.org
The Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship’s unique mission is to open the door of Beauty to God
Read March: "Confronting Evil and Death”
Books:
“Inferno” by Dante
Film:
“A Hidden Life” (2019) Terrence Malick
Music:
“Stabat Mater” by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Poem:
“Dream of Gerontius” by St. John Henry Newman
Art:
“Gates of Hell” by Auguste Rodin
Additional Suggestions
Books:
Beowulf
“The Death of Ivan Ilych” by Leo Tolstoy
“The Great Divorce” by C.S. Lewis
For children: The Green Ember series by S.D. Smith
Film:
“The Seventh Seal” (1957) Ingmar Bergman
For children: “The Miracle of Marcelino” (1955)
Ladislao Vajda, “Joan of Arc” (1948) Victor Fleming
Music:
“The Dream of Gerontius” by Edward Elgar
Requiem Mass by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
For children: “Peter and the Wolf” by Sergei Prokofiev
Poem:
“On the Day of Death” by St. Peter Damian
For children:
“Death, Be Not Proud” by John Donne
Art:
Engravings of "The Divine Comedy" by Gustave Doré
For children: Bernt Notke, “St. George and the Dragon,” statue in Stockholm’s medieval cathedral
Website:
benedictinstitute.org
The Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship’s unique mission is to open the door of Beauty to God
Read April: “Healing and Purification”
Books:
“Purgatorio” by Dante
Film:
“The Bicycle Thieves” (1948)
Music:
“Membra Iesu Nostri” by Dietrich Buxtehude
Poem:
“A Rhythmic Oration to each of the Members of Christ Suffering and Hanging on the Cross” by Arnulf of Leuven
Art:
“The Incredulity of Saint Thomas” by Caravaggio
Additional Suggestions
Books:
“Come Rack, Come Rope” by Robert Hugh Benson
For children: “Joan of Arc” by Mark Twain
Film:
“Brideshead Revisited” (1981 miniseries), Charles Sturridge and Michael Lindsay-Hogg
“A Man for All Seasons” (1966) Robert Bolt
For children: “Ben-Hur” (1959) William Wyler
Music:
Bach, St. Matthew’s Passion and Easter Oratorio
For children: “Sleeping Beauty ballet,” Tchaikovsky
Poem:
“I See His Blood Upon the Rose” by Joseph Plunkett
“The Pulley” by George Herbert
For children: “Death be not Proud” by John Donne
“When I was one-and- twenty” by A.E. Houseman
Art:
“The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things” by Hieronymus Bosch
For children: “Christ embracing Saint Bernard” by Francesc Ribalta
Book:
“Paradiso” by Dante
Film:
“Bella” (2006) Alejandro Gómez Monteverde
Music:
“Symphony No. 8” by Gustav Mahler
Poem:
“The Convert” by G.K. Chesterton
Art:
“The Sower” by Vincent Van Gogh, 1888
Additional Suggestions
Books:
“Quo Vadis” by Henryk Sienkiewicz
“The Catholic Revival in English Literature, 1845-1961” by Ian Ker
For children: “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” by Beatrix Potter
Film:
“Life Is Beautiful” (1997) Roberto Benigni
For children: “Chariots of Fire” (1982) Hugh Hudson
“Horton Hears a Who” (2008) Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino,
Music:
“Easter Oratorio,” Bach
For children: “Spring,” Vivaldi
Poem:
“The Canterbury Tales: General Prologue” by Geoffrey Chaucer
“Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds” by William Shakespeare
“Spring” by Gerard Manley Hopkins
“My Heart Leaps Up” by William Wordsworth
For children: “About the Sheltered Garden Ground” by Robert Louis Stevenson
Art:
“The Resurrection of Christ” by Matthias Grunewald
For children: “The Cross of San Clemente,” Rome
Read June: “Midsummer Merriment”
Book:
“Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare
Film:
“The Flowers of St. Francis,” Roberto Rossellini, 1950
Music:
“Peer Gynt Suites 1 and 2” by Edvard Grieg
Poem:
“Entrance” by Rainer Maria Rilke
Art:
“The Lady and the Unicorn” tapestry series
ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS
Books:
“Orthodoxy,” G.K. Chesterton
“Leisure, the Basis of Culture” by Joseph Pieper
Movie:
“Dead Poets Society,” Peter Weir, 1989
Music:
“Hor che’l ciel e la terra” (Madrigals, Book 8) by Monteverdi
Poems:
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (Sonnet 18)” by William Shakespeare
“God’s Grandeur” by Gerard Manley Hopkins,
“To Mistress Margaret Hussey by John Skelton
“Daffodils” by William Wordsworth
“The Oven Bird” by Robert Frost
Art:
“Primavera” by Sandro Botticelli,
“The Dancing Couple” by Jan Steen
FOR CHILDREN
Books:
“The Princess and the Goblin” by George MacDonald
Movie:
“The Princess Bride,” 1987
Music:
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture” by Mendelssohn. Listen for the donkey braying.
Poem:
“Sumer is icumen in”
Art:
“The Entry of the Animals into Noah’s Ark” by Jan Brueghel the Elder
Book:
“Don Quixote” by Cervantes
Film:
“Wildcat” (2023)
Music:
“The Hebrides” by Felix Mendelssohn
Poem:
“The Starlight Night” by Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ
Art:
“The Wise and Foolish Virgins” of Magdeburg Cathedral
ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS
Book:
“Laurus” by Eugene Vodolazkin
Movie:
“Into Great Silence” (2005)
Music:
Songs of Turlough O’Carolan
Poems:
“Choose Something Like a Star” by Robert Frost
Art:
“The Monk by the Sea” by Casper David Friedrich
FOR CHILDREN
Book:
“The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis
Movie:
“The Secret Garden” (1993)
Music:
“Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Poem:
“Pied Beauty” by Gerard Manley Hopkins
Art:
“Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh
Read August: "The Greatness of Truth"
Book:
“The Consolation of Philosophy” by Boethius
Film:
“Dekalog: One” by Krzysztof Kieślowski
Music:
“Summa” by Arvo Pärt
Poem:
“Magna Est Veritas” by Coventry Patmore
Art:
“The School of Athens,” “The Disputation on the Sacrament” by Raphael
ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS
Book:
“The Apology” by Plato
Movie:
“The Island” by Pavel Lungin
Music:
“Creed,” Mass for 4 Choirs by Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Poems:
“Truth: The Ballad of Good Counsel” by Geoffrey Chaucer
“The world is too much with us” by William Wordsworth
Art:
“The Geographer” by Johannes Vermeer
FOR CHILDREN
Book:
“The Adventures of Pinocchio” by Carlo Collodi
Movie:
“Cheaper by the Dozen” by Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey (the 1948 version)
Music:
“Faith of Our Fathers” by Frederick William Faber
“Philosopher Symphony (no. 22)” by Joseph Haydn
Poem:
“Now We Are Six” by A.A. Milne
“The Rainbow” by Christina Rossetti
Art:
“Guardian Angel” by Pietro da Cortona
Read September: “Why We Remember”
Book:
“The Confessions” by Augustine
Film:
“Diary of a Country Priest” by Robert Bresson
Music:
“The Creation,” by Joseph Haydn
Poem:
“Roman Triptych” by Pope St. John Paul II
Art:
Sistine Chapel Frescoes, by Michelangelo
ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS
Book:
“Divine Mercy in My Soul” by St. Faustina Kowalska
Movie:
“Into Great Silence” by Philip Gröning
Music:
“Miserere” by Allegri
“Missa Papae Marcelli” by Palestrina
Poem:
“Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey” by William Wordsworth
Art:
“The Hand of God” by Rodin
FOR CHILDREN
Book:
“Where the Red Fern Grows” by Wilson Rawls
Movie:
“The Prince of Egypt” by Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells
Music:
“The Carnival of the Animals” by Camille Saint-Saëns
Poem:
“I Remember, I Remember” by Thomas Hood
Art:
“The Miraculous Draught of Fishes” by Raphael
Read October: “The Task of Rebuilding”
Book:
“The Aeneid” by Virgil
Film:
“Of Gods and Men” (2010), Xavier Beauvois
Music:
“Seventh Symphony” by Beethoven
Poem:
“The Cathedral of Rheims” by Emile Verhaeren
Art:
The Smiling Angel of Rheims Cathedral
ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS
Book:
“Pan Tadeusz” by Adam Mickiewicz, on the survival of Polish Catholic culture during the build up to Napoleon’s invasion of Russia.
Film:
“Tree of Wooden Clogs”
Music:
“The Overture of 1812” by Tchaikovsky
Poem:
“The Second Coming” by William Butler Yeats
“The Angel with the Broken Wing” by Dana Gioia
Art:
“The Fire in the Borgo” by Raphael
“Introduction of Christianity to the German Primeval Forests” by Joseph von Führich
FOR CHILDREN
Book:
“The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame
Film:
“WALL-E” (2008), Andrew Stanton
Music:
“The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” Soundtrack by Howard Shore
Poem:
“Canadian Boat Song” by Thomas Moore
Art:
Reims Cathedral, additional images of the church and its statuary
Read November: the Harvest of Love
Book:
“The Betrothed” by Alessandro Manzoni
Movie:
“Babette’s Feast” (1987), Gabriel Axel
Music:
“The Marriage of Figaro” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Poem:
“Evangeline” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Art:
“Christ in the House of Mary and Martha” by Diego Velázquez
ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS
Book:
“Jayber Crow” and “Hannah Coulter” by Wendell Berry
Movie:
“Return to Me” (2000), Bonnie Hunt
Music:
“Don Giovanni” by Mozart
“The Barber of Seville” by Gioachino Rossini
Poems:
“Song: to Celia” (“Drink to me only with thine eyes”) by Ben Jonson
“At Home” by Christina Rossetti
“The Lake Isle of Innisfree” by William Butler Yates
Art:
“The Wine of St. Martin’s Day” by Pieter Brueghel the Younger
FOR CHILDREN
Book:
“Little House in the Big Woods” by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Movies:
“The Swiss Family Robinson” (1960), Ken Annakin
“Toby Tyler” (1960), Charles Barton
Music:
“Hansel and Gretel” by Engelbert Humperdinck (use English subtitles)
Poem:
“Thanksgiving Time” by Langston Hughes
Art:
“The Marriage at Cana” by Gerard David
“Procession in St. Mark’s Square” by Gentile Bellini
“A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens
Movie:
“The Leopard” (1963), Luchino Visconti
“The Tree of Wooden Clogs” (1978), Ermanno Olmi
Music:
“Messiah” by George Frideric Handel
Poem:
“New Prince, New Pomp” by St. Robert Southwell, S.J.
Art:
“Adoration of the Magi” by Hieronymus Bosch
ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS
Book:
“The City of God” by St. Augustine
“Home for Christmas: Stories for Young and Old” compiled by Miriam LeBlanc
Movie:
“The Lion in Winter” (1968), Anthony Harvey
Music:
“The Infancy of Christ” by Hector Berlioz
Poems:
“Journey of the Magi” by T.S. Eliot
“To My Little Brothers in Heaven, the Holy Innocents” by St. Thérèse of Lisieux
“Ring out, wild bells” by Alfred Lord Tennyson
Art:
“Beaune Altarpiece” by Rogier van der Weyden
FOR CHILDREN
Book:
“A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens
“Letters from Father Christmas” by J.R.R. Tolkien
Movies:
“The Muppets Christmas Carol” (1992), Brian Henson
Music:
“Amahl and the Night Visitors” by Gian Carlo Menotti
Poem:
“A Christmas Carol” by G.K. Chesterton
Art:
“Adoration of the Magi” by Bl. Fra Angelico and Fra Lippi
