Me:
I am a Roman Catholic convert, forty years old, husband of seventeen years, father of three, living in the north of Scotland, where we attend the Mass in Latin at Pluscarden Abbey.
My whole life revolves around the Church, my family, and my other great love, the gymnasium.
In a land that now celebrates sin, spiritual ruin and destruction, I have chosen to dedicate my life to responding to that sin in the world around me, with my own two hands, my body, my mind, and my spirit.
As a former soldier, I was trained to demand excellence in the pursuit of physical usefulness, intellectual acuity, and spiritual discipline for the cultural elevation of myself, my family and my community.
I lived a large portion of my life as an adherent of post-modernist, New Age and openly Satanic ideologies, and I believe that the complete reversal of my former worldview has greatly affected my vision of what will redeem the world, as I was redeemed.
I am devoted to the restoration of the sacred aesthetic, particularly in my native Great Britain, and especially in my home Diocese of Aberdeen.
Vocation:
My work is rooted in the archetype of the Grail seeking Troubadour, whom I see as the Knight-Monk-Artist, and perhaps if one were to be less romantic, the archetype of Lancelot, the Soldier-Philosopher-Artisan.
I base my life on these things:
Obedience to the Roman Catholic magisterium, and particularly the Latin tradition.
Aesthetic elegance through Classical sacred art.
A mythical imagination shaped by the Classics, Scripture and the cultural heritage of my people.
A living neo-medieval approach to that culture, not as nostalgia, but a living renaissance.
My writing is not intended to be a brand, but rather the testimony and witness of my life, for others who might be seeking a structured response to the chaos we see all around us.
So What:
This journal is for men seeking serious introspection – not as a reckless reaction to modernism, but as creative opportunity to live out opposition to the modern world, simply by doing what we know is right and just.
I Produce:
Essays on manhood, discipline and aesthetics.
Systems of exercise, focused on wrestling, gymnastics and military training. I have written a book on the subject, the 2025 edition will be available in Autumn.
Sacred art – I currently work in oils and intend to create large works for use in the Church. I am also writing a six part epic mytho-history, which re-presents the entire Arthurian mythic corpus in a futuristic setting (3200AD).
Thoughts on fatherhood, marriage, traditional male roles, monasticism, the military and my own continuing confrontation with the divine.
Collaboration:
My wife is my closest friend, and a consistent creative partner. She is also a highly skilled artist and writer (far better than I), truly a gift from God, deeply devoted to her faith. She raises our children in a home she has sculpted, grounded in her vision of aesthetic beauty as a living liturgy.
Her writings can be found here: pilgriminalba.substack.com
Together we film conversations with Roman Catholic religious across the north-east of Scotland, particularly among monastic communities (both monks and nuns), as we seek to share the stories of silent devotion that mark the lives of religious in the north.
We are also working to form a Foundation or Society to promote Sacred Art in Scotland and more widely across Great Britain, and we aim to produce salons, exhibitions and talks on this subject.
All of this can be supported via my wife, here: buymeacoffee.com/pilgriminalba
Forwards:
I believe that the Roman Catholic man in this age is required to have physical strength, an eye for beauty, a certain decorum and class in his presentation, and a desire to live honourably in glorification of Christ as the foundational source of Western Civilization and the ultimate answer to our contemporary spiritual ills.
I believe that we men must continually sculpt our bodies, discipline ourselves, elevate our minds and desires, and root our lives in the traditional understanding of the eternal – accepting that we will always fall short of God’s glory, requiring contrition, confession, and repentance before the altar of Christ, to remain in communion with the Roman Catholic Church.
I believe, more than ever before, as Dostoevsky said, "beauty will save the world."
