Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Who doesn’t like top ten lists? These are the top ten post hits on the blog for this past year. Not all of the posts receiving the hits were necessarily written this year. Apparently, their appeal is enduring. In addition, for posts that are part of a numbered series (Novena to the Holy Deacons, I’m looking at you), I’ve only […]
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Rev Mr James J Fish Effective today, Deacon Jim Fish has resigned his position as Pastoral Coordinator of our parish of Holy Rosary. Once more, Holy Rosary is without pastoral leadership. Please, in your charity, pray for our parish.
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In your mercy, please pray for my parish of Holy Rosary in Tacoma. Our new Archbishop, Paul Etienne, has given our church a “stay of execution“, suspending the destruction order for the moment, while he prays and consults. Tonight, I’m asking you to pray, as tonight his Excellency will be consulting with our own Parish Council. He has already been […]
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Rose Window, Church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, Tacoma For most of the Catholic world, tomorrow is the feast of the Most Holy Rosary. For most of the Catholic world, this is a memorial of various sorts. Since, however, my parish is dedicated to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, for us it is a Solemnity. And we’re […]
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Would you please in your charity pray a novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help in regards to the situation at our parish of Holy Rosary? O Mother of Perpetual Help, grant that I may ever invoke your powerful name, the protection of the living and the salvation of the dying. Purest Mary, let your name henceforth be ever on […]
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I was out of town this weekend, so of course I missed Archbishop Etienne’s first Sunday Mass as Archbishop of Seattle. It was celebrated, rather improbably and unexpectedly, at our parish of Holy Rosary. He reportedly began by saying, “today I’m just here to pray with you.” How I wish I could have been there! This was exactly the sort […]
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Today, on the feast of Pope Saint Gregory the Great, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of J. Peter Sartain, Archbishop of Seattle for these past nine years. His Coadjutor Archbishop Paul D. Etienne has automatically succeeded him as head of the Archdiocese of Seattle. Welcome Archbishop Etienne! The Northwest Catholic introduced him: Archbishop Etienne (pronounced AY-chin), 60, was archbishop of […]
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This past weekend, our parish received a letter from the Archbishop of Seattle, His Excellency J. Peter Sartain. In it, he informed us that it was his decision to issue a decree to “close and raze” our parish church of Holy Rosary. Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church, Tacoma This is a terrible decision for a host of reasons. […]
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How does the human brain wrap itself around the eternal and infinite love of God for His creation? How can can we even begin to comprehend the depth of love in Christ’s wounded heart as he pours Himself out for us sinners at Calvary? The truth is, we can’t. The saints and the mystics may catch glimpses, but we humans […]
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This coming Sunday my parish will participate in an outdoor Procession of the Blessed Sacrament following the Noon Mass. This will be the seventh year we’ve taken Jesus through the streets of Tacoma and amongst His people. Our outgoing parish priest, Rev. Martin Bourke, will celebrate the Noon Mass of Corpus Christi in the school auditorium, and then he and […]
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Tomorrow is Pentecost, the great solemnity celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. The Church has long celebrated this event in three ways: the solemnity of the day itself, the octave of the day, and the vigil. With the liturgical reforms of the 1960s and 1970s, all but the day itself was suppressed, a sad testament to […]
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Saint Boniface, whose feast is today, is widely known as the “apostle to the Germans”. An Englishman of Devonshire, he was part of a great Anglo-Saxon missionary effort in the Saxon marches of the Frankish Empire in the early eighth century. The Saint Boniface Window at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church, Tacoma Since my parish church of Holy […]
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The Most Rev. J. Peter Sartain, having carefully assessed the needs of the People of God in the Archdiocese of Seattle, and after careful consultation with the Christian Faithful and the Priest Personnel Board, makes the following pastoral appointments in accord with the 1983 Code of Canon Law effective July 1, 2019. Additional appointments will be forthcoming. (Source)
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My parish of Holy Rosary has been going through a rough year. I’ve restrained myself from speaking too much about it, although I did have numerous posts on the inciting incident: the sudden collapse and then death of our pastor Father Michael Wagner last year. Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church, Tacoma Following Father’s death, we had a string […]
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