Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Depending on your particular calendar, today or tomorrow is the feast of Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787), a great saint and Doctor of the Church who founded the Redemptorists and wrote on the spiritual life. I particularly enjoy his Way of the Cross and a short book (pamphlet, really) called How to Converse Continually and Familiarly with God. The traditional readings […]
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Although they are not mentioned in scripture, Tradition remembers the names of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s parents as Saints Joachim and Anne. Today is their feast. May you have all the joy of the day! This is also the last time that Saint Ann parish in Tacoma will be able to celebrate their patronal feast. On July 31, just a […]
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Santiago Apóstol Today is the Feast of Saint James the Greater, known throughout the Spanish-speaking world as Santiago. He was one of Christ’s Twelve Apostles. Saint James is the patron saint of the archdiocese of Seattle. May you have the joy of the feast! James and his brother John were natives of Galilee, sons of the fisherman Zebedee and his […]
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Fifty-three years ago today, on July 20, 1969, human beings first set foot upon the Moon. My mother claims I watched the landing, at the tender age of two, hiding underneath the coffee table. If so, I don’t remember it. My lovely bride Francine, however, does. Her birthday is July 21, and she clearly remembers having a lunar module on […]
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Saint Bonaventure, whose memorial is today in the Ordinary Form, received his (much delayed) doctorate in theology in Paris in 1257, in the same class as Saint Thomas Aquinas. Later that same year, he was elected Minister General of the Franciscan Order. Bonaventure spent much of his life as a theologian at the university, living in poverty as a Franciscan […]
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I’m going to go out on a limb and say that vanishingly few American churches have an image of today’s saint. But our old parish of Holy Rosary does. Let me explain. It’s a pretty rare thing when Kings become saints, or at least become canonized saints. I can only think of a handful off the top of my head, […]
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Today the Church celebrates one of her most ancient feasts, commemorating the martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul. I prayed at the tombs of these apostles during our pilgrimage to Rome in 2005. Icon of Saints Peter and Paul Peter With the body of Saint John Paul II mere feet from me, I knelt near Saint Peter’s tomb at the […]
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A post-Protestant friend of mine has a particular fondness for that great Doctor of the Church, Saint Irenæus of Lyons, whose feast day is today. He occasionally quotes from the saint’s great work, Adversus Hæreses (Against Heresies), and he is particularly fond of the saint’s assertion that “the proper glory of God is man fully alive.” He refers to the […]
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Today, the day after the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is the feast of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On my Benedictine Ordo (and the Extraordinary Form calendar), we’ll have to wait for August 22nd, the Octave Day of the Assumption, for this feast. The veneration (not worship!) of Mary’s Immaculate Heart consists in the […]
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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 poor sinners at Calvary? The truth is, we can’t. The saints and the mystics may catch glimpses, but we […]
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Tomorrow is the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, so today is Saint John’s Eve. Throughout much of Europe, the tradition on this day is to light bonfires. Here’s ours from back in 2015. Saint John’s Eve, 2015 Not much of a bonfire, strictly speaking. This year’s figures to be much larger – I’ve got some old […]
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Sir Thomas More(by Hans Holbein the Younger) Today is the memorial of one of my favourite saints, Saint Thomas More, who died at the hands of King Henry VIII (that villain). That is, today is his memorial in the modern Roman calendar, which he shares with Saint John Fisher, also executed by the same king. In my Benedictine ordo, however, […]
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Today is the anniversary of the death of the great G.K. Chesterton. He was truly one of the great writers of the 20th century, and while some find his style of literary inversion intolerable, I think he sparkles with both genius and sanctity. You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it.(G.K. Chesterton) Chesterton […]
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The Lord manifests Himself to those who stop for some time in peace and humility of heart. If you look in murky and turbulent waters, you cannot see the reflection of your face.If you want to see the face of Christ, stop and collect your thoughts in silence, and close the door of your soul to the noise of external […]
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In Saint Patrick Church in Tacoma – the place where I was Baptized, Confirmed, and Married – there are all sorts of Christian symbols painted on the walls. One that always set my brain to thinking looked something like this: It is, of course, a Trinitarian symbol, reminding us in a visual way that while the Father is God, and […]
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Please in your mercy pray for the repose of the soul of my granddaughter Charlotte Franchesca Robinowitz, born on June 11, 2018 at 11:11pm. She passed away early the next morning in the arms of her parents. Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
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We read today in the Acts of the Apostles of this great day, which in a certain way we can celebrate as the birthday of the Church: Pentecost – Duccio di Buoninsegna (1308) When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,they were all in one place together.And suddenly there came from the skya noise like a strong driving wind,and it filled […]
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