Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Last night, the Holy Rosary Transition Team met for the first time with our new pastor, Very Rev. Nicholas Wichert, as well as our current pastor, Rev. Jacob Maurer. The meeting was ably facilitated by a number of folks from the Archdiocese, including Deacon Eric Paige and Leigh Stringfellow from the office of the Vicar of Clergy. They were great, […]
» Read moreA week or so ago, Saint Joseph held a “town hall” to discuss the upcoming changes as they transition to an Extraordinary Form parish under their new pastor, Rev. Michael Stinson, FSSP. There were 44 parishioners in attendance, as well as Fr. Maurer and the Vicar of Clergy for the Archdiocese of Seattle, the Very Rev. Gary Zender. It seems […]
» Read moreThe very clever amongst you no doubt noticed in my previous post that our new pastor was not named pastor of both of our parishes. Let me explain. The parishes of Holy Rosary and St. Joseph have been joined at the hip for something like twenty years. They were first consolidated under a single pastor during the last of our […]
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Years ago, when we were parishioners at St. Rita, our long-time pastor retired. At that time, I wrote what has oddly become one of the most Googled posts on this blog, Hopes and Prayers for a New Pastor. At that time, I said: Being a pastor is one of the most difficult jobs in the world, I think. The responsibility […]
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Several things crowd my mind this morning. Chiefly, I’m still processing the Corpus Christi Masses and procession we celebrated at our parish yesterday. But first, a slight digression. Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces On the calendar used in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces. I wrote an article several […]
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Depending on what calendar you use (Ordinary Form or Extraordinary Form), and whether or not it is a Holy Day of Obligation in your diocese, tomorrow (or last Thursday) will be (or was) the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). Happy Corpus Christi! Whereas Holy Thursday is a celebration of the institution of the Eucharist, Corpus […]
» Read moreThis coming Sunday my parish will participate in an outdoor Procession of the Blessed Sacrament following the Noon Mass. The Masses that day will be celebrated Ad Orientem. This will be the third year we’ve taken Jesus through the streets of Tacoma and amongst His people. If you are anywhere in the area, I hope you will consider joining us. […]
» Read moreI have written several times about the Monks of Norcia. This video introduces their new CD of Gregorian chant. It’s a lovely peek into their life, and the dry wit of their Prior is delightful. You can pre-order the CD here.
» Read moreCongratulations to my new Goddaughter Monique’ on her Baptism and Confirmation at the Easter Vigil! She took the name Anastasia, for Saint Anastasia of Rome, who is honoured in the Roman Canon. It’s always amazing to me to see the smiles on the faces of the newly Baptized. I remember it my own Baptism, and I’m pretty sure my jaw […]
» Read moreLast night’s Tenebræ service was sublime. It lasted about an hour and a half, and just being in that gathering in deepening darkness as the sound of chanted prayer filled the church was an experience I’ll not soon forget. We had about eighty or so people there – far more than we had anticipated. We only printed about thirty service […]
» Read moreThe following is the Holy Week schedule for the parishes of Holy Rosary and Saint Joseph in Tacoma. There’s a lot there. One thing to bear in mind is that the Holy Triduum is essentially one giant liturgy (with some serious overnight breaks) that begins with the Introit of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, continues through […]
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Ten years ago today, on the night of the 26th of March 2005, I was baptized into the Church at the great Vigil of Easter. I used to think that it was a rare thing that one could point to a specific day, a specific moment, and say with certainty, “that’s it; that’s when everything changed”. As it turns out, […]
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Although it no longer appears on the Universal (Roman) calendar, today is one of two feasts of Saint Benedict celebrated by Benedictines throughout the world. This is the day in the year 547 when Saint Benedict of Norcia died. Saint Benedict is generally considered the founder of western monasticism, and his Rule spread throughout the west as the Roman Empire […]
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Today is the name day of one of our cats. Her name is Lucy, and most days she’s dumb as a bag of rocks. In her kittenish youth, she was quite acrobatic and active – in fact, she was named after Lucy Liu, rather than the more famous Lucy pictured here. The original Lucy, however, was a Sicilian martyr. She […]
» Read moreNormally, we ask the servers, lectors, and extraordinary ministers to arrive thirty minutes before Mass. I was coming from work, and due to the train schedule I arrived an hour before Mass was scheduled to begin. I walked from the train station to the church in a refreshingly cool evening rain. Father was hearing Confessions, and there were a small […]
» Read moreThis past Sunday, our parish celebrated its feast day with Masses (Ordinary Form, English with Latin responses) and a potluck. The feast of the Holy Rosary is actually today, but since it is our patronal solemnity, the Archbishop has given permission to move the celebration to the nearest Sunday. One of my volunteer gigs there is to coordinate the Altar […]
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