Category: Holy Days
Christus Resurrexit! Resurrexit Vere!
Please Join us Tonight for the Great Vigil of Easter
If you live in western Washington, I invite you to join us for the Easter Vigil at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Tacoma. The Vigil will begin at 9:00 PM, but you’ll want to get there early. Featuring: A bonfire. A dark church and a thousand candles. Chant (in Latin AND English). Seven readings from the Old Testament […]
» Read moreGood Friday: God is Dead
Today is Good Friday: the commemoration of the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ at Calvary. Ecce lignum Crucis, in quo salus mundi pepéndit. Veníte adorémus. Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the salvation of the world. Come let us adore. (Missale Romanum: Friday of the Passion of the Lord) He was condemned by his own people, […]
» Read moreTenebræ Recap
Last 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 moreMaundy Thursday: Do This in Memory of Me
The Season of Lent comes to its end this evening, as we celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. This celebration commemorates the institution of the Eucharist, the source and summit of Church life. Unlike most Protestants, the Catholic and Orthodox (and others of the Apostolic Tradition) believe that God is really there, wholly present in the consecrated bread and […]
» Read moreSchedule for Holy Week
The 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 […]
» Read moreHosanna! Hosanna to the Son of David!
This weekend, Holy Week begins with the Sunday of Lord’s triumphal entry into Jersusalem – Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. Although Good Friday is coming – the Passion and Death are coming – for the moment, this moment, joy resounds as our King arrives in His city. In most parishes throughout the world, the principal Mass is celebrated by […]
» Read moreFriday of Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin
On this Friday, a week before Good Friday, the Church has traditionally remembered the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin. While the commemoration was removed from the calendar in 1970, it survives in the Extraordinary Form, as well as in many local calendars including that most Catholic country of Malta and many Hispanic countries. The commemoration is so widespread, that […]
» Read moreYes!
The mercy of God is a scandal – Christ offers His infinite mercy to every worst kind of sinner, excluding no one. This eternal upwelling of mercy overflows, cascading upon the whole of the human race. It extends to murderers. It extends to rapists. It extends to thieves, and liars, and stalkers, and vandals. It extends to tax collectors and […]
» Read morePassiontide
A week ago we celebrated Lætare Sunday, a burst of joy in the midst of Lent. This was, coincidentally, the third anniversary of our first Mass at our parish of Holy Rosary. This week, the week before Holy Week, we double-down on Lent. Traditionally, this past Fifth Sunday of Lent marks the beginning of Passiontide, when we walk with Christ […]
» Read moreCoffee with Sister Vassa
If you haven’t yet discovered Sister Vassa’s videos, you owe it to yourself to take a look. She’s an Orthodox nun and teaches Liturgical Studies at the University of Vienna. And she’s fantastic. Her YouTube channel. Her web site.
» Read moreJoy!
Yesterday, my Lent began with a kiss. Oh, I’d previously prayed Lauds on the train coming into Seattle, but this I do nearly every day. Lent is a time set apart, a time to spiritually prepare ourselves for the coming of Easter. To help set the season apart, it begins with Ash Wednesday, where we enter into the penitential season […]
» Read moreAsh Wednesday
“Remember Man that you are dust and unto dust you shall return.” And with those words, our Lent has begun. Holy Mother Church calls us to make these next forty days until Easter a time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Lent is a pilgrimage, in a sense, through time if not space, through death to resurrection. A pilgrimage of penitence. […]
» Read moreLenten Regulations for the Archdiocese of Seattle, 2015
Lent starts Wednesday! Here are the Lenten regulations as sourced from the Archdiocese of Seattle web site. Fasting, almsgiving, and prayer are the three traditional disciplines of Lent. The faithful and catechumens should undertake these practices seriously in a spirit of penance and of preparation for Baptism or of renewal of Baptism at Easter. Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2015, and […]
» Read moreThe Epiphany
Throughout most of the world, today is the great Feast of the Epiphany. My American readers, however, will recall celebrating the feast this past Sunday. For reasons I can’t quite fathom, in the dioceses of the United States this feast has been moved to the Sunday between January 2 and January 8. Needless to say, this upsets the whole “Twelve […]
» Read moreMother of God
Wishing both of my readers a very happy new year, and a most blessed Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. Let us celebrate the motherhood of the Virgin Mary, and let us worship Christ the Lord, her Son. (Invitatory antiphon for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God) Most people who are Christians but not Catholics probably wonder why we […]
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