Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
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, it is no such thing – you’d […]
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The church in which I was Baptized, Confirmed, and Married has all sorts of Christian symbols painted on the walls. One of them that always set my brain to thinking looked something like this: It is, of course, an ancient Trinitarian symbol, reminding us in a visual way that while the Father is God, and the Son is God, and […]
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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: When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire […]
» Read moreYesterday evening we had a rehearsal for our Confirmation Mass, to be celebrated tonight. It was a chaotic affair, with Altar Servers, Confirmandi, Sponsors, family, and of course Catechists and Clergy. I wasn’t herding cats so much as juggling them. I was hoping that we could be out of there in an hour and a half. In the end, it […]
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On this day in 1453, the great and holy city of Constantinople fell to the Turks and the Christian Roman Empire came to its apocalyptic end. This morning, I am reminded of Yeats. Sailing to Byzantium That is no country for old men. The young In one another’s arms, birds in the trees – Those dying generations – at their […]
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Viri Galilæi, quid admiramini aspicientes in cælum? Forty days (and more) have passed since Easter. While most of the world (and indeed, my Benedictine Ordo and our local F.S.S.P. parish) celebrate the day more properly last Thursday, in many places in the United States, today is the Solemnity of the Ascension. That moment when Christ ascended into heaven has to […]
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This past weekend, I visited Mount Angel Abbey for retreat. I’d been once before, for an amazing liturgy conference they gave last year. This year, I went to accompany my new godson as he spent the weekend in a discernment retreat. The instant I arrived, I felt like my blood pressure dropped twenty points. During the weekend, I of course […]
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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 General Roman Calendar in 1970, it survives in the Extraordinary Form and in many local calendars, including the calendar of that most Catholic country of Malta, as well as in many Hispanic countries. […]
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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 […]
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Over on our Camino Blog, I’m running a series called “Camino Photo of the Day”. Occasionally, I will cross-post these here. This sign is posted in the common room of the Municipal Albergue in Azofra. You will see or hear variations of this phrase all along the Camino. It’s not only a good explanation of the difference between a pilgrim […]
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Faith and reason are like the two shoes you wear on your journey. You get a lot farther with both than just one. (J. Michael Straczynski) Today is the Feast of the Universal Doctor of the Church and one of my name Saints, Thomas Aquinas. When (certain) people, told of my conversion, said to me “oh, you’re Catholic – you […]
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Today is the feast of the man many consider to be the founder of Christian monasticism, Saint Anthony the Great of Egypt, the “Father of Monks”. He was born in the middle of the third century in decidedly Pagan Middle Egypt to a well-to-do, comfortable family. He spent much of his life avoiding the sorts of comforts available to him […]
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Happy Epiphany! Throughout most of the world, today is the great Feast of the Epiphany. Most of my American readers, however, will have to wait until 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. Why you would want to move […]
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On this day in 1892, J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The Professor is 125 today! All around the world, at 9pm local time, the Tolkien Society and the Professor’s many other devotees will celebrate his birthday with a toast to “the Professor”. I will join in, and I encourage you to do the same. The Professor’s writing, […]
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Happy sixth day of Christmas! Yesterday was the memorial of the splendid Saint Thomas Becket. Having the birth name “Thomas”, I take Becket and Aquinas as patrons, and I normally write something about the saint here each year. Yesterday snuck up on me. In addition to working, I attended an early Mass at Saint Joseph, walked home, and then there […]
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We come to the last of the O Antiphons, for tomorrow is Christmas Eve, the Vigil of the Nativity. I mentioned yesterday that the O Antiphons were arranged backward into the song Veni, Veni Emmanuel. This was by design, for the Antiphons themselves are a backward acrostic. The first letters of the Messianic titles — Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, […]
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Though holy doctors have uncovered many mysteries and wonders, and devout souls have understood them in this earthly condition of ours, yet the greater part still remains to be unfolded by them, and even to be understood by them. We must then dig deeply in Christ. He is like a rich mine with many pockets containing treasures: however deep we […]
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