Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
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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Everybody knows a guy who just won’t shut up. Sometimes it’s not even that he has something to say, or that he likes the sound of his own voice. Sometimes these are the folks who are genuinely frightened by silence. Sometimes, they just don’t know how not to talk. If those folks had a patron saint, it would no doubt […]
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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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Just about everybody knows Saint Francis. He’s the plaster birdbath guy, right? The saint who hung around with fuzzy pastel animals. Well, sort of. “Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society.” (Saint Francis of Assisi) Not Saint Francis I very nearly took “Francis” as my confirmation name. It might have been awkward, though, what with being engaged to Francine at […]
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Although tomorrow is Sunday, which trumps the feast, it would otherwise be the “Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels” or, in the old calendar, the “Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Michael the Archangel”. Whatever you call it, the most common name is Michaelmas. Following the Vigil Mass tonight, our parish of Holy Rosary is hosting a Michaelmas […]
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What kind of life could the child possibly look forward to? He was born with a cleft palate, cerebral palsy, and spina bifida. In these progressive days, the child very well might have been aborted after the doctor showed the mother her first detailed fetal ultrasound. Blessed Hermann of Reichenau But the child had the great fortune to be born […]
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Saint Benedict. Detail from a fresco by Fra Angelico. Today is the thirteenth anniversary of my final oblation to Saint Martin’s Abbey in Lacey. As an Oblate, I promise to follow the Rule of Saint Benedict inasmuch as it applies to my state in life. When we made our Oblation, we promised in the presence of our Abbot or of […]
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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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Nine months after the solemnity of her Immaculate Conception, celebrated on 8 December, today we celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a feast so ancient that it is celebrated on the same day in both East and West. Or, we would be celebrating it if it weren’t Sunday. Nevertheless, today is the day of the Virgin’s birth. Giotto’s […]
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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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In this very volatile moment in our history, both of the United States and of the Catholic Church, where so much anger rises to the surface so quickly, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on the meaning of our times. This anger and factionalism and the accompanying doom-saying is hardly unique to our age. Charles Dickens’ great classic, A […]
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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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“Keeper of the Treasures” by Deacon Lawrence Klimecki Today is the feast of the Deacon martyr, Saint Lawrence. There are so many stories about him, that it’s hard to sum him up briefly. In the confused days after the martyrdom of Pope Sixtus, the administration of the Roman churches fell to the Deacon, Lawrence. He was captured by the Imperial […]
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Today is the Memorial of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Of old, it was the proper Vigil of Saint Lawrence. Both of these great saints suffered martyrdom, Lawrence to the Roman Empire and Teresa Benedicta to Nazi Germany. The Vigil of Saint Lawrence is still celebrated in my monastic breviary, albeit in a very peculiar fashion. Rather than praying […]
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Santo Domingo de Guzmán by Claudio Coello (1642-1693) Tomorrow is the feast of Saint Dominic de Guzmán. He was born near Santo Domingo de Silos in Spain, just north of the Camino, in 1170. Legend has it that before his birth, his barren mother made a pilgrimage to Silos, and dreamt that a dog leapt from her womb carrying a […]
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Today is the Memorial of the dedication of one of my favourite church buildings in the world, the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, also known in English as Saint Mary Major. It is occasionally known by the title of Our Lady of the Snows. A side chapel (photos by the author) When we were in Rome back in […]
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