Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
The Northwest Catholic, the official magazine of the Archdiocese of Seattle, has published the official list of new priestly appointments for July, 2017. In among the quite extensive list, we of course find the outgoing pastor and the incoming priest administrator for our parishes of Holy Rosary and Visitation. Well, at least we now have current photos of both of […]
» Read more
Yesterday at my parish of Holy Rosary, we celebrated a votive Mass on the Marian altar. This was more or less our Mother’s Day Mass. We have been doing this for a couple of years now, and last year we added a Father’s Day Mass in June at the Saint Joseph altar. This is a laudable custom, and I hope […]
» Read more
This past Sunday, my parish of Holy Rosary celebrated its 125th anniversary – our Quasquicentennial. The project for this celebration was started several years ago by Dr Michael Barkley, a gentleman from the parish who deserves all credit for getting this ball rolling. His great-grandparents were in fact the first couple married at the parish, back in October of 1891. […]
» Read more
If you are anywhere near Tacoma this weekend, please join us on Sunday for the 125th anniversary of the founding of our parish. The Mass is at Noon, and it will be followed by a reception in the School hall. Here’s the blurb from one of our local papers: Holy Rosary’s steeple rises above downtown Tacoma and towers over I-5. […]
» Read more
What a day – and it’s not quite over yet! If it wasn’t for to-do lists, I don’t know how I would function. Called the paper for non-delivery (again) – check. Breakfast and Lauds – check. Worked on Incident Report for the Firm – check. Meeting with Pastor – check. Worked on making Firm security guide “more avuncular” – check. […]
» Read more
This weekend, me and a couple of guys are taking a road trip and heading over to Mount Angel Abbey for the 2016 Sacred Liturgy Conference. I realize that this is not what most folks do on their Labor Day Weekend, but I’m pretty comfortable in my eccentricities. Here’s the intro from the press release: The Oregon Sacred Liturgy Conference […]
» Read more
Last Friday morning, I was struck particularly by a psalm from the Office for Saint Agatha: O God, my God, for Thee I long at break of day: My soul thirsteth for Thee, my body longeth for Thee, As desert, arid land: thus I appear before Thee in the sanctuary, to see Thy power and Thy glory. For Thy mercy […]
» Read more
This past weekend has been what we at Pistachio House sometimes refer to as a “churchy weekend”: three Masses and chanted Vespers. The first of these was a new experience for us. At 6:30 on Saturday morning, we attended an Extraordinary Form Rorate Mass at Saint Joseph. This is a votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin celebrated in Advent. Since […]
» Read moreSo, this little blog doesn’t get an enormous amount of traffic. Normally, we peak during Advent and around Easter – about what you’d expect. The other day, however, I had the largest number of hits ever in a single day. That was the day I published my post about Father Maurer’s farewell. Go figure!
» Read moreFather Maurer’s last Sunday Masses at Holy Rosary and Saint Joseph were this past weekend. Following the Noon Mass, a tremendous celebration was held for him in the old convent building. The noon Mass was positively packed. The last time I saw so many folks crowded into Holy Rosary was when Archbishop Sartain celebrated Corpus Christi here in 2013. I […]
» Read more
Here is the text of the Q & A documents we handed out earlier this weekend. It includes the new Sunday and daily Mass schedules for Holy Rosary and Visitation. Coming Together in Christ Transitions at Holy Rosary and Visitation, No. 3 The parish transition teams are committed to answering your questions and keeping you informed about the upcoming changes […]
» Read moreHere is the text of the Q & A documents we handed out this past weekend, minus the pastors’ introductions. Coming Together in Christ Transitions at Holy Rosary and Visitation The parish transition teams are committed to answering your questions about the upcoming changes at Visitation and Holy Rosary. Over the next few weeks, we plan to print out sheets […]
» Read moreThis morning’s Mass at Holy Rosary was the last solemnity celebrated together by the parishes of Holy Rosary and Saint Joseph. Father Maurer celebrated the Mass to honor Our Lady and give glory to God, and it was beautiful, uplifting, and holy. Father chanted the prayers. We chanted the Ordinary of the Mass in English. Francine read from the Revelation […]
» Read moreLast night, the Holy Rosary and Visitation parish Transition Teams met together for the first time. The meeting was chaired by our incoming pastor, Very Rev. Nicholas Wichert. Also there were our current pastor, Rev. Jacob Maurer, and Leigh Stringfellow from the office of the Vicar of Clergy. This is a great bunch of folks. It was interesting to meet […]
» Read moreLast 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 moreThis morning, we were privileged to meet the young lady in this photo. She served with us at the Saturday Mass on the Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori. Her name is Kara Jackson. She has Down syndrome. Kara is an Altar Server in her home parish in Ohio, and God has asked her to serve at the altar in all […]
» Read more