Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Today is the feast of four great Abbots of the Benedictine Order: Saints Odo, Majolus, Odilo, and Hugh. They were all good and holy men, and during the course of their reigns over the Abbey of Cluny and its associated priories, they reformed western monasticism – indeed, it could be fairly said that together they saved western monasticism. My Monastic […]
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With all of the livestreamed Masses going on right now, it was inevitable that the music companies and hymnal publishers would start to raise a fuss about licensing and copyright. Here’s a secret: the Latin Mass parts and the Gregorian hymns are not under copyright. I mean, there are hymnal publishers that will change a few notes or words so […]
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As we approach the end of the Easter Octave, I am once again struck by the poetic quality of the hymn translations of the Monastic Diurnal. Specifically, I’m thinking about the Easter hymn, Aurora Lucis Rutilat. The first part of the translation is from a version done in 1852 by J. M. Neale, but then in the fifth verse (below) […]
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There are two kinds of time. There’s the kind you can measure. That’s the kind we live through sequentially, moment to moment. The Greek word for this is “kronos”, where we get words like “chronometer” and “chronicle”. Then, there’s the other kind. The Greeks call this “kairos”. This is the time when God acts, when eternity breaks into linear time. […]
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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, as well as the sacred priesthood which offers this sacrifice. Unlike most Protestants, the Catholic and Orthodox (and others of the Apostolic Tradition) believe that God […]
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Since 2015, our parish of Holy Rosary has celebrated a Tenebræ service on Wednesday of Holy Week. This year, we are unable to do so, but below I’ll provide information on how you can join our former pastor, Father Wichert, in celebrating. What is Tenebræ? Tenebræ Begins The word itself is Latin for “shadows”. It is a Holy Week service […]
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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 normally celebrated […]
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Our parish of Holy Rosary will not be streaming any Holy Week or Easter liturgies this year. We want to protect Father Justin’s health! So instead, we’ve put together some recommendations. First and foremost, Archbishop Etienne will be live streaming the Holy Week and Easter liturgies from Saint James Cathedral, and we encourage you to view and to take part at home […]
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On Lætare Sunday in 2012, Francine and I first attended Holy Rosary church for Mass. I described the event at the time like this: Rev. Jacob Maurer, First Mass, June 13, 2009 Something simply extraordinary happened today. This afternoon, I attended the Sacred Liturgy and participated in the Mass for the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Lætare Sunday), and it was […]
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Pope Francis calls on everyone to pray the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary tomorrow, the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, at 9:00pm Rome time invoking “Our Lady, Health of the Sick and Saint Joseph, to protect our families from coronavirus COVID-19, especially the ill and those who are caring for the sick, the doctors, nurses, who are risking their lives”. This […]
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Remember that you are dust, and to 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. Let […]
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Today, we begin the season of Lent with Ash Wednesday. The modern Roman Missal has a set of rubrics that cover the whole of Lent, before digging into each day separately. Most folks are familiar with number 4, and I’d venture to say that 3 is not exactly unknown to priests and ministers, if not the folks in the pews. […]
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Today is Septuagesima Sunday, the beginning of a liturgical season known as Septuagesima or Fore-Lent or Shrovetide. It consists of the three weeks immediately before the start of Lent, and indeed the name Septuagesima means seventy, in reference to Quadragesima – forty – which is the proper Latin name for Lent. This liturgical season, meant to prepare us for the […]
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My monastic Breviary contains memorials and feasts for many saints who fell off the General Calendar in 1969 (or who had their feasts demoted and/or moved). Since I don’t know much about many of these saints, I’ve been frequently supplementing with the Matins readings of the day. These readings often give short hagiographies of the saint. Today is the feast […]
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Today was once one of the most solemn feasts of the year. It’s gone by several names over the millennia: the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Candlemas. Coming forty days after Christmas, it was even once the end of the Christmas season. Even today there are relics of […]
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Happy Epiphany, probably! In a sense, the Feast of the Epiphany is the culmination (if not quite the end) of the Christmas Season. It was once a much more celebrated feast than it is now. In fact, it once had its own Octave. Like many others, I’d love to see that restored. In the popular imagination, the Feast of the […]
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