Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Happy eleventh day of Christmas! I’ve been sick in bed the past few days, so there’s no coherent post today – just some scattered notes. Today is the memorial of the first native-born citizen of the United States to be canonized: Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of […]
» Read moreHappy ninth day of Christmas! Today the Church turns to the east for her celebrations, honouring Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, bishops and Doctors of the Church. They both lived in the middle of the fourth century – in fact, they knew each other and were friends. Interestingly, this is not infrequently the case with two great Doctors […]
» Read moreHappy seventh day of Christmas! Today the Church celebrates the optional memorial of Saint Sylvester I, pope and confessor. He was born in the southern Italian town of Sant’Angelo a Scala to two Roman citizens, Rufinus and Justa. He was ordained by Pope Saint Marcellinus just before the persecutions of Diocletian got underway. He survived those years of terror and […]
» Read moreHappy sixth day of Christmas! Today is the first day of the Christmas Octave that is not otherwise also a solemnity, feast, or memorial. That does not mean, however, that there aren’t other saints we could celebrate today in some form. Today might be a good time to talk about the Roman Martyrology. This is one of those liturgical books […]
» Read moreHappy fifth day of Christmas! Today the Church celebrates the martyrdom of the splendid Saint Thomas Becket. Having the birth name “Thomas”, I take Becket and Aquinas as patrons. Each year, I write something about the saint here. Previous articles on Saint Thomas Becket: 2014: A Happy Death (Thoughts on the saint’s martyrdom and the grace of a happy death) 2012: […]
» Read moreHappy third day of Christmas! Were today not a Sunday (and the Feast of the Holy Family!), it would be the feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist. In our life of faith, we are given a name at Baptism, and we choose a new name at Confirmation. It was a little different for me, as I was baptised and […]
» Read moreIf you think that the Spanish conquistadors are the ones who imposed Catholicism on the hapless Aztecs, well you’re wrong. Lord knows they tried. And tried. And failed. In the first decade of Spanish rule (1521 – 1531), only a handful of natives embraced Christianity. And then… well, here’s the story as found in the venerable Catholic Encyclopedia: To a […]
» Read moreO glorious Saint Lawrence, Martyr for the Faith, filled with compassion for those who invoke you, with love for those who suffer, heavily laden with the weight of my troubles, I kneel at your feet and humbly beg you to take my present need under your special protection. Vouchsafe to recommend it to our Lord Jesus. Cease not to intercede […]
» Read moreToday is the feast of the great Doctor of the Church, Saint Ambrose of Milan (340-397). Rather than prattle on about this great saint, I thought I’d post the second reading from today’s Office. Although Ambrose is specifically addressing bishops in this letter, his call to evangelization is for all of us, for all time. You have entered upon the […]
» Read moreO glorious Saint Raymond, husband, father, deacon, filled with compassion for those who invoke you, I kneel at your feet and humbly beg you to take my present need under your special protection. Vouchsafe to recommend it to our Lord Jesus. Cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted. Above all, obtain for me the grace to […]
» Read moreO Holy Saint Francis, through your kind intercession we seek holiness above all things. We seek the faith, hope and love that allowed you to joyfully renounce the pleasures of earthly life and to radically follow our Lord Jesus Christ. Pray for us that we enjoy the privilege of suffering with and for the poor in the example of Jesus. […]
» Read moreO glorious Saint Philip, tireless preacher of the Faith, filled with compassion for those who invoke you, I kneel at your feet and humbly beg you to take my present need under your special protection, that they may serve faithfully in your love to all. Vouchsafe to recommend it to our Lord Jesus. Cease not to intercede for me until […]
» Read moreO glorious Saint Ephrem, harp of the Spirit, filled with compassion for those who invoke you, I kneel at your feet and humbly beg you to take my present need under your special protection and to make your prayer mine: O Lord, Master of my life, grant that I may not be infected with the spirit of slothfulness and inquisitiveness, […]
» Read moreTomorrow on my Benedictine calendar is something called “Illation of the Relics of Saint Benedict”. I have absolutely no idea what this may mean. There are two feasts of Saint Benedict with which I am familiar: March 21: date of the saint’s death (I Class Feast on the Benedictine Calendar) July 11: in commemoration of the translation of his relics […]
» Read moreO glorious Saint Benjamin, constant preacher and Martyr for the Faith, filled with compassion for those who invoke you, I kneel at your feet and humbly beg you to take my present need under your special protection. Vouchsafe to recommend it to our Lord Jesus. Cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted. Above all, obtain for […]
» Read moreO glorious Saint Andrew, preacher, monk, and poet of the Faith, filled with compassion for those who invoke you, I kneel at your feet and humbly beg you to take my present need under your special protection and to make your prayer mine: Listen, O heaven, and I will speak. O earth, hear the cry of one returning to God […]
» Read moreIn addition to being the first Tuesday of Advent this year, today is also historically the memorial of Saint Edmund Campion. If the paintings of him are to be believed, he is a man to whom I bear more than a passing resemblance. Today I’m going to upset some of my (Protestant) Christian friends who see the Reformation as a […]
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