Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
In the old calendar, the one still used in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces. Here’s where many folks go off the rails in castigating the Church as non-Christian. Mediatrix of All Graces? Isn’t Christ our mediator? Does not the scripture say For there is one God. There is […]
» Read moreHow does the human brain wrap itself around the eternal and infinite love of God for His creation? How can can we even begin to comprehend the depth of love in Christ’s wounded heart as he pours Himself out for us sinners at Calvary? The truth is, we can’t. The saints and the mystics may catch glimpses, but we humans […]
» Read moreOne of the more succinct descriptions of this day I’ve found has been copied all over the Internet, to the point where I’m unable to properly source it. The Ascension of Our Lord, which occurred 40 days after Jesus Christ rose from the dead on Easter, is the final act of our redemption that Christ began on Good Friday. On […]
» Read moreTomorrow is forty days since Easter, the Solemnity of the Ascension, when Christ ascended into heaven in what has to be one of the great comic scenes in the Bible: [A]s they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly […]
» Read moreMary’s month of May draws to a close with the Feast of the Visitation. This feast celebrates the visit of Mary, pregnant with Jesus, to her cousin Elizabeth, pregnant with John the Baptist (Gospel of Saint Luke, Chapter 1 verses 39 – 56). Luke’s account culminates in one of the great New Testament songs, Mary’s Magnificat, which we recite at […]
» Read moreToday is a day of many memorials. In the United States, it is a Federal holiday honouring those men and women who died in the military service. While in the popular media this has become merely an excuse for a three-day weekend and countless barbeques, many folks, myself included, hang out the flag and do our best to honour the […]
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Last night, I was Master of Ceremonies at our parish Confirmation Mass. It was my first, but hopefully not my last, MC gig. My reflections on last night are bound to be a little rambly, but I wanted to be sure to record as many of my impressions as I could. The MC role at Mass is somewhat different from […]
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In many cultures throughout the world, a person will take a new name at a new phase of their life: birth, coming of age – really any of the great passages of life. Even in cultures where this is not a formal (re)naming, we often take or are given nicknames that stick with us. We are reinvented in college, or […]
» Read morePope Benedict XVI is not typically regarded as a stern disciplinarian, despite a fearsome reputation as head of CDF when he was a Cardinal. However, the past few weeks or so has seen an Australian bishop sacked, and now this: Vatican suppresses Cistercian abbey in Rome The abbey of Santa Croce in Jerusalem, associated with the Roman basilica of the […]
» Read moreIn the past week, I’ve learned of Mister Harold Camping, president of the Protestant Family Radio, and his prediction that the Rapture will occur on May 21st of this year. That’s today. Didn’t happen. There are two pretty compelling reasons why it didn’t happen. The first is this: the theologicalculus Camping uses is just plain silly. Jimmy Akin does a […]
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Today is the feast of a most remarkable saint, Peter Celestine. Pietro Angelerio was born in the village of Sant’Angelo Limosano, in south-central Italy, in the year 1215. At age 17, he became a Benedictine monk. By the time he was in his thirties, his abbot had given him permission to enter a hermitage in a cave. He became famed […]
» Read moreThe instruction Universæ Ecclesiæ was issued today in Rome. It is a clarification of Summorum Pontificum, which Pope Benedict XVI promulgated on 7 July 2007. By far the best source for information that I’ve found so far is Father Z’s PODCAzT on the subject. Vatican Radio also has a nice review of the document. Let’s see if I can sum […]
» Read moreInteresting days ahead. The Holy See Press Office announces that the Instruction Universæ Ecclesiæ of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei”, on the application of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, will be made public on Friday, May 13th, and will be published on that afternoon (May 14th edition of L’Osservatore Romano). The Instruction will be published in its Latin typical version, […]
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We learned at Mass today that our parish priest, Rev. Carmine Sacco, S.J. is retiring some time this year. We also learned that the Jesuits have appointed Rev. Gene Delmore, S.J. to succeed him. A quick search revealed that Fr. Delmore is currently serving as associate pastor of Saint Joseph’s in Yakima, and that he is scheduled to leave there […]
» Read moreDid that shock you? Good. You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain […]
» Read moreSome meandering thoughts on the day. Today is several days rolled up into one. It’s the Second Sunday of Easter, with its readings of “doubting” Thomas. Blessed Pope John Paul II proclaimed the Sunday after Easter as the Sunday of the Divine Mercy (Dominica II Paschæ seu de divina misericordia) in accord with the visions of the Divine Mercy received […]
» Read moreOne of the things I love about the Church is our sense of time – the grandeur of the procession of the seasons and holy days, each in turn. Some holy days are so holy that a single day can’t contain them. Take Easter, for instance. The ancient tradition of the Church is to add an entire week to the […]
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