Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Today is the feast of this blog’s patron, Saint Bede the Venerable. I took the name Bede when I made my final oblation to St. Martin’s Abbey. Bede occupies an important niche in Church history by bridging the gap between patristic and early medieval times, the era when the Germanic nations had just been Christianized. Through him Christian tradition and […]
» Read moreThe most observant of my three loyal readers will note that my place of employment no longer appears amongst the links on this page. Due to bugetary issues, my employment contract with Visitation Catholic School has not been renewed. We’re trying to sort out whether my last day is end of June or end of August. I found out Friday, […]
» Read moreToday we celebrated the Ascension of our Lord. Our “guest priest” while our pastor is vacationing in Ireland with his family is an odd duck. An old, retired Irish priest, he fits the “Old Irish priest” stereotype. Despite being here for over fifty years, his accent is so thick that you can barely understand four words in a row. In […]
» Read moreToday is Ascension Thursday. Except that in my diocese, it’s not. In many places in the USA and UK, Ascension Thursday is this coming Sunday. This makes absolutely no sense to me. Part of the traditional music for this day is Viri Galilaei. It won’t be sung in my parish. Although I’m a member of a Latin Rite parish, I’ve […]
» Read moreI will have some thoughts on the Triduum, particularly the liturgical celebration thereof in my parish, in a day or three. For now, I join the rest of the world in wishing the Holy Father a very happy 80th birthday.
» Read moreAlso known as Palm Sunday. I lectored today. As we used the dialogue option for the Passion narrative from Saint Luke, I actually both proclaimed the Gospel title (“The Passion according to Saint Luke”) and the final versicle (“The Gospel of the Lord”). Normally, these (and indeed, all Gospel readings) are reserved to the Priest or Deacon. [liturgical geek moment] […]
» Read more… in the words of Fr. Z. Yesterday evening the Pope received in audience: His Eminence Francis Card. Arinze, Prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments; His Eminence Darío Card. Castrillón Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei”. The Motu Proprio to liberalize the Tridentine Rite is coming, and soon. The question is, will […]
» Read more“The road to hell is paved with the skulls of bishops.” (attributed to Saint John Chrysostom (349-407), Bishop and Doctor of the Church) Mr. John Allen of the NCReporter writes that his excellency, Bishop Donald Trautman of Erie, Pennsylvania has “challenged a recent ruling from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments that the Latin phrase […]
» Read moreFr. Z over at What Does The Prayer Really Say? is calling for “predictions” on the title of the new Motu Proprio. Sadly, his site seems to be down at the moment, or I’d comment there. Perhaps simply Introibo ad altare Dei ?
» Read morePlease allow me to wish for everyone a happy and prosperous new year. May you have health and happiness in abundance. May you grow in wisdom and knowledge. May your creativity and passion flourish in fertile ground. May you grow closer to God, and may He grant you peace.
» Read moreI‘d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone who may read my words a blessed Christmas and a happy New Year! Salvator noster natus est in mundo!
» Read moreThat all may be oneIn the past month, Pope Benedict has met with The Archbishop of Canterbury The Œcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The Orthodox Archbishop of Athens Add to this his Holiness’ apparently imminent release of a Motu Proprio liberalizing the Tridentine Use of the Roman Rite (or whatever we’re going to call it), which will go a long way […]
» Read moreThis morning’s Mass at the school where I work was sponsored by the second grade class. I am always of a mixed mind on these things. On the one hand, the children are involved in the planning and celebration of the Mass. They are gaining experience as servers, as lectors, as choir members. On the other hand, sometimes the pagentry […]
» Read moreA Prayer for Christian Unity Lord Jesus Christ, You call us together in faith and love. Breathe again the new life of your Holy Spirit among us That we may hear your holy word, Pray in your name, Seek unity among Christians And live more fully the faith we profess. All glory and honour be yours With the Father, and […]
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Please pray for the Pope during his trip to Turkey, Nov. 28 – Dec. 1. Heavenly Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name, we humbly ask that you sustain, inspire, and protect your servant, Pope Benedict XVI, as he goes on pilgrimage to Turkey – a land to which St. Paul brought the Gospel […]
» Read moreFollowing up on a previous post, I continued my Haugen and Haas strike into its third week. And today, there were no hymns by either of those gentlemen. Sure, there were some St. Louis Jesuit bits, and we won’t even disuss the appropriateness of “Soon and Very Soon” as a “sending song”, but there was no Haugen, no Haas. So […]
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