Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Mary’s month of May begins with a day for her husband. Today, celebrated around the world as “International Workers’ Day” is the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker. There’s poetry to the fact that the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin begins by putting the focus on her husband, and therefore on their family life. Imagine the Holy Family of […]
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With all due respect to Saint Catherine of Siena, one of my favourite saints and whose feast day is celebrated today on the calendar of the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today (at least on the Benedictine calendar!) is the feast of four great Abbots of the Benedictine Order: Saints Odo, Majolus, Odilo, and Hugh. They were all good […]
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On April 25, 1467 a mysterious icon of Virgin and Child appeared in a small unfinished and roofless church in the town of Genazzano, near Rome. As the story goes, the entire town had turned out for the annual feast of Saint Mark the Evangelist. At about four o’clock in the afternoon, a multitude of witnesses saw a mysterious cloud […]
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Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine:et lux perpetua luceat eis.In memoria æterna erit iustus,ab auditione mala non timebit. Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord:and let perpetual light shine upon her.She shall be justified in everlasting memory,and shall not fear evil reports. Absolve, Domine,animas omnium fidelium defunctorumab omni vinculo delictorumet gratia tua illis succurentemereantur evadere iudicium ultionis,et lucis æternae beatitudine perfrui. […]
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John Mark was one of the original seventy disciples (Luke 10:1 ff). Tradition holds that he was one of those who left Christ when he preached on the Bread of Life (John 6:44-6:66). Saint Peter brought him back to the faith. He traveled with Paul and Barnabas, who thought him unreliable (Acts 15:37-41). Again he left, again he came back […]
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Several weeks ago, I was struck by the thought of carrying others with me on my long Camino this autumn. Now I know what you’re thinking. Sounds a little odd, yes? Perhaps the easiest way to clarify is to quote from the note to myself that I wrote back on April 3rd: I’d like to walk this Camino – all […]
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Three years ago, Francine and I took our Hospitalero training at the annual Gathering of American Pilgrims on the Camino in South Lake Tahoe. It was quite the adventure, what with a blizzard, driving down a mountain in the snow, and finally the beginning of the Plague. When we got back home, we both had COVID, and it laid us […]
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Today, the Second Sunday in the Octave of Easter, is also known as Divine Mercy Sunday. 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 by Saint Faustina. But what is the Divine Mercy? In short, […]
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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 Paschal Homily of Saint John Chrysostom, circa AD 400: If anyone is devout and a lover of God, let him enjoy this beautiful and radiant festival. If anyone is a wise servant, let him, rejoicing, enter into the joy of his Lord. If anyone has wearied himself in fasting, let him now receive his recompense. If anyone has labored […]
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From an ancient homily on Holy Saturday, found in today’s Office of Readings: Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who […]
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Today is Good Friday: the commemoration of the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ at Calvary. Ecce lignum Crucis, in quo salus mundi pepéndit. Veníte adorémus. Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the salvation of the world. Come let us adore. (Missale Romanum: Friday of the Passion of the Lord) Ecce homo: Behold, the man He was […]
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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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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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The Madonna in Sorrow by Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato, 17th century Today, a week before Good Friday, the Church has traditionally remembered the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin. While the commemoration was removed from the calendar in 1970, it survives in the Extraordinary Form, as well as in many local calendars including that most Catholic country of Malta […]
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