Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Come join us for some of these liturgies and devotions this Lent! This Lenten Calendar is obviously in addition to our normal Mass schedule at Holy Rosary: Saturday Vigil: 5:00 PM (preceded by Adoration, Rosary, Benediction) Sunday: 12:00 PM (with asperges and Angelus) Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 7:15 AM (followed by Rosary) Friday School Mass: 9:00 AM Plus, don’t forget simple […]
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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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Lent is a new beginning, a path leading to the certain goal of Easter, Christ’s victory over death. This season urgently calls us to conversion. Christians are asked to return to God “with all their hearts” (Joel 2:12), to refuse to settle for mediocrity and to grow in friendship with the Lord. Jesus is the faithful friend who never abandons […]
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Saint Benedict was the founder of western monasticism; to this day, most monks and nuns worldwide follow some variation of his “Little Rule for Beginners“. Benedict had a twin sister, Scholastica, whose feast day is today. Under her brother’s guidance, she founded the first female monastery in the west. I often think that their parents had a sense of humour, […]
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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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Saint Francis de Sales, whose memorial is celebrated today on the modern calendar, is the patron saint of writers. I pray for his intercession in times of writing struggles. May the Lord guide me and all those who write. Through your prayers, Saint Francis de Sales, I ask for your intercession as I attempt to bring the written word to […]
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Today is the feast of the man many consider to be the founder of Christian monasticism, Saint Anthony the Great of Egypt, the “Father of Monks”. He was born in the middle of the third century in decidedly Pagan Middle Egypt to a well-to-do, comfortable family. He spent much of his life avoiding the sorts of comforts available to him […]
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The Dedication of an Altar is a rare ritual in the church. Normally, it takes place within the larger dedication of a church or chapel. However, this coming week, Bishop Daniel Mueggenborg will be dedicating a new altar at one of our local Tacoma parishes. The altar in question was originally commissioned by the parish of Saint Joseph and its […]
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Happy Epiphany! Throughout most of the world, today is the great Feast of the Epiphany. Most of my American readers, however, will have to wait until tomorrow. For reasons I can’t quite fathom, in the dioceses of the United States this feast has been moved to the Sunday between January 2 and January 8. Why you would want to move […]
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On this day in 1892, J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The Professor is 126 today! All around the world, at 9pm local time, the Tolkien Society and the Professor’s many other devotees will celebrate his birthday with a toast to “the Professor”. I will join in, and I encourage you to do the same. The Professor’s writing, […]
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All my own perception of beauty both in majesty and simplicity is founded upon Our Lady. (J.R.R. Tolkien) Wishing all of you a very happy new year of 2018, and a most blessed Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. Let us celebrate the motherhood of the Virgin Mary, and let us worship Christ the Lord, her Son. (Invitatory antiphon for […]
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Yesterday, I posted a list of the most popular posts of the past year on this blog. However, the things I like are not always the most popular. I know this comes as a shock. I’ve been charitably described as eccentric, and I’m just going to go with that. During the past twelve months I’ve written some posts that I […]
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Happy seventh day of Christmas! Were today not Sunday, the Church would be celebrating the optional memorial of Saint Sylvester I, pope and confessor. He was ordained a priest just before the persecutions of Diocletian got underway, and he survived those years of terror and saw the triumph of Constantine in the year 312. Two years later he became Pope. […]
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Who doesn’t like top ten lists? These are the top ten post hits on the blog for this past year. Last year I published a similar list, and it’s interesting to see how they intersect. Not all of the posts receiving the hits were necessarily written this year. Apparently, their appeal is enduring. So let’s countdown! TEN: Maundy Thursday: Do […]
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Happy 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 […]
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Happy 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 try to write something about the saint here. Previous articles on Saint Thomas Becket: 2016: On Obedience and Confusion (Ruminations on obedience as the greatest freedom, touching on […]
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Happy fourth day of Christmas! Today we pause a moment in our revelry for the feast of the Holy Innocents. When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained […]
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