Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Happy eighth day of Christmas, a very happy new year, and a most blessed Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God to you! First, a word about the eighth day, and then we’ll move on to Mary. Christmas is celebrated as a day, an octave, and a season. The celebration of the octave – that is, the day and the week […]
» 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 moreThe number of days to our next Camino continues to drop precipitously. Less than three months to go! At this point, equipment and footgear is all acquired. For shoes and socks, I have stuck with Keen. Their “garage” store is in downtown Portland, and it’s well worth a drop-by if you’re in the area. The shoes are rugged and comfortable […]
» Read moreHappy 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 […]
» 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 moreThe rest of the world thinks Christmas is over, with the possible exception of those who celebrate Boxing Day today or those fond of partridges in pear trees. Oh, how wrong they are! For like Easter, Christmas isn’t just one day, but a whole season! It continues from Christmas Day through the Epiphany (January 6). In some places, this season […]
» Read moreO great mystery, and wonderful sacrament, that animals should see the new-born Lord, lying in a manger! Blessed is the Virgin whose womb was worthy to bear Christ the Lord. Alleluia! O magnum mysterium, et admirabile sacramentum, ut animalia viderent Dominum natum, jacentem in praesepio! Beata Virgo, cujus viscera meruerunt portare Dominum Christum. Alleluia.
» Read moreAs I do every year, I shall end this Advent chant sequence with the hymn assembled from the O Antiphons. I‘ve also posted one of my favourite carols, which is particularly appropriate in the deeps of Christmas Vigil. Come to Mass! For those of you in Tacoma and environs, I invite you to come to our parish of Our Lady […]
» Read moreWe come to the last of the O Antiphons, for tomorrow is Christmas Eve, the Vigil of the Nativity. I mentioned yesterday that the O Antiphons were arranged backwards into the song Veni, Veni Emmanuel. This was by design, for the Antiphons themselves are a backwards acrostic. The first letters of the Messianic titles — Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, […]
» Read moreYou may recall that on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Francine and I attended a Rorate Mass at the nearby F.S.S.P. parish of Saint Joseph. You will also no doubt recall my inability to take a decent photo of the Mass, which was simply beautiful. Apparently, a much more talented photographer was ensconced up in the choir loft. […]
» Read moreWith Christmas just days away now, we hear the penultimate O Antiphon this evening. I mentioned a couple of days ago that the antiphons might sound vaguely familiar to you. In the 12th Century, an unknown composer compiled versions of the O Antiphons into a single Advent hymn, called Veni, Veni Emmanuel. You know the English version as O Come, […]
» Read moreOn Friday, my son Tristan graduated from the Art Institute of Portland with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Game Art and Design. He’s a 3-D modeler, and a good one. For my long-time readers, you know that Tristan’s life has not been without it’s troubles. That sentence there may hold this blog’s record for understatement. We are positively […]
» Read moreIt is altogether right and proper that we should celebrate Christ as the bringer of light on this, the day of the winter solstice. This was an ancient holy day in many religions, as indeed it continues to be. On this, the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, where people for eons have begged their divinity for […]
» Read moreIf you can, won’t you please join us this evening at 6:00 PM for chanted Solemn Vespers at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary parish in Tacoma? Continuing on with our annual tradition, we come closer and closer to the birth of the Messiah, “the holy one, the true, who holds the key of David, who opens and no one […]
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