Most Recent Posts

Saint Patrick’s Breastplate

Saint Patrick’s family were Roman Catholic churchmen from the Roman Imperial province of Britannia. Yet, today, nobody is going to go around speaking in fake […]

750 Years

Today is the 750th anniversary of the death of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Of old (and in my Benedictine Ordo), today was his feast day, but in the calendar reform it was moved to January, presumably so that it would be outside of Lent. Saint Thomas Aquinas The saint died at Fossanova Abbey in Italy on March 7, 1274, and yesterday, […]

» Read more

Happy Saint Oswald’s Day!

Today, February 29th, is the feast of Saint Oswald of Worcester. He is also known as Oswald of York, since he became archbishop there in the year 972. Prior to this he had served as Bishop of Worcester since 961. Weirdly, on his accession to York, both dioceses were semi-combined for the next half-century. Oswald was a Benedictine monk and […]

» Read more

Again, No

Arms of the Archdiocese of Seattle

This past Saturday, on the Memorial of Saint Scholastica, I received my letter from the Archdiocese of Seattle regarding my application for formation to the Diaconate. The answer, as it was eight years ago, was no. This time, there was no real explanation, just a carefully worded form letter. The last time my application was rejected, I wrote a heartfelt […]

» Read more

Sunday Vespers at Saint Patrick

At our parish of Saint Patrick in Tacoma, we will be celebrating Solemn Vespers in the evening of each Sunday of Lent at 6:00 PM. Please, join us in the coming weeks if you are local and able. Chanted Vespers is a beautiful and traditional way of worship in our faith. We last celebrated Vespers here at Saint Patrick following the […]

» Read more

Saint Scholastica: Called to Love More

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, […]

» Read more

Processions in the Rubrics of Lent

Pope Francis, Ash Wednesday stational procession, 2020

It’s a little hard to believe, but Ash Wednesday is just over a week away. Here at Pistachio House, we just took down the last of our Christmas decorations on Candlemas, and here we are practically in Lent already! The modern Roman Missal has a set of rubrics that cover the whole of Lent, before it digs into each day […]

» Read more

Saint Brigid of Kildaire: 1,500 Year Jubilee

Today is the 1,500th anniversary of the death of Saint Brigid of Kildaire. She founded the first monasteries in Ireland shortly after Saint Patrick’s mission. She was named after an ancient Celtic goddess, and over the course of history many of the attributes of the goddess have been attributed to her as well. As you might imagine, this makes a […]

» Read more

Ten Years of Altar Server Formation

Ten years ago today, after about a year of ramp-up, we definitively rebooted the altar server program at my old parish of Holy Rosary. This was the genesis of our training manual, and it was when I developed my own particular method of training, developing, and forming servers. I don’t know why the Lord called me to this ministry, but […]

» Read more

Septuagesima

Yesterday was Septuagesima Sunday, the beginning of a liturgical season known as Septuagesima or Fore-Lent or Shrovetide. It consists of the three weeks immediately before the start of Lent, and indeed the name Septuagesima means seventy, in reference to Quadragesima – forty – which is the proper Latin name for Lent. This liturgical season, meant to prepare us for the […]

» Read more

Roaring!

Today is both the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, and the sixteenth anniversary of the day I wed my beautiful bride. It is, as I have said before, a “moment when everything changed, celebrated on a day when everything changed”. It’s important to mark those changes in our lives. Francine actually changed the trajectory of my life not […]

» Read more
1 2 3 127