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 […]
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 Latin and wearing a toga and sandals, oh no. But I’ll bet you a shiny shamrock that you’ll run into at least one person affecting a fake Irish brogue. Today is a day in America […]
» Read more750 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 moreHappy 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 moreSaint Polycarp: a Link on a Golden Chain
Today is the memorial of the blessed martyr Saint Polycarp. Burned alive and then beheaded in the city of Rome for the crime of being a Christian bishop, he was a disciple of Saint John the Apostle. In fact, he was ordained bishop of Smyrna by Saint John. He wrote many letters, though only one has survived the centuries, his […]
» Read moreThe Chair of Saint Peter
Today is the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter. Now, you might be thinking, “a feast for a piece of furniture?” Read on! Most folks have seen some variation of this photo of Bernini‘s “Chair of Peter” in the Vatican. It’s a masterpiece of baroque art, found in every art textbook covering the period. The chair in question is […]
» Read morePutting the “Lent” in Valentine: Memento Mori
Today is Ash Wednesday. “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 […]
» Read moreAgain, No
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 moreSunday 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 moreSaint 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 moreProcessions in the Rubrics of Lent
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 moreCandlemas
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 once the end of the Christmas season. Even today there are relics of this […]
» Read moreSaint 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 moreTen 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 moreSeptuagesima
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 moreRoaring!
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 moreThe Life of Perfection and a Prayer for Writers
I can’t speak for anybody else, but I need all the help I can get. As a writer, I often find that I love having written much more than actually writing. I distract myself easily. It doesn’t help, I suppose, that I tend to write in bursts, like I’m emptying my brain. Then I rather need to recharge the brain […]
» Read moreThe Phantom of the Octave
The Church used to celebrate many Octaves. Many great solemnities, and even some older feasts of lesser liturgical stature, had an Octave. Some holy days are so holy that a single day can’t contain them. Take Easter, for instance. The ancient tradition of the Church is to add an entire week to the Sunday that is Easter, making it actually […]
» Read more