Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Father Dwight Longenecker has a great article up today about Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey. I’ve written several times about this growing and vital abbey, and Father Longenecker nails it: Now under the leadership of Abbot Philip Anderson that group of about a half dozen men have established a new monastery. Already they have fifty monks and the average […]
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Once again, it’s time for our annual look back at the year that was. Who doesn’t like top ten lists? These are the top ten post hits on the blog for this past year. This is now the sixth annual list, so I guess it now falls under the rubric of venerable custom. Only one of the posts receiving the […]
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Once again, it’s time for our annual look back at the year that was. And what a year! Plague, lockdowns, crazy elections, murder hornets, you name it! But instead of looking at the crazy out there, we’re concentrating on the crazy in here, in the form of a top ten. Who doesn’t like top ten lists? These are the top […]
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Icon of Saint Benedict at Mount Athos For today’s Feast of Saint Benedict, I thought I’d share with you some of the short videos and documentaries I’ve found over the years that give an insight into the monastic life. Every monastery is different, of course, as you will see in these videos, but these monks have all responded to the […]
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Happy Saint Benedict’s Day! Today is the principal feast of the founder of western monasticism: the author of the Holy Rule, and a great saint. Over the course of the last decade and more, new monastic institutions with many young monks and sisters are beginning to flourish throughout the world. For the last few years, I’ve made it my habit […]
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Although I’ve prayed some form of the Divine Office since before my baptism, just over a year ago I began using the Farnborough Monastic Diurnal. It is only at this point that I feel confident enough to review it. Physical Considerations Physically, it is a handsome book. It is bound in stitched Moroccan leather that is a joy to hold. […]
» Read moreThis Saint Benedict’s feast (or memorial, depending on your calendar), I thought I’d do something a little different. I had hoped to attend Mount Angel Abbey’s Saint Benedict Festival today, but unfortunately we had a meeting this morning, and Francine has a wedding shower this afternoon. Maybe next year. The Benedictine Order celebrates two feasts of Saint Benedict: that of […]
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Although it no longer appears on the Universal (Roman) calendar, today is one of two feasts of Saint Benedict celebrated by Benedictines throughout the world. This is the day in the year 547 when Saint Benedict of Norcia died. Saint Benedict is generally considered the founder of western monasticism, and his Rule spread throughout the west as the Roman Empire […]
» Read moreThis arrived in the post today. It’s the seventh edition of the Monastic Diurnal, published in 2011 by Saint Michael’s Abbey Press. You can purchase it in the United States from Clear Creek Abbey. It’s a beautiful book. This should give you some idea of the size. In an odd coincidence, the table of dates at the front of the […]
» Read moreToday is the principal feast (at least among the Benedictines) of Saint Benedict of Nursia, author of the great monastic rule that in large part saved western civilization after the fall of the Roman Empire. Pope Benedict XVI took his name at least in part from Saint Benedict, and the life and work of the saint was a topic that […]
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LISTEN, O my son, to the precepts of thy master, and incline the ear of thy heart, and cheerfully receive and faithfully execute the admonitions of thy loving Father, that by the toil of obedience thou may return to Him from whom by the sloth of disobedience thou hast gone away. (Beginning of the Prologue of the Rule of Saint […]
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Usually I work out my Lenten plan some few weeks before the start of the season, but here it is, the Saturday before Ash Wednesday, and I’m only now thinking about it! In my own defense, I’ve been working on my presentation to our Catechumens on Monday about Ash Wednesday and Lent, so it’s not been far from my mind. […]
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The Church honours Saint Benedict with two great feasts. One is not much celebrated these days, as it typically occurs during Lent, and it has been removed from the Universal Calendar. To these, some Benedictine monasteries add a third feast, which is celebrated today. Icon of Saint Benedict at Mount Athos The feast of the Transitus of Saint Benedict is […]
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The Church honours Saint Benedict with two great feasts. One is not much celebrated these days, as it typically occurs during Lent, and it has been removed from the Universal Calendar. To these, some Benedictine monasteries add a third feast, which is celebrated today. Icon of Saint Benedict at Mount Athos The feast of the Transitus of Saint Benedict is […]
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The Church honours Saint Benedict with two feasts. One is not much celebrated these days, as it typically occurs during Lent, and it has been removed from the Universal Calendar. To these, some Benedictine monasteries add a third feast, which is celebrated today. Icon of Saint Benedict at Mount Athos The feast of the Transitus of Saint Benedict is celebrated […]
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My parish of Holy Rosary has been going through a rough year. I’ve restrained myself from speaking too much about it, although I did have numerous posts on the inciting incident: the sudden collapse and then death of our pastor Father Michael Wagner last year. Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church, Tacoma Following Father’s death, we had a string […]
» Read moreFeeling like I should share this video documentary about the Benedictine Abbey at Clear Creek, Oklahoma. When I was thinking of the New Cluny, this is pretty much exactly what I had in mind, though I didn’t know it at the time. It’s about an hour, so grab some cocoa and settle in.
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