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, […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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, […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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The Holy Family and a Pair of Popes

Happy seventh day of Christmas! Today the Church would normally celebrate the memorial of Saint Sylvester I, pope and confessor. Because it’s the Sunday in the Octave of Christmas, however, it is instead the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. In the Holy Family, God gives us a living icon of family life: child, mother, father. […]

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