Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
At daybreak on the first day of the weekthe women who had come from Galilee with Jesustook the spices they had preparedand went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb;but when they entered,they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were puzzling over this, behold,two men in dazzling garments appeared to […]
» Read moreOne day Abba Arsenius consulted an old Egyptian monk about his own thoughts. Someone noticed this and said to him, “Abba Arsenius, how is it that you with such a good Latin and Greek education, ask this peasant about your thoughts?” He replied, “I have indeed been taught Latin and Greek, but I do not know even the alphabet of […]
» Read moreYesterday I came upon something which struck me as so self-evidently true that I sort of wondered why I haven’t done something about it. I’m taking the quote out of context, but not much. Prayer presents difficulties today, difficulties which maybe [were not so much present] in the past, in a time in which the rhythm of life was a […]
» Read moreChaucer’s pilgrims were on their way to the Canterbury shrine of Saint Thomas Becket, bishop and martyr. The kingly descendant of the saint’s kingly murderer later destroyed that shrine and scattered his bones. Now there is only one small flame to mark the place where the saint’s relics once lay. Here is the eyewitness account of the saint’s martyrdom, by […]
» Read moreNow there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news […]
» 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 moreWith Christmas literally days away, 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 songwriter compiled versions of the O Antiphons into a single Advent hymn, called Veni, Veni Emmanuel. You know the English version as O Come, O […]
» Read moreShort, sweet, and on the solstice. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.” (Isaiah 9:1[2]) Today is also the feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle in the old calendar. O Oriens,splendor lucis ætérnae, et sol justítiæ:veni, et illúmina sedéntes in ténebris, et umbra […]
» Read moreContinuing on, 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 shall close, who closes and no one shall open” (Rev. 3:7). If you are interested in learning more about the O Antiphons, I recommend Fr. Zuhlsdorf’s site here. The format is […]
» Read moreBy now some of you might be thinking that the O Antiphon words might be sounding kind of familiar, even though you’re not really up on your Gregorian Chant. In fact, these antiphons are some of the earliest attested antiphons in the Divine Office, being mentioned in passing in the works of Saint Boethius in the early sixth century. The […]
» Read moreLast night was the first time Francine and I had prayed Vespers in community since shortly after leaving our former parish. Sam joined us. The lack of practice really showed – we were disjointed and could not even chant the opening or the Magnificat correctly. Tonight, we’ll trot out some of our old books and see if we can’t put […]
» Read moreAs Advent draws to its end, we begin the “O” antiphons at Vespers. Last year, we attempted to chant vespers every night during this period at my old parish. A series of snowstorms disrupted that plan, though I do have warm and gracious memories of Francine and I alone in the parish chapel chanting one cold, dark night. Sadly after […]
» Read moreToday I resolve to listen to the Ninth Symphony, and probably the Third as well. You should too! Yesterday evening I attended our parish Advent Reconciliation Service. I arrived late, having had to walk up the hill from downtown, and of course I ended up dead last in the longest line for confession. It gave me some additional time to […]
» Read more“[Pope] Benedict called on advanced societies to adopt ‘more sober lifestyles,’ reducing energy consumption and favoring energy-efficient policies.” Right. Because that’s likely to happen. Full story here.
» Read moreSo, today in the Seattle transit tunnel, I espied an advertisement on the side of a Metro bus that kind of flabbergasted me. It was an image of Jolly Old Saint Nick, with bright happy red text that proclaimed, “Yes Virginia… there really is no God”. There’s an image of it here. I was utterly offended, though not perhaps for […]
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