Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Today is the second “O” antiphon, O Adonai. It is taken from Exodus 3:2 and Isaiah 11:3-5; with echoes and references to Isaiah 63:11-12, Micah 6:4, and Acts 7:30-31. For a reflection on this antiphon, we will turn to that great liturgical commentator, Servant of God Dom Prosper Guéranger, Abbot of Solesmes (d. 1875). O Sovereign Lord! O Adonaï! come […]
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O Wisdom! Advent is drawing to its close, and it’s time again for our annual look at the O Antiphons. These antiphons are part of the prayers at the liturgical hour of Vespers (evening prayer) for the 17th through the 23rd of December – the 24th is of course the Christmas Vigil itself. They are ancient prayers, possibly dating back […]
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Today is Lucy’s Day! No, not that one. Saint Lucy was a Sicilian martyr. She was a wealthy young lady of Greek extraction brought up by Christian parents. She was killed during the horrific persecutions of the Emperor Diocletian in about 304. The facts surrounding her martyrdom have accreted so many legends that it’s difficult to be sure exactly what […]
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Time again for some history! If you think that the Spanish conquistadors are the ones who imposed Catholicism on the hapless Aztecs, well you’re wrong. Lord knows they tried. And tried. And failed. In the first decade of Spanish rule (1521 – 1531), only a handful of Native Americans embraced Christianity. And then… well, a miracle. Here’s the story as […]
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Thou art all fair, Mary, and the stain of original sin is not in thee. (Antiphon 1 for Lauds of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Monastic Breviary) On this great Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us all join together with the Angels and the Saints of all ages in singing the […]
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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. The Benedictines, of course, continue to celebrate both. To these, some Benedictine monasteries add a third feast, which is celebrated today. Icon of Saint Benedict at Mount Athos The […]
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Today is the memorial of Saint Edmund Campion. If the paintings of him are to be believed, he is a man to whom I bear more than a passing resemblance, at least in my youth. We commemorated the five hundredth anniversary of the Protestant Reformation a few years ago. Many continue to see this as a good thing. I don’t. […]
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The season of Advent began with last night’s vespers, and today is the First Sunday of Advent. This is the first day of the new liturgical year, so happy Advent and happy new year! For me, it’s time to pull the Advent box out of the garage and start decorating. It will be a little more difficult for me than […]
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Fifty-six years before the English Puritan refugees at Plymouth celebrated their “first Thanksgiving”, Spanish explorers and their Timucua allies celebrated one in Saint Augustine, in what is now Florida. They had bean soup. Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Pedro Menéndez de Avilés was a Spanish admiral from Asturias. He was under orders to root out some French colonists in the area. […]
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Francine in 2024 This weekend we celebrate the great feast of Christ the King. Traditionally, here at Pistachio House, we have had our “Franksgiving” feast on this weekend. This was Francine’s favourite holiday, as she embodied the Benedictine charism of hospitality. She loved gathering family and friends and cooking for them. We did our best without her and in her […]
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Today is the Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This morning, I served at the school Mass at my parish. This particular Mass was offered for the repose of the soul of my beautiful bride, Francine. I am sure that she was absolutely delighted that a Mass was offered for her on a Marian feast. Many, many people gifted […]
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Surrexit Odo, plenus Spiritu Sancto, et monastici Ordinis decus per orbem renovatum est. (Odo arose, filled with the Holy Spirit, and restored the glory of the monastic Order throughout the world.) —Antiphon 2, Lauds of Saint Odo Today is the memorial of Saint Odo of Cluny on some of the calendars of the Benedictine Order. Others—most especially the Congregation of […]
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The Dies Iræ is the traditional sequence for Requiem Masses and the Masses of All Souls. While this sequence no longer appears at Mass in the Ordinary Form of the modern Roman Rite, it remains in both the Extraordinary Form and in the Benedictine liturgies – and I note that it is sung during the All Souls Mass at Seattle’s […]
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Once again we come to a feast of All Saints. “But wait!” I hear you cry, “wasn’t that back on the first of November?” Right you are! But today on the Benedictine calendar is the feast of All Saints of the Benedictine Order. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside […]
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It seems fitting that Veterans’ Day – Armistice Day – is celebrated on November 11, for this is the memorial of the soldier-saint, Martin of Tours. He was a soldier turned monk turned reluctant bishop, and he was one of the first saints to be venerated who wasn’t a martyr. Saint Martin of Tours was born in A.D. 336 in […]
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You would be forgiven for thinking that the Pope’s main church is St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. It’s certainly the largest. But no. The Pope’s own church, his episcopal seat as Bishop of Rome, is the Basilica of Saint John Lateran. Which Saint John? Good question. Two of them, actually, for the full name of this church is the […]
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On this day in 1605, a cabal of Catholic plotters, hoping to turn back the tides of reformation and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne of Great Britain, attempted to assassinate the very Protestant King James. Their plan—if you can dignify it by calling it a plan—was to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of […]
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