Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
You are invited to an Advent tradition: a Rorate Mass on Saturday, December 6 at 6:30 AM. I can already hear the questions forming. What is a Rorate Mass? And why on earth would you have one so early in the morning? Well, here’s the FAQ, as the kids say. What is a Rorate Mass? It is a Solemn Votive […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
Happy Feast of All Saints! This is the day when we celebrate all the saints, known and unknown: the Church Triumphant. We ask them to pray for us. I, for one, could use all the help I can get! This day has been a feast since the sixth or seventh century, thanks to the abbots of Cluny, and it was […]
» Read more
Once again, I woke up well before my alarm, but this time at the far more reasonable time of 3:45. This is my final day at Our Lady of Clear Creek monastery. I got myself ready for the day, cleaned up my room, and finished packing up my belongings. I was finished with all of this by 4:30, so I […]
» Read more
Today is the first full day I spent praying a monastic day, here at Clear Creek Abbey. The rhythm of the day, particularly the morning, absolutely entranced me. It really is virtually nonstop from five in the morning until breakfast at 10:30 AM. I awoke at 3:30 in the morning to the sound of rain outside my window. There was […]
» Read more
Last night, I once again camped, this time on the grounds of the monastery. It was a fitful night. My body is definitely feeling the effects of walking 60 km in two days and sleeping on a thin air pad on the ground in a tent for three nights. I went to the little monastic oratory at about 6:30 AM […]
» Read more
Today is the “Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels” or, in the old calendar, the “Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Michael the Archangel”. Whatever you call it, the most common name is Michaelmas. It is one of several harvest festivals celebrated throughout Christian Europe. So happy Michaelmas! In England this is one of the “quarter days”, which […]
» Read more
“We make Idols of our concepts, but Wisdom is born of wonder.” (Pope St. Gregory the Great) Only a handful of Popes ever get named “Great”. Today in the Ordinary Roman calendar is the feast of one of them, Pope Saint Gregory the Great, confessor and doctor of the Church (540 – 604). His feast, originally celebrated on the day […]
» Read more
The Season of Lent comes to its end this evening, as we celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. This celebration commemorates the institution of the Eucharist, the source and summit of Church life, as well as the sacred priesthood which offers this sacrifice. Unlike most Protestants, the Catholic and Orthodox (and others of the Apostolic Tradition) believe that God […]
» Read more
This weekend, Holy Week begins with the Sunday of Lord’s triumphal entry into Jersusalem – Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. Although Good Friday is coming – the Passion and Death are coming – for the moment, this moment, joy resounds as our King arrives in His city. In most parishes throughout the world, the principal Mass is normally celebrated […]
» Read more
For the first time since the Plague Year, our parish of Saint Patrick in Tacoma will celebrate a Tenebræ service. You are most welcome to join us on the Wednesday of Holy Week (16 April) at 7pm. What is Tenebræ? The word itself is Latin for “shadows”. It is a Holy Week service tied to the prayers of the Liturgy […]
» Read more
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. This is our second year singing Vespers in Lent, and […]
» Read more
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 pilgrimage of penitence. Let […]
» Read more
Today is the 150th anniversary of the death of Servant of God Dom Prosper Guéranger, OSB (1805-1875). He refounded Solesmes Abbey, from which an entire Congregation of Benedictine monasteries has since sprung. He is responsible for the restoration of monastic life in France, as well as promoting the sacred liturgy and spearheading the revival of Gregorian chant. I have quoted from his […]
» Read more