Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Joseph Stalin famously demanded to know “How many divisions does the Pope of Rome have?” Stalin was, of course, asking the wrong question, as the saint whose feast is today finally proved. When Karol Wojtyła was elected Pope John Paul II in October of 1978, I was not only just 11 years old – I wasn’t even Catholic. It’s safe […]
» Read morePlease consider heeding the call of Pope Francis to fast and pray for peace on this coming Saturday the 7th of September. In that spirit, please consider this litany. Litany of Syrian Saints For private use only Kyrie eleison, Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison, Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison, Kyrie eleison. Christe audi nos, Christe audi nos. Christe exaudi nos. Christe exaudi […]
» Read moreIn his Angelus address on Sunday, Pope Francis issued a plea for a day of fasting and prayer for peace on this coming Saturday the 7th of September. All men and women of good will are bound by the task of pursuing peace. I make a forceful and urgent call to the entire Catholic Church, and also to every Christian […]
» Read moreToday is the feast of the deacon martyr, Saint Lawrence. There are so many stories about him, that it’s hard to sum him up briefly. In the confused days after the martyrdom of Pope Sixtus, the administration of the Roman churches fell to the Deacon, Lawrence. He was captured by the Imperial authorities, but he bargained for his release. The […]
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Today in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is the feast of Saint Dominic de Guzmán (1170 – 06 August 1221), founder of the Order of Preachers, known as the Dominicans. In the Extraordinary Form calendar that my current breviary follows, this feast was last Sunday, the 4th (or would have been, had it not been a Sunday). You […]
» Read moreIt’s a pretty rare thing when Kings become saints, or at least become canonized saints. I can only think of a handful off the top of my head: Saint Louis IX of France, Saint Edward the Confessor of Anglo-Saxon England, Saint Stephen of Hungary. Today is the feast of the only Emperor-Saint of which I’m aware: Saint Heinrich II, Duke […]
» Read moreOn today’s feast, G.K. Chesterton explains pretty clearly the source of my devotion to Saint Thomas More. (I have split up the paragraphs of Chesterton’s essay for easier online reading. Original paragraphs have dropcaps.) Most would understand the phrase that the mind of More was like a diamond that a tyrant threw away into a ditch, because he could not […]
» Read moreTomorrow is the memorial of one of my favourite saints, Saint Thomas More, who died at the hands of King Henry VIII (that villain). The story of his life was (more or less) made into the wonderful movie, A Man for All Seasons, starring Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas More. The script is just brilliant, and eminently quotable. The “but […]
» Read moreThe redoubtable Fr. Z reports: Decades after John XXIII placed the name of Joseph in the Roman Canon, it seems that the name of the great Patron of the Dying, Terror of Demons, will be in the Eucharistic Prayers II, III and IV in the 3rd edition of the Missale Romanum. I received a copy of a document from the […]
» Read moreOn this day in 1431, one of the most truly remarkable women who ever lived was burned at the stake. She was 19 years old. She was known as Jehanne la Pucelle (Joan the Maiden), but today we name her Saint Joan of Arc. In 1429 at the tender age of 17, she led the French army to a string […]
» Read moreOn this day in 1891, the great Pope Leo XIII issued his landmark encyclical Rerum Novarum, on the rights and duties of capital and labour. It is worth reviewing this landmark of modern Catholic social teaching. The following duties… concern rich men and employers: Workers are not to be treated as slaves; justice demands that the dignity of human personality […]
» Read moreNow here’s something you don’t see every day: two popes chatting. Yesterday, the two Popes – the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Pope Francis now gloriously reigning – met for lunch at Castel Gandolfo. They went to pray together in the private chapel there, and …the Pope emeritus offered the place of honor to Pope Francis, but he said: “We […]
» Read moreBlessed John Paul II famously said “Europe has two lungs, it will never breathe easily until it uses both of them” (Euntes in mundum, 1988). He was referring to the division between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, split in about the year 1054 over matters more relating to politics and misunderstanding than to doctrine or dogma. Over a […]
» Read moreThe Vatican has published the programme for the Mass of Coronation Installation Inauguration, and boy howdy does it have a lot of chant in it! I also note that the Gospel will be read in Greek, rather than in Greek and Latin, as was the custom. Mass for the inauguration of the Pontificate: Booklet for the Celebration (PDF) After assorted […]
» Read moreBrothers and sisters good evening. You all know that the duty of the Conclave was to give a bishop to Rome. It seems that my brother Cardinals have gone almost to the ends of the earth to get him… but here we are. I thank you for the welcome that has come from the diocesan community of Rome. First of […]
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