Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
On 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 […]
» Read moreAnnuntio vobis gaudium magnum: Habemus Papam; Eminentissimum ac reverendissimum Dominum, Dominum Georgium Marium Sanctae Romanæ Ecclesiae Cardinalem Bergoglio, Qui sibi nomen imposuit Franciscus.
» Read moreLet us pray together for the Cardinals as they go into conclave to elect the next Successor to Saint Peter: Heavenly Father, Give us a Shepherd after your own heart – endowed with supernatural wisdom and courage, with unshakable faith and deep humility, capable of sacrificial service. May he be zealous to defend Holy Mother Church, her sacred teaching, the […]
» Read moreThank you from the heart, dear friends! I am glad to be with you, surrounded by the beauty of Creation. From eight this evening, I will no longer be Pontiff. I am simply a pilgrim who begins the final stage of his pilgrimage on this earth, but I still wish to, with my heart, with my love, with my prayer, […]
» Read moreAt 8:00 in the evening Roman time tonight, the Chair of Saint Peter falls vacant. Not since 1415 has a Pope abdicated, and not since 1294 has a former Pope been alive during the election of his successor. I say “his” successor, but of course under the language of the Church, each Pope is the direct successor of Saint Peter. […]
» Read more(Source) Benedict XVI the Precedent Setting Pope: Now he surprises us again. Not for six hundred years has a pope stepped aside. He has done so quickly and unexpectedly. While his decision cannot have been sudden. The sudden effectiveness–he will be gone within a few weeks–is brilliant. There is scarcely time for the world’s cardinals to book their plane tickets–much […]
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