Category: Holy Days
Exult! Exult!
The Whole Earth Keeps Silence
From an ancient homily on Holy Saturday, found in today’s Office of Readings: Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who […]
» Read moreGood Friday: God is Dead
Today is Good Friday: the commemoration of the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ at Calvary. Ecce lignum Crucis, in quo salus mundi pepéndit. Veníte adorémus. Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the salvation of the world. Come let us adore. (Missale Romanum: Friday of the Passion of the Lord) Ecce homo: Behold, the man He was […]
» Read moreMaundy Thursday: Do This in Memory of Me
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 moreHosanna to the Son of David!
This weekend, Holy Week begins with the Sunday of Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem – 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 celebrated by […]
» Read moreFriday of Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin
The Madonna in Sorrow by Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato, 17th century Today, a week before Good Friday, the Church has traditionally remembered the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin. While the commemoration was removed from the calendar in 1970, it survives in the Extraordinary Form, as well as in many local calendars including that most Catholic country of Malta […]
» Read morePassiontide
A week ago we celebrated Lætare Sunday, a burst of joy in the midst of Lent. This week, the week before Holy Week, we double-down on Lent. Traditionally, today’s Fifth Sunday of Lent marks the beginning of Passiontide, when we walk with Christ on the way to Jerusalem. St Ann, Tacoma In the Ordinary Form this is no longer celebrated […]
» Read moreA Weary and Distraught Humanity
Earlier today, Pope Francis consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary “ourselves, the Church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine”, thus fulfilling the wishes of Mary at Fátima in 1917. Theologians can debate whether this consecration was somehow more “valid” than the ones performed by Venerable Pope Pope Pius XII in 1942, Pope Saint Paul VI in 1964, or […]
» Read moreAsh Wednesday and Lent
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. For […]
» Read moreThe Chair of Saint Peter
Today is the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter. Now, you might be thinking, “a feast for a piece of furniture?” Read on! Most folks have seen some variation of this photo of Bernini‘s “Chair of Peter” in the Vatican. It’s a masterpiece of baroque art, found in every art textbook covering the period. The chair in question is […]
» Read moreCandlemas
Today was once one of the most solemn feasts of the year. It’s gone by several names over the millennia: the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Candlemas. Coming forty days after Christmas, it was once the end of the Christmas season. Even today there are relics of this […]
» Read moreThe Phantom of the Octave
The Church used to celebrate many Octaves. Many great solemnities, and even some older feasts of lesser liturgical stature, had an Octave. Some holy days are so holy that a single day can’t contain them. Take Easter, for instance. The ancient tradition of the Church is to add an entire week to the Sunday that is Easter, making it actually […]
» Read moreEpiphany! (Again)
In most of the world and through most of the last two millennia, the Epiphany of the Lord is celebrated today. Although in the United States, Canada, and a few other places it was celebrated this past Sunday. Being Americans, we celebrated last Sunday. Being Benedictines and following our traditional breviary, we are also celebrating today. We’ll also be heading […]
» Read moreEpiphany! (Probably)
Happy Epiphany, probably! Today is… complicated. Depending on what calendar you happen to be using, today might very well be the great Solemnity of the Epiphany. Or not. In a sense, the Feast of the Epiphany is the culmination (if not quite the end) of the Christmas Season. It was once a much more celebrated feast than it is now. […]
» Read moreThe Fourth Day of Christmas: the Holy Innocents
Happy fourth day of Christmas! Today we pause our revels for a moment to remember and celebrate the Holy Innocents. When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained […]
» Read moreThe Second Day of Christmas: the Holy Family
The rest of the world thinks Christmas is over, with the possible exception of those who celebrate Boxing Day today or those fond of partridges in pear trees. Oh, how wrong they are! For like Easter, Christmas isn’t just one day, but a whole season! The Twelve Days of Christmas continue right up through the Epiphany (January 6). In some […]
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