Chant on the Vigil: Vespers for the Feast of St. James
Chanted from the version given in the Codex Calixtinus. Neither Ordinary nor Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, but rather from the Mozarabic Rite.
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The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
How does the human brain wrap itself around the eternal and infinite love of God for His creation? How can can we even begin to comprehend the depth of love in Christ’s wounded heart as he pours Himself out for us sinners at Calvary? The truth is, we can’t. The saints and the mystics may catch glimpses, but we humans […]
» Read moreThe Nativity of Saint John
Painting of the young John the Baptist, by Alessandro Rosi (1627–1697) This year, we go right from yesterday’s Solemnity of Corpus Christi to the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist. Historically, that’s a bit backwards, but every liturgical year is a new adventure in the meshing of the Temporal and Sanctoral cycles. So what’s the deal with […]
» Read moreGod in the Streets of Tacoma
Depending on what calendar you use (Ordinary Form or Extraordinary Form), and whether or not it is a Holy Day of Obligation in your diocese, today (or last Thursday) is (or was) the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). Happy Corpus Christi! Whereas Holy Thursday is a celebration of the institution of the Eucharist, Corpus Christi […]
» Read moreCorpus Christi
This coming Sunday my parish will participate in an outdoor Procession of the Blessed Sacrament following the Noon Mass. This will be the seventh year we’ve taken Jesus through the streets of Tacoma and amongst His people. Our outgoing parish priest, Rev. Martin Bourke, will celebrate the Noon Mass of Corpus Christi in the school auditorium, and then he and […]
» Read moreTrinity Sunday: Scutum Fidei
The church in which I was Baptized, Confirmed, and Married has all sorts of Christian symbols painted on the walls. One of them that always set my brain to thinking looked something like this: It is, of course, an ancient Trinitarian symbol, reminding us in a visual way that while the Father is God, and the Son is God, and […]
» Read morePentecost: “You Can Become All Flame”
We read today in the Acts of the Apostles of this great day, which in a certain way we can celebrate as the birthday of the Church: Pentecost – Duccio di Buoninsegna (1308) When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,they were all in one place together.And suddenly there came from the skya noise like a strong driving wind,and it filled […]
» Read moreThe Vigil of Pentecost
Tomorrow is Pentecost, the great solemnity celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. The Church has long celebrated this event in three ways: the solemnity of the day itself, the octave of the day, and the vigil. With the liturgical reforms of the 1960s and 1970s, all but the day itself was suppressed, a sad testament to […]
» Read moreThe Ascension of the Lord
Viri Galilæi, quid admiramini aspicientes in cælum? Forty days (and more) have passed since Easter. This year, I was was fortunate enough to celebrate the Ascension twice. The first was Ascension Thursday at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes, Spokane, as part of the 2019 Sacred Liturgy Conference. It was a Pontifical High Mass of the Ascension of our […]
» Read moreThe Divine Mercy
Today, the Second Sunday in the Octave of Easter, is also known as Divine Mercy Sunday. Pope John Paul II proclaimed the Sunday after Easter as the Sunday of the Divine Mercy (Dominica II Paschæ seu de divina misericordia) in accord with the visions of the Divine Mercy received by Saint Faustina. But what is the Divine Mercy? In short, […]
» Read moreThe Stripping of the Altars
A Reflection and a Resource Last week I attended the rites of the Triduum at three different churches. This is not really normal; one should attend what is essentially one long, if interrupted, liturgy at one’s own parish church. In our case, this is complicated by the fact that two parishes share a pastoral team. So Good Friday was at […]
» Read moreThe Kairos of Easter
There are two kinds of time. There’s the kind you can measure. That’s the kind we live through sequentially, moment to moment. The Greek word for this is “kronos”, where we get words like “chronometer” and “chronicle”. Then, there’s the other kind. The Greeks call this “kairos”. This is the time when God acts, when eternity breaks into linear time. […]
» Read moreHoly Week Marathon
I joke sometimes that Holy Week for an MC is like running a marathon. So this year, I used my FitBit tracking and figured out the distance I walked, starting with our Palm Sunday rehearsals and ending on Easter Sunday. This year, I clocked about 70km – that’s 43 miles. Given that a marathon is 26 miles, I actually walked […]
» Read moreAlleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Christus Resurréxit! Resurréxit Vere!
Exult! Exult!
A Great Silence on Earth
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 […]
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