Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
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, […]
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If you live in western Washington, I invite you to join us for the Easter Vigil at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Tacoma. The Vigil will begin at 8:30 PM, but you’ll want to get there early. Featuring: A bonfire. A dark church and a thousand candles. Chant (in Latin AND English). Seven readings from the Old Testament […]
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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) He was condemned by his own people, […]
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March 25 is the usual date for the great feast of the Annunciation of Gabriel to Mary, but it is transferred to the Monday after the Easter Octave whenever it falls within Holy Week. Very rarely, Good Friday – the date of Our Lord’s Crucifixion – is also on March 25. Conception and death, all in one day. This is, […]
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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. Unlike most Protestants, the Catholic and Orthodox (and others of the Apostolic Tradition) believe that God is really there, wholly present in the consecrated bread and […]
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The thing about Holy Week is that its liturgies – if they are to be done well and worthily – require practice and rehearsal. We had two on Saturday (for Palm Sunday and Easter Vigil), and I’m going to one for Holy Thursday in about an hour. We’ll probably sneak in a quick one before Tenebræ. Friday is the rehearsal […]
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The following is the Holy Week schedule for the parishes of Holy Rosary and Visitation in Tacoma. There’s a lot there. One thing to bear in mind is that the Holy Triduum is essentially one giant liturgy (with some serious overnight breaks) that begins with the Introit of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, continues through the […]
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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 the Crucifixion 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 […]
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On this Friday, a week before Good Friday, the Church has traditionally remembered the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin. While the commemoration was removed from the General Roman Calendar in 1970, it survives in the Extraordinary Form and in many local calendars, including the calendar of that most Catholic country of Malta, as well as in many Hispanic countries. […]
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A week ago we celebrated Lætare Sunday, a burst of joy in the midst of Lent. This was, coincidentally, the fourth anniversary of our first Mass at our parish of Holy Rosary. This coming week, the week before Holy Week, we double-down on Lent. Traditionally, this Fifth Sunday of Lent marks the beginning of Passiontide, when we walk with Christ […]
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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 carried aloft by four saints. The image of the dove in the Holy Spirit window has been duplicated and copied all over the world […]
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Remember Man that you are dust and unto 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. […]
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Happy Epiphany! Today is the traditional date of this great Solemnity, and in many places throughout the world (like, I dunno, Rome for instance) it is still celebrated today. In my monastic diurnal, certainly, today’s Divine Office is for the Epiphany. For more information on this feast, you can read last Sunday’s article. Whenever you celebrate it, I pray the […]
» Read moreHappy twelfth day of Christmas! This evening is called Twelfth Night, traditionally the vigil of the Epiphany. This was traditionally a time of feasting and festivity (all of which seem to include various varieties of enormous pastries) marking the end of Christmastide and the beginning of Epiphanytide. These days, of course, the calendar has been moved around a bit and […]
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