Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
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 is […]
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This coming Sunday my parish will participate in an outdoor Procession of the Blessed Sacrament following the Noon Mass. This will be the fifth year we’ve taken Jesus through the streets of Tacoma and amongst His people. In addition, all weekend Masses will be celebrated at the High Altar, Ad Orientem. If you are anywhere in the area, I hope […]
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The Northwest Catholic, the official magazine of the Archdiocese of Seattle, has published the official list of new priestly appointments for July, 2017. In among the quite extensive list, we of course find the outgoing pastor and the incoming priest administrator for our parishes of Holy Rosary and Visitation. Well, at least we now have current photos of both of […]
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Yesterday at my parish of Holy Rosary, we celebrated a votive Mass on the Marian altar. This was more or less our Mother’s Day Mass. We have been doing this for a couple of years now, and last year we added a Father’s Day Mass in June at the Saint Joseph altar. This is a laudable custom, and I hope […]
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Years ago, I wrote a post titled “Hopes and Prayers for a new Pastor“. If the stats are to be believed, this is one of the most consistently popular posts on this blog. I wrote then: Being a pastor is one of the most difficult jobs in the world, I think. The responsibility of shepherding souls must be a great […]
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This Wednesday evening at 8:00pm, our parish of Holy Rosary will celebrate a Tenebræ service. You are most welcome to join us. What is Tenebræ? The word itself is Latin for “shadows”. It is a Holy Week service tied to the prayers of the Liturgy of the Hours, being a concatenation of Matins and Lauds, anticipated the night before. In […]
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The following is the Holy Week schedule for the parishes of Holy Rosary and Visitation in Tacoma, Washington. There’s a lot here! Palm Sunday is a busy weekend, with extra Confession time. Wednesday Tenebræ is not to be missed. And of course, the Holy Triduum is essentially one giant liturgy (with some serious overnight breaks) that begins with the Introit […]
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One of my volunteer positions at my parish is that of MC and Altar Server coordinator. Since I started in that position, we’ve made any number of changes. One of the simplest and most profound, though, was the reintroduction of Vesting Prayers. And what are they? In the immemorial tradition of the Roman Rite, certain prayers were recited while vesting […]
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At my parish of Holy Rosary in Tacoma, we are celebrating Sunday Vespers as we do each Lent. While some weeks, this will be simple chanted Vespers, most weeks this year it will be a form of Solemn Vespers. Father Wichert led us in Solemn Vespers last night, chanted in the Presence of the exposed Blessed Sacrament. This was followed […]
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As I do every year, I shall end this Advent chant sequence with the hymn assembled from the O Antiphons. I’ve also posted one of my favourite carols, which is particularly appropriate in the deeps of Christmas Vigil. Come to Midnight Mass! For those of you in Tacoma and environs, I invite you to come to our parish of Our […]
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This Advent, my parish of Holy Rosary in Tacoma will be celebrating Vespers in the church on Sundays at 6:00 PM. Please join us! There’s noting like chanted Vespers in a beautiful, echoing church to pull the heart and mind towards the Lord. Please note that due to last minute changes in Fr. Wichert’s schedule, we will only have solemn […]
» Read moreBefore, during, and after last night’s vigil Mass for the Solemnity of Christ the King, Rev. Caleb Insco, F.S.S.P., heard Confessions at Holy Rosary. Fr. Insco is a newly-minted priest serving at St Joseph. I am grateful for Fr. Insco’s zeal and charity, and I would like to publicly thank him for his service to the Lord and to the […]
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This morning, our local newspaper the Tacoma News Tribune, ran this photo in their “Looking Back” section. I have reproduced the caption exactly as it appeared in today’s paper. Note the snarky tone when referring to the Altar Boys. Not to mention the use of “processional” as a noun. Oh, and this was 75 years ago. What about this past […]
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This past Sunday, my parish of Holy Rosary celebrated its 125th anniversary – our Quasquicentennial. The project for this celebration was started several years ago by Dr Michael Barkley, a gentleman from the parish who deserves all credit for getting this ball rolling. His great-grandparents were in fact the first couple married at the parish, back in October of 1891. […]
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If you are anywhere near Tacoma this weekend, please join us on Sunday for the 125th anniversary of the founding of our parish. The Mass is at Noon, and it will be followed by a reception in the School hall. Here’s the blurb from one of our local papers: Holy Rosary’s steeple rises above downtown Tacoma and towers over I-5. […]
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Today is the feast of the Most Holy Rosary. For most of the Catholic world, this is a memorial of various sorts. Since, however, my parish is dedicated to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, for me it is a Solemnity. Always a happy thing on a Friday! Through a weird happenstance, there isn’t actually a Mass being celebrated at […]
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