Immaculate Mary
On this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us join together with the Angels and the Saints of all ages in singing the praises of the Mother of God.
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Coming Soon to Tacoma…
The Sun Trembled…
Today is the feast of Saint Edward the Confessor, the last Anglo-Saxon King of England of the old line. But I’m not going to talk about him. On this day in 1307 – on the 63rd birthday of their Grand Master Jacques de Molay – hundreds of Knights Templar in France were simultaneously arrested by agents of King Phillip IV. […]
» Read moreOur Lady of Victory
Back in high school, a group of us did an extensive report on the events of this day for my freshman history class. We had flip chart maps, reenactments, and gave three separate papers. For on this day in 1571, the naval forces of a Holy League, consisting of several maritime Catholic countries, met the main Ottoman fleet at the […]
» Read moreHer Seven Sorrows
Whither is thy Beloved gone, O thou most beautiful among women? Whither is thy Beloved turned aside, and we will seek Him with thee? We begin with the first antiphon of Lauds for today’s feast of The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Monastic Diurnal. The Blessed Virgin Mary is sometimes called Our Lady of Sorrows – […]
» Read moreBirth of the Virgin
God is truly a poet to confound the mathematicians and a mathematician to confound the poets. Nine months after the solemnity of her Immaculate Conception, celebrated on 8 December, today we celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a feast so ancient that it is celebrated on the same day in both East and West. If I may be […]
» Read moreToday’s Solemnity of the Assumption
This morning’s Mass at Holy Rosary was the last solemnity celebrated together by the parishes of Holy Rosary and Saint Joseph. Father Maurer celebrated the Mass to honor Our Lady and give glory to God, and it was beautiful, uplifting, and holy. Father chanted the prayers. We chanted the Ordinary of the Mass in English. Francine read from the Revelation […]
» Read moreNotes on the Transitions,
Number 4 in a Series
Last night, the Holy Rosary and Visitation parish Transition Teams met together for the first time. The meeting was chaired by our incoming pastor, Very Rev. Nicholas Wichert. Also there were our current pastor, Rev. Jacob Maurer, and Leigh Stringfellow from the office of the Vicar of Clergy. This is a great bunch of folks. It was interesting to meet […]
» Read moreOn the Vigil of the Assumption
On the 15th of August 2004, Francine and I walked into Saint Patrick’s Church in Tacoma. This was the Solemnity of the Assumption, and ever since we have counted this as our “Catholic anniversary”. On that day, I discovered in a moment that every doubt I ever had about the truth of Christianity had collapsed. God in His wisdom had […]
» Read moreOur Lady of the Snows
Today is the Memorial of the dedication of my favourite church building in the world, the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, also known in English as Saint Mary Major. It is occasionally known by the title of Our Lady of the Snows. When we were in Rome back in 2005, our apartment was just a few blocks from […]
» Read moreOn a Mission from God
This morning, we were privileged to meet the young lady in this photo. She served with us at the Saturday Mass on the Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori. Her name is Kara Jackson. She has Down syndrome. Kara is an Altar Server in her home parish in Ohio, and God has asked her to serve at the altar in all […]
» Read moreConsolations of the Feast
Several things crowd my mind this morning. Chiefly, I’m still processing the Corpus Christi Masses and procession we celebrated at our parish yesterday. But first, a slight digression. Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces On the calendar used in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces. I wrote an article several […]
» Read moreFátima, Wisconsin?
This week we’re visiting family in the midwest. On today’s Feast of Our Lady of Fátima, we visited the church of Saint Vincent (now, apparently, part of Saint Jude the Apostle parish) in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It’s a beautiful 20th century church with a Romanesque flair. Now, when I attended Mass there yesterday, not one person spoke to me. Today, I […]
» Read moreFriday of Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin
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 calendar in 1970, it survives in the Extraordinary Form, as well as in many local calendars including that most Catholic country of Malta and many Hispanic countries. The commemoration is so widespread, that […]
» Read moreYes!
The mercy of God is a scandal – Christ offers His infinite mercy to every worst kind of sinner, excluding no one. This eternal upwelling of mercy overflows, cascading upon the whole of the human race. It extends to murderers. It extends to rapists. It extends to thieves, and liars, and stalkers, and vandals. It extends to tax collectors and […]
» Read moreThe Professor!
On this day in 1892, J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The Professor is 123 today! All around the world, at 9pm local time, the Tolkien Society and the Professor’s many other devotees will celebrate his birthday with a toast to “the Professor”. I will join in, and I encourage you to do the same. The Professor’s writing, […]
» Read moreMother of God
Wishing both of my readers a very happy new year, and a most blessed Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. Let us celebrate the motherhood of the Virgin Mary, and let us worship Christ the Lord, her Son. (Invitatory antiphon for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God) Most people who are Christians but not Catholics probably wonder why we […]
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