Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
In the old calendar, the one still used in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces. Here’s where many folks go off the rails in castigating the Church as non-Christian. Mediatrix of All Graces? Isn’t Christ our mediator? Does not the scripture say For there is one God. There is […]
» Read moreMary’s month of May draws to a close with the Feast of the Visitation. This feast celebrates the visit of Mary, pregnant with Jesus, to her cousin Elizabeth, pregnant with John the Baptist (Gospel of Saint Luke, Chapter 1 verses 39 – 56). Luke’s account culminates in one of the great New Testament songs, Mary’s Magnificat, which we recite at […]
» Read moreToday is the reason we have Christmas in December. Seriously. There’s an ancient tradition that says that you will know the day of your death by the day of your conception, and vice versa. Christ was crucified on the 14th of Nisan – the only date we can fix with certainty in his life. When translated from the Jewish lunar […]
» Read moreI post this for future reference. One cannot walk forward without being mindful of where one has already walked. The First Brush I have been a student of religion since I can remember. Indeed, one of my earliest conscious definitions of a human is “an animal with the desire for enlightenment,” or if you prefer, “Truth”. To this day, for […]
» Read more