Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
On the old calendar, today is the feast of Pope Saint Gregory the Great, confessor and doctor of the Church (540 – 604). In addition to the above, Saint Gregory was also a Benedictine abbot prior to his election as Pope. So it is in the monastic spirit that today I offer a recent catechesis by Pope Benedict XVI on […]
» Read moreThere is something magical and compelling about a doorway, about a crossroads. It is a time and place in between the old and the new, between past and future; the liminal space where for a moment time stands still and new possibilities, undreamt of mere moments before, now come sharply into focus. Thus says the LORD: “Stand by the roads, […]
» Read moreYesterday for World Communications Day, Pope Benedict XVI rather counter-intuitively gave an address on silence. In the spirit of the Desert Fathers, and of the monastic admonition to silence, the Pope spoke of the relationship between “silence and the word”. No dialogue is possible without both of them. In silence, we are better able to listen to and understand ourselves; […]
» Read moreSuffering through a snow day here at Pistachio House when I came upon this. It needs to be shared, and I for one need to ponder the scriptures and the Pope’s words. Helping Those Called to “Recognize the Voice of God and Follow It” VATICAN CITY, JAN. 16, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave […]
» Read moreToday is the feast of the man many consider to be the founder of Christian monasticism, Saint Anthony the Great of Egypt, the “Father of Monks”. He was born in the middle of the third century in decidedly Pagan Middle Egypt to a well-to-do, comfortable family. He spent much of his life avoiding the sorts of comforts available to him […]
» Read moreAn odd day, this. I woke this morning from a dream where I was reading some sort of history book. It was very much like the big thick history books published in the 50s and 60s that I read when I was much younger, the kind you can still get at second hand book stores. I could smell the book […]
» Read moreI really shouldn’t be on Facebook in the morning. It tends to make me crabby. Advent and Lent are the times of year when the almost reflexive anti-Catholicism of ordinary people raises its ugly head. They are typically fueled by media stories that take one line of a Papal address or speech out of context and twist it until it’s […]
» Read moreThis morning, the second reading from the Office of Readings struck me, so I thought I’d share it with you. It reminds me of the Dark Night of the Soul of Saint John of the Cross, as well as many of the psalms of longing. It’s beautiful. From the Proslogion by Saint Anselm, bishop Desire for the Vision of God […]
» Read moreProfessor Tolkien’s works embody his deep and abiding Catholic faith and worldview. Today in the calendar of Middle Earth, it is Durin’s Day. Durin J.R.R. Tolkien The world was young, the mountains green, No stain yet on the Moon was seen, No words were laid on stream or stone, … When Durin woke and walked along. He named the nameless […]
» Read moreThe Liturgy of the Hours runs through the psalms in a four-week cycle. Every fourth Wednesday at the hour of Vigils (a.k.a. Matins, or the Office of Readings) we pray Psalm 103. There’s one stanza that never fails to give me pause. As for man, his days are like grass; he flowers like the flower of the field; the wind […]
» Read more
Nearly everybody knows about Saint Francis. He’s the plaster birdbath guy, right? The saint who hung around with fuzzy pastel animals. Well, sort of. “Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society.” (Saint Francis of Assisi) I very nearly took “Francis” as my confirmation name. It might have been awkward, though, what with being engaged to Francine at the time. Reading […]
» Read moreLet me preface this by saying that I rarely remember my dreams these days, but this one ended in a most vivid and frightening fashion. I’ve recorded it here primarily for my own use. I was in a building, teeming with children. I had the impression that it was some sort of summer youth program sponsored by the owners of […]
» Read moreToday is officially the “Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels” or, in the old calendar, the “Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Michael the Archangel”. Whatever you call it, the most common name is Michaelmas. It is one of several harvest festivals celebrated throughout Christian Europe. In England this is one of the “quarter days”, which was marked […]
» Read moreToday we celebrate the feasts of two very different men. One lived in the first century and probably died a martyr. The other lived during the 20th century and died at the ripe old age of 81. One was the disciple of Peter and Paul, becoming the second Pope after Saint Peter’s martrydom. The other was a simple Capuchin friar. […]
» Read more
Today at 9:30AM, a small vial of dried blood in Naples turned to liquid, as it has done several times a year since at least the 1380s. A great crowd had gathered to witness this event. The man holding up the vial, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, the Archbishop of Naples, was nearly brought to tears. The announcement was greeted by a […]
» Read moreThe Stabat Mater is a thirteenth century sequence variously attributed to Pope Innocent III and Jacopone da Todi. Here’s the beginning: Stabat Mater dolorosa Iuxta crucem lacrimosa Dum pendebat Filius Cuius animam gementem Contristatam et dolentem Pertransivit gladius At the cross her station keeping, stood the mournful mother weeping, close to Jesus to the last Through her heart, his sorrow […]
» Read more
“So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their ending.” (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit) This week, I’ve been thinking about endings – the end of empires, of eras, of fragile human lives. The last Habsburg Crown Prince died this week. The official notice read in part: Otto von Habsburg, eldest son of the last regnant Emperor of Austria and […]
» Read more