Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Happy Feast of All Saints! This is the day when we celebrate all the saints, known and unknown: the Church Triumphant. We ask them to pray for us. I, for one, could use all the help I can get! This day has been a feast since the sixth or seventh century, thanks to the abbots of Cluny, and it was […]
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Once again, I woke up well before my alarm, but this time at the far more reasonable time of 3:45. This is my final day at Our Lady of Clear Creek monastery. I got myself ready for the day, cleaned up my room, and finished packing up my belongings. I was finished with all of this by 4:30, so I […]
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Today is the first full day I spent praying a monastic day, here at Clear Creek Abbey. The rhythm of the day, particularly the morning, absolutely entranced me. It really is virtually nonstop from five in the morning until breakfast at 10:30 AM. I awoke at 3:30 in the morning to the sound of rain outside my window. There was […]
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Last night, I once again camped, this time on the grounds of the monastery. It was a fitful night. My body is definitely feeling the effects of walking 60 km in two days and sleeping on a thin air pad on the ground in a tent for three nights. I went to the little monastic oratory at about 6:30 AM […]
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Next year, I plan to walk a long Camino for Francine. Some background is probably in order. At the annual Gathering of Pilgrims back in 2022, Francine attended a talk on one of the four main Camino routes in France: the Voie de Vézelay, also known as the Via Lemovicensis. She was immediately smitten with this route. For one thing, […]
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Today marks five years since the final Mass of the parish of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Tacoma. These years have been filled with heartbreaking, almost unfathomable loss. This is an annual post, updated only slightly. Much of the language reflects my thoughts and feelings of the day, taken from my journaled notes. Over the past few years, […]
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Today is the memorial of Saint Monica, beleaguered mother of Saint Augustine, whose feast is tomorrow. I’ve had many occasions to pray for her intercession, but right now, this day hits a little different for me. In the modern Roman calendar, her memorial is listed simply as that of “Saint Monica”, but before the calendar reform of the 1970s, she […]
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Today, the Octave day of the Assumption, is the Memorial of Our Lady Queen of Heaven. May you have all the joy of the feast! On this day, Pope Leo XIV has requested that today be a day of prayer and fasting for peace. While our world continues to be wounded by wars in the Holy Land, in Ukraine and […]
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The Catholic Herald reports that for the first time in decades, the Catholic Church in America is growing. They go so far as to say, “If the projections for 2025 hold, this change could represent a significant turning point for American Catholicism.” I’m cautiously optimistic. The Church is a big ship, and she takes a good long while to turn […]
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Today is one of the great solemnities of the Church year: the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Last year on this date, my beautiful bride Francine and I celebrated our twentieth Catholic anniversary. For that anniversary, I wrote an article called “How the Assumption Saved my Life“, which delved into the history and meaning of this date for Francine […]
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Yesterday, on the Feast of the Transfiguration, I learned of the death of Bishop Peter Elliott. His Excellency was the author of any number of liturgical books. I consider myself privileged to have collaborated with him on his book, Ceremonies Explained for Servers. In addition, His Excellency wrote the foreword to my book on altar serving, The Altar Server Manual. […]
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The first time I ever went to Francine’s apartment, more than twenty years ago now, I noticed a tea towel hanging in her kitchen. It illustrated the various types of Welsh love spoons. It still hangs in the kitchen of Pistachio House. If you’re not familiar – as I certainly was not – there is an old custom in Wales […]
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Today is the Feast of Saint James the Greater, known throughout the Spanish-speaking world as Santiago and in French as Saint Jacques. He was one of Christ’s Twelve Apostles. Saint James is the patron saint of the archdiocese of Seattle. May you have the joy of the feast! James and his brother John were natives of Galilee, sons of the […]
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Today would have been Francine’s 63rd birthday. Last year, when she turned 62, having been born in 1962, she proclaimed that it was going to be her year. She called it her “golden year”. Maybe it was. This is the year that she was swept up in the arms of Jesus. I have no doubt that she is in a […]
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Francine’s funeral arrangements are in place. Vespers for the Dead Vespers from the Office of the Dead will be sung for Francine on Thursday, 10 July, 2025 at 6:30 pm Pacific Time at Saint Patrick Church in Tacoma. The principal celebrant will be our friend, the Rev. Jacob Maurer. Music will be directed by Maestra Amy Gallwas. Vespers will not […]
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My beloved bride Francine passed to God at just after midnight on June 21. On behalf of our family, I ask for your continued prayers. Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine,et lux perpetua luceat eis. Grant her eternal rest, O Lord,and may everlasting light shine upon her. Our family thanks all those who supported us through Francine’s terrible final illness. Funeral […]
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My beautiful bride of 17 years was taken to the emergency room at midnight of Easter Sunday. She was physically weak and having trouble with her memory. At Tacoma General Hospital, they ran every test you could imagine. They even sent a sample of her spinal fluid to the Mayo Clinic. On May 5, we received the final diagnosis from […]
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