Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Today at 10:12AM, 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 is Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, the Archbishop of Naples. The announcement is traditionally greeted by a 21-gun salute from […]
» Read moreOn the morning of my first day of high school, the principal swept into my homeroom class. He was an Augustinian friar, and he moved in a precise way, as though every gesture had been planned in advance. I’d never met a friar. I’d never gone to a Catholic school before. I wasn’t even Catholic. My academic career to this […]
» Read moreVery rarely has today’s feast made much of an impression on me. I did write about it once, three years ago, because I was struck by the convergence of a beautiful dawn with the readings of the day. God is truly a poet to confound the mathematicians and a mathematician to confound the poets.
» Read moreBorn of Christian parents about the year 331 at Tagaste in Africa, Monica was reared under the strict supervision of an elderly nurse who had likewise reared her father. In the course of time she was given in marriage to a pagan named Patricius. Besides other faults, he possessed a very irascible nature…
» Read moreNo, not that one. Today is the feast of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. Born in 1090 to a noble Burgundian family near Dijon, he entered the monastery at age 23. In less than three years, he was sent by his abbot to found a new monastery in Vallée d’Absinthe on 25 June 1115. Bernard named this new monastery Clairvaux, meaning […]
» Read moreTen years ago, 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 […]
» Read moreSantiago Apóstol Today is the feast of Saint James the Apostle, son of Zebedee and Salome of Bethsaida, brother of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist. One of the “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17). Santiago. Years ago, I wrote about what we know of Saint James from scripture and tradition. That was before I had walked 500 miles to his […]
» Read moreThis arrived in the post today. It’s the seventh edition of the Monastic Diurnal, published in 2011 by Saint Michael’s Abbey Press. You can purchase it in the United States from Clear Creek Abbey. It’s a beautiful book. This should give you some idea of the size. In an odd coincidence, the table of dates at the front of the […]
» Read moreIt’s a pretty rare thing when Kings become saints, or at least become canonized saints. I can only think of a handful off the top of my head: Saint Louis IX of France, Saint Edward the Confessor of Anglo-Saxon England, Saint Stephen of Hungary. Today is the feast of the only Emperor-Saint of which I’m aware: Saint Heinrich II, Duke […]
» Read moreHow does the human brain wrap itself around the eternal and infinite love of God for His creation? How can can we even begin to comprehend the depth of love in Christ’s wounded heart as he pours Himself out for us sinners at Calvary? The truth is, we can’t. The saints and the mystics may catch glimpses, but we humans […]
» Read moreThe church in which I was Baptized, Confirmed, and Married has all sorts of Christian symbols painted on the walls. One of them that always set my brain to thinking looked something like this: It is, of course, an ancient Trinitarian symbol, reminding us in a visual way that while the Father is God, and the Son is God, and […]
» Read moreOn this day in 1431, one of the most truly remarkable women who ever lived was burned at the stake. She was 19 years old. She was known as Jehanne la Pucelle (Joan the Maiden), but today we name her Saint Joan of Arc. In 1429 at the tender age of 17, she led the French army to a string […]
» Read moreToday in 1917, the Blessed Virgin began appearing to three shepherd children in Fátima, Portugal. She appeared on the thirteenth day of six consecutive months. In another article, I’ve talked a little about the Miracle of the Sun. Regardless of miracles, Catholics are not obliged to believe these “private revelations”. Indeed, the Church is very careful to investigate these sorts […]
» Read moreWho first invented Christian monasticism? You could make a pretty strong argument for this guy. Meet Saint Pachomius, who appears on several Benedictine Martyrologies for this day. Pachomius was born about the year 292 in Egypt. He was drafted into the Roman army, where he first came in contact with Christians who were ministering to the troops.
» Read moreMary’s month of May begins with a day for her husband. Today, celebrated around the world as “International Workers’ Day” is the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker. There’s poetry to the fact that the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin begins by putting the focus on her husband, and therefore on their family life. Imagine the Holy Family of […]
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I‘m a frustrated Oblate today. Perhaps I should explain. Today is the (combined) feast of four great Abbots of the Benedictine Order: Saints Odo, Majolus, Odilo, and Hugh. They were all good and holy men, and during the course of their reigns over the Abbey of Cluny and its associated priories, they reformed western monasticism – indeed, it could be […]
» Read moreToday, the Second Sunday in the Octave of Easter, is also known as Divine Mercy Sunday. Pope John Paul II proclaimed the Sunday after Easter as the Sunday of the Divine Mercy (Dominica II Paschæ seu de divina misericordia) in accord with the visions of the Divine Mercy received by
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