Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Today was once one of the most solemn feasts of the year. It’s gone by several names over the millennia: the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Candlemas. Coming forty days after Christmas, it was even once the end of the Christmas season. Even today there are relics of […]
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Who doesn’t like top ten lists? These are the top ten post hits on the blog for this past year. Not all of the posts receiving the hits were necessarily written this year. Apparently, their appeal is enduring. In addition, for posts that are part of a numbered series (Novena to the Holy Deacons, I’m looking at you), I’ve only […]
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How 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 […]
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My parish of Holy Rosary has been going through a rough year. I’ve restrained myself from speaking too much about it, although I did have numerous posts on the inciting incident: the sudden collapse and then death of our pastor Father Michael Wagner last year. Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church, Tacoma Following Father’s death, we had a string […]
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Yesterday, following Vespers, I gave Father Wagner’s family the compostela from last year’s Camino. It seemed fitting, since I had walked for him. Indeed, the Pilgrim Office staff had written on it “Vicarie pro Rev. Michael Wagner”, indicating that I had walked as his substitute. Today I am reminded of something I wrote in my journal on this day back […]
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May the second looms large in my life. On this day in 2013, Francine and I walked into Santiago de Compostela for the first time, at the end of our first Camino. At this point, Francine had been walking for almost two weeks, and me for more than a month. I can’t describe the joy of that day. Arrival in […]
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One year ago, our parishes of Holy Rosary and Visitation were deep in prayer for the health and soul of our pastor, Rev. Michael Wagner. Rev. Michael Wagner On April 10 2018, Father Wagner collapsed during the celebration of the holy Mass. He was admitted to hospital with an irreversible brain hemorrhage. The doctors advised his family and the archdiocese […]
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This has been a crazy year. Here at Pistachio House, we had designated 2018 as the “Year of Hygge“. This was going to be the year that we concentrated on coziness. Pistachio House would be finally made into the cozy home we imagined. There would be coffee cake, walks, and new furnishings. It started out strongly enough, and it certainly […]
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Who doesn’t like top ten lists? These are the top ten post hits on the blog for this past year. Not all of the posts receiving the hits were necessarily written this year. Apparently, their appeal is enduring. In addition, for posts that are part of a numbered series (Novena to the Holy Deacons, I’m looking at you), I’ve only […]
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Prior to each of our previous Camino pilgrimages, I’ve tried to articulate why it is that we walk. Everybody’s answer is, of course, different. It has ever been thus. Before my first Camino, I had this sense that God was calling me to it, and maybe that was enough of a reason. Maybe it was partly the sense of adventure […]
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For the last six weeks or so, our parish of Holy Rosary has been under the pastoral care of Father Francis Xavier Kikomeko. Father is from Uganda, and he spends his summers vacationing in the Seattle Archdiocese, filling in and helping out where he can. We are so grateful to Father! He is solid, orthodox, and joyful. Pretty much everything […]
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How 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 more
In paradisum deducant te Angeli; in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem. Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere æternam habeas requiem. May the angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs receive you at your arrival and lead you to the holy city Jerusalem. May choirs of angels receive you and […]
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The Reverend Michael Wagner passed to God in the early morning hours of May 2, 2018. Since then, we’ve been caught in the whirlwind of planning and work, with hardly a moment to take it all in. On the night of his death, our parishes came together to chant Solemn Vespers from the Office for the Dead. Rev. Nicholas Wichert, […]
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Mary’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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It is a week since Father Wagner collapsed and was taken to hospital. Since then, his parishes of Holy Rosary and Visitation have had hour-long holy hours/prayer vigils, alternating every night. These are continuing. At Holy Rosary, we somewhat impulsively put his biretta on the altar. Many people were profoundly moved by this gesture, so it has remained there since, […]
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