Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Whither is thy Beloved gone, O thou most beautiful among women? Whither is thy Beloved turned aside, and we will seek Him with thee? We begin with the first antiphon of Lauds for today’s feast of The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Monastic Diurnal. The Blessed Virgin Mary is sometimes called Our Lady of Sorrows – […]
» 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 moreToday is the principal feast (at least among the Benedictines) of Saint Benedict of Nursia, author of the great monastic rule that in large part saved western civilization after the fall of the Roman Empire. Pope Benedict XVI took his name at least in part from Saint Benedict, and the life and work of the saint was a topic that […]
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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 more(from my journal) Rabanal del Camino 21 April – Sunday! Bishop’s Palace in Astorga, by Gaudi. The Bishop never moved in, and it’s a Museum now. Cathedral in Astorga – Apparently Closed on Sunday Mornings. What is this? Francine’s second day, and the Benedictine connection continues. It was a rough day, and we only reached El Ganso – our intended […]
» Read moreSaint Luke is my kind of writer. Luke the historian and Luke the lyrical poet are both in evidence in his New Testament writings, his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. He freely admits that he never met Christ in the flesh, that he was not a witness to the events he describes in his Gospel. Like any good […]
» Read moreSaint Hildegard of Bingen,Doctor of the Church Lately I’ve been using an old Monastic Breviary in my Divine Office. I’ve spoken before about the calendar confusion that I’ve had to deal with when using books based on the pre-1970 calendar. Mostly the issue stems from feasts being suppressed or moved. Today, however, I ran into something I’ve never seen before: […]
» Read more26 April We walked through the Galician mists today, to the magnificent monastery of Samos. While we were enjoying our second breakfast, who should come ’round the corner but my NZ buddy Eamon! Lunched in Triacastela and convinced him to accompany us to Samos. He was not disappointed. Galicia seems like home – almost a faerie-tale country – and the […]
» Read more21 April 2013 Francine´s second day, and the Benedictine connection continues. We were misinformed about the local Mass schedule, and it briefly appeared that we would have to wait until 10am for a Mass, meaning we wouldn´t be on the road until 11 or later. Fortunately, we were told that there was an evening Mass (7pm) at our intended destination, […]
» Read moreDuring this Year of Faith, the Pope has asked us to re-examine the most recent Council, which began fifty years ago this year, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which turns twenty. Plenty of folks have an axe to grind one way or the other about the Second Vatican Council, but frankly it ended before I was born, and […]
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Do you pray to your Guardian Angel? Do you ask them for advice or help? Why not? The Church teaches that we all receive a guardian angel at birth, an angel assigned to guide and protect us, to watch over us. As it says in scripture: There shall no evil come to thee: nor shall the scourge come near thy […]
» Read moreOn the old calendar, today is the feast of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was moved in the calendar reform to the Saturday following the Second Sunday after Pentecost. For what reason, I’ve no idea. Since my breviary follows the old calendar, this is what I’m praying today. On the new calendar, today is also a […]
» Read moreYou might remember that I’ve been using the 1962 “A Short Breviary” for my daily office lately. Calendar issues aside, it has been a fruitful experience. Yesterday, however, I ran into a bit of a snag. Yesterday was the Feast of Saint Benedict. I didn’t expect to find an office commemorating his feast on the day, since before the calendar […]
» Read moreToday is the feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle. Except when it isn’t. The feast days of most saints are the day they died. For Thomas, today is properly the feast commemorating “the Translation of Saint Thomas” – the day on which his relics were translated (moved) from Mylapore in India to Edessa in Mesopotamia in A.D. 232. Presumably, this […]
» Read moreSince Lent began, I’ve been praying the hours using an old 1963 Monastic Diurnal. The history of the Divine Office is complicated enough that I’m not going to go into it here. Suffice to say that there were some serious changes following the reforms of 1970. One of the big changes was the calendar. This came home to me this […]
» Read moreIt’s the first of January, and I’m clearly looking and feeling my very best after last night’s festivities. We rarely throw parties, but when we do, we invariably overdo it a bit. Last night’s feast had libations aplenty and a table groaning with food for our family and friends old and new. Everybody brought something to share. Combine that with […]
» Read moreThe antiphon for today’s Invitatory prayer is Come, Let us worship God who brings the world and its wonders from darkness into light. It turns out that this has a much greater impact if you actually pray the Hours at their proper times. This morning, I prayed Vigils as the sun was rising. You can see what I mean. Might […]
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