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 – […]
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Depart from me, I will weep bitterly; labour not to comfort me. (Antiphon 1 of Monastic Lauds for the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows) One year ago today, Archbishop Paul Etienne celebrated the final Mass of Holy Rosary parish in Tacoma. Tomorrow is the Feast of The Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and the following day is the Feast […]
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“We make Idols of our concepts, but Wisdom is born of wonder.” (Pope St. Gregory the Great) Only a handful of Popes ever get named “Great”. Today in the Ordinary Roman calendar is the feast of one of them, Pope Saint Gregory the Great, confessor and doctor of the Church (540 – 604). Gregory had been born into an ancient […]
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Part 6 in an ongoing series of essays on the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. Section 42 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, though short, represents one of the most important clarifications in the most recent revision of the document. This section gives lie to the assertion that none of the traditional elements of the Roman Rite […]
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These beautiful and haunting vespers are chanted from the version given in the Codex Calixtinus. Neither Ordinary nor Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, but rather from the Mozarabic Rite. Side chapel in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, 2013 Note: an earlier version of this story erroneously stated that a diocesan patronal solemnity trumps a Sunday in Ordinary Time […]
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For today’s feast of Saint Mary Magdalen, I thought it fitting to take some excerpts from Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year on the saint and her feast. His essay is some 11 pages long, so this is perhaps the briefest whiff of an excerpt. Saint Mary Magdalen, c. 1395–1400 (Spinello di Luca Spinelli) Three saints,” said our Lord to St. Bridget […]
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The same Jesus who was incarnated in Nazareth and born in Bethlehem is incarnated on every altar in the world in the Eucharist. The same sacrifice of the Cross that occurred two millennia ago in Jerusalem may likewise be seen on every altar in the world in the holy sacrifice of the Mass. This is the great Paschal Mystery, in […]
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We read today in the Acts of the Apostles of this great day, which in a certain way we can celebrate as the birthday of the Church: Pentecost – Duccio di Buoninsegna (1308) When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,they were all in one place together.And suddenly there came from the skya noise like a strong driving wind,and it filled […]
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Tomorrow is Pentecost, the great solemnity celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. The Church has long celebrated this event in three ways: the solemnity of the day itself, the octave of the day, and the vigil. With the liturgical reforms of the 1960s and 1970s, all but the day itself was suppressed, a sad testament to […]
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My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, It is now more than ten months since our last parish Mass was celebrated in our parking lot by Archbishop Etienne. Several months ago, the Archbishop announced that the four parishes of Holy Rosary, Saint Ann, Saint Rita, and Visitation would be merging into a new parish, with Saint John of the Woods […]
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If we only knew how God regards this Sacrifice, we would risk our lives to be present at a single Mass. (Saint Padre Pio) If you think Mass is boring, it’s probably because you don’t know what you’re experiencing! Many of us think of Church as that place you have to go on Sunday as a duty or obligation to […]
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Today (at least on the Benedictine calendar!) is the 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 fairly said that together […]
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From an ancient homily on Holy Saturday, found in today’s Office of Readings: Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who […]
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The Season of Lent comes to its end this evening, as we celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. This celebration commemorates the institution of the Eucharist, the source and summit of Church life, as well as the sacred priesthood which offers this sacrifice. Unlike most Protestants, the Catholic and Orthodox (and others of the Apostolic Tradition) believe that God […]
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This weekend, Holy Week begins with the Sunday of Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem – Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. Although Good Friday is coming – the Passion and Death are coming – for the moment, this moment, joy resounds as our King arrives in His city. In most parishes throughout the world, the principal Mass is celebrated by […]
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Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” And with those words, our Lent has begun. Holy Mother Church calls us to make these next forty days until Easter a time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Lent is a pilgrimage, in a sense, through time if not space, through death to resurrection. A pilgrimage of penitence. Let […]
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