Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Saint Hildegard of Bingen is one of those medieval figures who can cause a lot of confusion to people not paying close attention. She (or, rather, a version of her with her Christianity stripped out) has been adopted by some of the New Agers as one of their own. Of course, if you strip the Christianity out of the life […]
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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). His feast, originally celebrated on the day […]
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Today is one of the more interesting feasts on the liturgical calendar, for today is the feast of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. OK, nowadays they’ve slightly sanitized the name; it’s now officially called the “Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist”, but for the sheer Catholic joy of calling a spade a spade, I’m sticking […]
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In this very volatile moment in our history, both of the United States and of the world, where things seem to be unravelling and so much anger rises to the surface so quickly, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on the meaning of our times. This anger and factionalism and the accompanying doom-saying are hardly unique to our age. […]
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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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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 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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For the Order of Saint Benedict, today is the Solemnity of the Transitus of Saint Benedict, the anniversary of his death and birth into life eternal, in the year of our Lord 547. Of the transitus, Benedict’s biographer Pope Saint Gregory the Great writes: The same year in which he departed this life, he told the day of his holy […]
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Today on the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, we would do well to meditate on the life of the man who helped raise the Son of God. It can’t have been easy. Tradition holds that Joseph was already an old man and a widower when he married the Blessed Virgin, who was very young, perhaps 16 or so. He had several […]
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Saint Patrick’s family were Roman Catholic churchmen from the Roman Imperial province of Britannia. Yet, today, nobody is going to go around speaking in fake Latin and wearing a toga and sandals, oh no. But I’ll bet you a shiny shamrock that you’ll run into at least one person affecting a fake Irish brogue. Today is a day in America […]
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Today is the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter. Now, you might be thinking, “a feast for a piece of furniture?” Read on! Most folks have seen some variation of this photo of Bernini‘s “Chair of Peter” in the Vatican. It’s a masterpiece of baroque art, found in every art textbook covering the period. The chair in question is […]
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The memorial of Saint Valentine was removed from the Roman calendar during the calendar reform of 1970. It seems a shame, since this is one of a vanishingly small number of saint’s feasts that have remained in the secular culture. It seems to me that it could be used as a touchstone for the new evangelization. Mind you, he’s still […]
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Vatican News is reporting that Saint Teresa of Calcutta has been added to the General Roman Calendar. The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments releases the decree inscribing St. Teresa of Calcutta in the General Roman Calendar, along with the liturgical texts to accompany her feast day on September 5. You can read the full story […]
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Saint Benedict was the founder of Western monasticism; to this day, most monks and nuns worldwide follow some variation of his “Little Rule for Beginners“. Benedict had a twin sister, Scholastica, whose feast day is today. Under her brother’s guidance, she founded the first female monastery in the West. I often think that their parents had a sense of humour, […]
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Today is the anniversary of the death of Saint Brigid of Kildaire. She founded the first monasteries in Ireland shortly after Saint Patrick’s mission. She was named after an ancient Celtic goddess, and over the course of history many of the attributes of the goddess have been attributed to her as well. As you might imagine, this makes a mess […]
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Today is the 150th anniversary of the death of Servant of God Dom Prosper Guéranger, OSB (1805-1875). He refounded Solesmes Abbey, from which an entire Congregation of Benedictine monasteries has since sprung. He is responsible for the restoration of monastic life in France, as well as promoting the sacred liturgy and spearheading the revival of Gregorian chant. I have quoted from his […]
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Faith and reason are the shoes on your feet. You can travel further with both than you can with just one. (J. Michael Straczynski, “The Deconstruction of Falling Stars“) Today is the Feast of the Universal Doctor of the Church and one of my name Saints, Thomas Aquinas. When (certain) people, told of my conversion, said to me “oh, you’re […]
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