Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Today is the second “O” antiphon, O Adonai. It has been a long time since I’ve sung these properly, and I very much miss chanting Vespers in community. One of my great hopes is that our chapel will be finished this time next year, so that we may pray these antiphons there. Of course, I said that last year as […]
» Read moreO Wisdom! Advent is drawing to its close, and it’s time again for the O Antiphons. These antiphons are part of the prayers at the liturgical hour of Vespers for the 17th through the 23rd of December – the 24th is of course the Christmas Vigil itself. They are ancient prayers, possibly dating back to the earliest days of the […]
» Read moreTomorrow is Gaudete Sunday – the joyous third Sunday of Advent. Jimmy Akin gives us the scoop.
» Read moreFor this penitential season, the Church draws on the wisdom of the Scriptures and tradition in suggesting a time of intense prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Catholics in the United States are obliged to abstain on Ash Wednesday and on all Fridays during the season of Lent. Catholics are also obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Self-imposed observance […]
» Read moreEach year about this time, I post some variation of this essay on the liturgical season boringly known as “Ordinary Time”. Ordinary? Well, what’s so ordinary about it, anyway? Christmas is over, all too soon, and we have now entered into a new season of the liturgical year. This is the time of the year that does not fall into […]
» Read moreThe rest of the world thinks Christmas is over, with the possible exception of those who celebrate Boxing Day today or those fond of partridges in pear trees. Oh, how wrong they are. For like Easter, Christmas isn’t just one day, but a season! It continues from Christmas Day through the Epiphany (January 6). In some places, this season is […]
» Read moreWe come to the last of the O Antiphons, for tomorrow is Christmas Eve, the Vigil of the Nativity. I mentioned yesterday that the O Antiphons were arranged backwards into the song Veni, Veni Emmanuel. This was by design, for the Antiphons themselves are a backwards acrostic. The first letters of the Messianic titles — Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, […]
» Read moreWith Christmas just days away now, we hear the penultimate O Antiphon this evening. I mentioned a couple of days ago that the antiphons might sound vaguely familiar to you. In the 12th Century, an unknown songwriter compiled versions of the O Antiphons into a single Advent hymn, called Veni, Veni Emmanuel. You know the English version as O Come, […]
» Read moreIt is altogether right and proper that we should celebrate Christ as the bringer of light on this, the day of the winter solstice. This was an ancient holy day in many religions, as indeed it continues to be. On this, the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, where people for eons have begged their divinity for […]
» Read moreContinuing on, we come closer and closer to the birth of the Messiah, “the holy one, the true, who holds the key of David, who opens and no one shall close, who closes and no one shall open” (Revelation 3:7). The key is the symbol of authority. Christ is the Key of the House of David who opens to us […]
» Read moreBy now some of you might be thinking that the O Antiphon words might be sounding kind of familiar, even though you’re not really up on your Gregorian Chant. In fact, these antiphons are some of the earliest attested antiphons in the Divine Office, being mentioned in passing in the works of Saint Boethius in the early sixth century. The […]
» Read moreToday is the second “O” antiphon, O Adonai. It has been a long time since I’ve sung these properly – three years now – and I very much miss chanting Vespers in community. One of my great hopes is that our chapel will be finished this time next year, so that we may pray these antiphons there. Of course, I […]
» Read moreWisdom! Advent is drawing to its close, and it’s time again for the O Antiphons. These antiphons are part of the prayers at the liturgical hour of Vespers for the 17th through the 23rd of December – the 24th is of course the Christmas Vigil itself. They are ancient prayers, possibly dating back to the earliest days of the Christian […]
» Read more…we’re back in Ordinary Time. Which of course, is not so ordinary at all. Unless of course, you’re celebrating the Octave of Pentecost.
» Read moreOur Lenten pilgrimage comes to its end this evening, as we celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. This celebration commemerates the institution of the Eucharist, the source and summit of Church life. Unlike most Protestants, the Catholic and Orthodox (and others of the Apostolic Tradition) believe that God is really there, wholly present in the consecrated bread and wine. […]
» Read moreThis weekend, Holy Week begins with the Sunday of Lord’s triumphal entry into Jersusalem – 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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