Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Today, I spent the morning and early afternoon on Vashon Island training altar servers at our sister parish of Saint John Vianney. This past Wednesday evening, I trained new altar servers at Saint Frances Cabrini Parish in Lakewood. Tomorrow, at my own parish, I will lead a training/retraining session for the Saint Patrick altar servers. Bear in mind that I […]
» Read more
Twenty years ago today, I made my final oblation to Saint Martin’s Abbey. For twenty years now, I have been an Oblate of the Order of Saint Benedict, an amateur monk living in the world. As best as I can, I live according the Holy Rule of Saint Benedict, adapted to my life in the world. At my oblation, I […]
» Read more
Every day, I read a chapter (or part of a chapter) from the Holy Rule of Saint Benedict. This is done on a specific cadence, so that in a year I read through the entirety of the Rule three times. Today’s reading discusses the three promises a new monk makes upon entering the monastery. These are not, as you would […]
» Read more
This morning just before I started my 5K walk, I reflexively checked the email on my phone. What I saw absolutely stopped me in my tracks, and I had to take a couple of minutes to regroup. The first two emails were little nudges to respond or follow up to older messages. The top one was something I had written […]
» Read more
This morning, I’m getting on an airplane to fly to Paris. God willing, I begin walking on pilgrimage from Vézelay, France, on April 9. It was Francine’s dream to walk the Camino from Vézelay ever since she heard about this route in 2022. We have been actively planning this pilgrimage walk since late 2023. Francine was an enthusiastic pilgrim – […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
This is not my normal St. Patrick’s Day post. If you’d like to read something about the Saint, check out last year’s post. Today, I want to talk about this day last year. Francine journaled obsessively. Every year, sometimes more than once, she would try out an entirely new journaling system. Like me, she never met a notebook she didn’t […]
» Read more
This has been a rough week. One of the ways I volunteer at my parish is as an adult catechist. I’m part of our OCIA team; we teach the faith to those adults seeking baptism or full communion with the Catholic Church. We have a great team – we have some folks who are real theological heavyweights, some folks who […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
Francine’s funeral arrangements are in place. Vespers for the Dead Vespers from the Office of the Dead will be sung for Francine on Thursday, 10 July, 2025 at 6:30 pm Pacific Time at Saint Patrick Church in Tacoma. The principal celebrant will be our friend, the Rev. Jacob Maurer. Music will be directed by Maestra Amy Gallwas. Vespers will not […]
» Read more
My beloved bride Francine passed to God at just after midnight on June 21. On behalf of our family, I ask for your continued prayers. Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine,et lux perpetua luceat eis. Grant her eternal rest, O Lord,and may everlasting light shine upon her. Our family thanks all those who supported us through Francine’s terrible final illness. Funeral […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
It was twenty years ago today, and I was a pagan. Now when I say pagan, I don’t mean that I was unchurched or a “None”. No, I was a card-carrying member of an ancient Egyptian reconstructionist church. I am often amused by God’s little jokes. I was raised with no religion, but both my sister and I were sent […]
» Read more
Today is the feast of Saint Benedict of Nursia, who can safely be said to be the father of western monasticism. His monastic Holy Rule, still followed today after almost 1,500 years, spread throughout the west as the Roman Empire collapsed. Pope Pius XII lauded him, for in the perilous times that followed Rome’s fall, it was Benedictine monks who […]
» Read more
In the Ordinary form of the Roman Rite, today is the memorial of Saint Romuald, abbot and founder of the Camaldolese monks. In my Benedictine breviary (and in the Eastern Churches), his feast is February 7. The explanation for the discrepancy may be found on Wikipedia, but briefly today is the anniversary of his death, while the February date is […]
» Read more
There are moments and even days when you can feel the Holy Spirit working. This past weekend was a busy one, and through it all I felt the presence of the Lord very near. Late Sunday night, I had a brief discussion with my friend Rev. Bryan Dolejsi about another such moment, but it occurred to me later that I […]
» Read more
On this day in 1431, one of the most truly remarkable women who ever lived was burned at the stake. She was 19 years old. She was known as Jehanne la Pucelle (Joan the Maiden), but today we name her Saint Joan of Arc. Saint Joan at Holy Rosary, Tacoma She was canonized in 1920, and her memorial was first […]
» Read more