Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Ten years ago today, after about a year of ramp-up, we definitively rebooted the altar server program at my old parish of Holy Rosary. This was the genesis of our training manual, and it was when I developed my own particular method of training, developing, and forming servers. I don’t know why the Lord called me to this ministry, but […]
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This weekend we celebrate the great feast of Christ the King. Traditionally here at Pistachio House, we have had our “Franksgiving” feast on this day. This year, due to the vagaries of the calendar, we actually had our feast last week. No matter. And it is right that we celebrate God’s bounty and God’s blessings in our lives. But today, […]
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From August 18 through October 23, 2023, I walked from Le Puy-en-Velay in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain on pilgrimage to the tomb of the Apostle Saint James the Greater – Santiago. During this pilgrimage, I walked 1,633.8 km, or just over 1,015 miles. This doesn’t count walking around and exploring the many cities, towns, and villages where […]
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O glorious Saint Lawrence, Martyr for the Faith, filled with compassion for those who invoke you, with love for those who suffer, heavily laden with the weight of my troubles, I kneel at your feet and humbly beg you to take my present need under your special protection. Vouchsafe to recommend it to our Lord Jesus. Cease not to intercede […]
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O glorious Saint Raymond, husband, father, deacon, filled with compassion for those who invoke you, I kneel at your feet and humbly beg you to take my present need under your special protection. Vouchsafe to recommend it to our Lord Jesus. Cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted. Above all, obtain for me the grace to […]
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O Holy Saint Francis, through your kind intercession we seek holiness above all things. We seek the faith, hope and love that allowed you to joyfully renounce the pleasures of earthly life and to radically follow our Lord Jesus Christ. Pray for us that we enjoy the privilege of suffering with and for the poor in the example of Jesus. […]
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O glorious Saint Philip, tireless preacher of the Faith, filled with compassion for those who invoke you, I kneel at your feet and humbly beg you to take my present need under your special protection, that they may serve faithfully in your love to all. Vouchsafe to recommend it to our Lord Jesus. Cease not to intercede for me until […]
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O glorious Saint Ephrem, harp of the Spirit, filled with compassion for those who invoke you, I kneel at your feet and humbly beg you to take my present need under your special protection and to make your prayer mine: O Lord, Master of my life, grant that I may not be infected with the spirit of slothfulness and inquisitiveness, […]
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O glorious Saint Benjamin, constant preacher and Martyr for the Faith, filled with compassion for those who invoke you, I kneel at your feet and humbly beg you to take my present need under your special protection. Vouchsafe to recommend it to our Lord Jesus. Cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted. Above all, obtain for […]
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O glorious Saint Andrew, preacher, monk, and poet of the Faith, filled with compassion for those who invoke you, I kneel at your feet and humbly beg you to take my present need under your special protection and to make your prayer mine: Listen, O heaven, and I will speak. O earth, hear the cry of one returning to God […]
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O glorious and blessed Alcuin, great teacher of the Faith, filled with compassion for those who invoke you, I kneel at your feet and humbly beg you to take my present need under your special protection and to make your prayer mine: Give me O Lord, I pray Theefirm faith, unwavering hope,perfect charity.Pour into my heartthe Spirit of wisdom and […]
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O glorious Saint Stephen, first Martyr for the Faith, filled with compassion for those who invoke you, with love for those who suffer, heavily laden with the weight of my troubles. I kneel at your feet and humbly beg you to take my present need under your special protection the Joyful Servants, that they may serve faithfully in your love […]
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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 […]
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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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The last few days have been full of endings and beginnings. Yesterday was the end of the Novemdiales, the traditional nine days of mourning following the funeral of a Pope. In the midst of these days, last Sunday our parish of Saint Patrick celebrated – is that the right word? – the Office for the Dead for the repose of […]
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Depending on your particular calendar, today or tomorrow is the feast of Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787), a great saint and Doctor of the Church who founded the Redemptorists and wrote on the spiritual life. I particularly enjoy his Way of the Cross and a short book (pamphlet, really) called How to Converse Continually and Familiarly with God. The traditional readings […]
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We are all now finally back from our Camino. Those of you who have been following along over on our Camino blog know that – in addition to the physical and mental challenges – the Camino is a powerful tool for discernment. I’ll get back to what we were discerning later, but I was again reminded that walking the Camino […]
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