Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Born of Christian parents about the year 331 at Tagaste in Africa, Monica was reared under the strict supervision of an elderly nurse who had likewise reared her father. In the course of time she was given in marriage to a pagan named Patricius. Besides other faults, he possessed a very irascible nature… Her marriage was blessed with three children: […]
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Nine years ago, on the 15th of August 2004, Francine and I walked into Saint Patrick’s Church in Tacoma. This was the Solemnity of the Assumption, and ever since we have counted this as our “Catholic anniversary”. On that day, I discovered in a moment that every doubt I ever had about the truth of Christianity had collapsed. God in […]
» Read moreToday is the feast of the deacon martyr, Saint Lawrence. There are so many stories about him, that it’s hard to sum him up briefly. In the confused days after the martyrdom of Pope Sixtus, the administration of the Roman churches fell to the Deacon, Lawrence. He was captured by the Imperial authorities, but he bargained for his release. The […]
» Read moreSaint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr. (12 October 1891 to 09 August 1942) Edith Stein was an influential German Jewish philosopher. An atheist by the time she was a teenager, she was influenced by the writings of Saint Teresa of Ávila and converted to the Roman Catholic Church. She was baptized at the age of 31. She […]
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Today in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is the feast of Saint Dominic de Guzmán (1170 – 06 August 1221), founder of the Order of Preachers, known as the Dominicans. In the Extraordinary Form calendar that my current breviary follows, this feast was last Sunday, the 4th (or would have been, had it not been a Sunday). You […]
» Read moreToday is the optional memorial of the dedication of one of my favourite church buildings in the world, the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, also known in English as Saint Mary Major. It is occasionally known by the title of Our Lady of the Snows. When we were in Rome, our apartment was just a few blocks from […]
» Read moreSantiago Apóstol Today is the feast of Saint James the Apostle, son of Zebedee and Salome of Bethsaida, brother of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist. One of the “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17). Santiago. On this day last year, I wrote about what we know of Saint James from scripture and tradition. That was before I had walked 500 […]
» Read moreIt’s a pretty rare thing when Kings become saints, or at least become canonized saints. I can only think of a handful off the top of my head: Saint Louis IX of France, Saint Edward the Confessor of Anglo-Saxon England, Saint Stephen of Hungary. Today is the feast of the only Emperor-Saint of which I’m aware: Saint Heinrich II, Duke […]
» Read moreBenedict! The man who saved European civilization! The man who invented western monasticism! I’ve often written of him, and of his sister Saint Scholastica. The very foundation of this blog was the monastic movement that Benedict began 1500 years ago. Frankly, you’re probably sick of hearing my blatherings. What we need is somebody way smarter than me to sum him […]
» Read moreIt’s not really a secret that Pope Francis’ first encyclical, released this morning, was primarily written by Pope Benedict XVI. If you’re going to have a ghost writer, I can’t think of a better one! “Coincidentally” the two Popes appeared together in public to consecrate Vatican City to Saint Michael the Archangel. Sounds like they think the Vatican may need […]
» Read more“The Incredulity of St Thomas” by Caravaggio God’s communications with us humans are often subtle. As the Prophet Elijah discovered, the Voice of God is often to be found in the whispering wind (1 Kings 19:11-13). Sometimes, however, God reaches out and whacks us upside the head, either physically or mentally. One such time in the history of the Church […]
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“The Incredulity of St Thomas” by Caravaggio God’s communications with us humans are often subtle. As the Prophet Elijah discovered, the Voice of God is often to be found in the whispering wind (1 Kings 19:11-13). Sometimes, however, God reaches out and whacks us upside the head, either physically or mentally. One such time in the history of the Church […]
» Read moreThe story of the Jewish people moves through Exodus to the Judges to the Kings to the Prophets. It culminates in Christ, the culmination of all things. He is Priest, Prophet, and King, and in Baptism we come to share this designation as well. We do not all share the gift of prophecy, of course, but to see it continuing […]
» Read moreOn today’s feast, G.K. Chesterton explains pretty clearly the source of my devotion to Saint Thomas More. (I have split up the paragraphs of Chesterton’s essay for easier online reading. Original paragraphs have dropcaps.) Most would understand the phrase that the mind of More was like a diamond that a tyrant threw away into a ditch, because he could not […]
» Read moreTomorrow is the memorial of one of my favourite saints, Saint Thomas More, who died at the hands of King Henry VIII (that villain). The story of his life was (more or less) made into the wonderful movie, A Man for All Seasons, starring Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas More. The script is just brilliant, and eminently quotable. The “but […]
» Read moreThe following official and semi-offical items were released today by Rome and the US Bishops: Decree from the Holy See, USCCB press release, and VIS announcement with English translations. In Eucharistic Prayer II: that with the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, with blessed Joseph, her Spouse, with the blessed Apostles … In Eucharistic Prayer III: with the most Blessed […]
» Read moreThe redoubtable Fr. Z reports: Decades after John XXIII placed the name of Joseph in the Roman Canon, it seems that the name of the great Patron of the Dying, Terror of Demons, will be in the Eucharistic Prayers II, III and IV in the 3rd edition of the Missale Romanum. I received a copy of a document from the […]
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