Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Thank you from the heart, dear friends! I am glad to be with you, surrounded by the beauty of Creation. From eight this evening, I will no longer be Pontiff. I am simply a pilgrim who begins the final stage of his pilgrimage on this earth, but I still wish to, with my heart, with my love, with my prayer, […]
» Read moreAt 8:00 in the evening Roman time tonight, the Chair of Saint Peter falls vacant. Not since 1415 has a Pope abdicated, and not since 1294 has a former Pope been alive during the election of his successor. I say “his” successor, but of course under the language of the Church, each Pope is the direct successor of Saint Peter. […]
» Read moreFrom the Vatican, the full text of Pope Benedict’s final general audience: Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood! Distinguished Authorities! Dear brothers and sisters! Thank you for coming in such large numbers to this last General Audience of my pontificate. Like the Apostle Paul in the biblical text that we have heard, I feel in my heart […]
» Read moreDom Alcuin Reid has a wonderful article on Pope Benedict XVI’s liturgical reforms. Here’s a taste: There was much noise before and after his historic 2007 ruling that the older liturgical rites were henceforth to be available without restriction. Yet in the midst of the cacophony the Supreme Pontiff took the trouble to write at length to the world’s bishops […]
» Read moreNow that we are well and truly in Lent, our serious training has begun. Prior to the beginning of February, Francine and I were hiking the weekends and I was walking about two miles a day during my commute. Now we’ve got a slightly more intensive plan. I’m well aware that there’s a school of thought that says you can’t […]
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Vatican Insider magazine online has produced a really great infographic on how a Pope is elected. It’s well worth checking out. I‘d also like to point you in the direction of two of the better essays out there on the abdication of Pope Benedict XVI. From Sandro Magister, we have this, on Benedict the disregarded reformer: Over his nearly eight […]
» Read moreFrom First Things: We have lived through fifty years of self-inflicted wounds, some very deep. John Paul II and Benedict XVI felt these traumas, of course, and they responded effectively. John Paul II spoke forcefully about the non-negotiable objectivity of moral truth and the unity of faith and reason. Benedict XVI emphasized the renewal of the liturgy and promoted firm […]
» 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 more“Remember Man that you are dust and unto dust you shall return.” And with those words, our Lent has begun. Holy Mother Church calls us to make these next forty days until Easter a time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Lent is a pilgrimage, in a sense, through time if not space, through death to resurrection. A pilgrimage of penitence. […]
» Read more(Source) Benedict XVI the Precedent Setting Pope: Now he surprises us again. Not for six hundred years has a pope stepped aside. He has done so quickly and unexpectedly. While his decision cannot have been sudden. The sudden effectiveness–he will be gone within a few weeks–is brilliant. There is scarcely time for the world’s cardinals to book their plane tickets–much […]
» Read morePope Benedict XVI Like so many others, I am stunned and grieving. I was baptized in 2005 just a month before Pope Benedict’s election, and his hand on the tiller is the only one I’ve really known. We can but pray. Francine and I are beginning the Camino de Santiago shortly after Easter, and I will now offer it for […]
» Read moreDear Brothers, I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an […]
» Read moreSixty days from today, I fly to Spain. Sixty days in advance is the earliest you can purchase a train ticket in Spain using Renfe‘s web site. Since I need to get from Madrid to Pamplona (and thence to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port), I figured I would buy a train ticket today. Here’s what I learned: the train takes three hours and the […]
» Read moreFaith and reason are like the two shoes you wear on your journey. You get a lot farther with both than just one. (J. Michael Straczynski) 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 Catholic – you […]
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