Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
Something simply extraordinary happened today. This afternoon, I attended the Sacred Liturgy and participated in the Mass for the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Lætare Sunday), and it was absolutely by the book. I know this because I follow along in my hand missal, and it’s always jarring to me when a priest goes off on his own. This priest, Rev. […]
» Read moreWell that got your attention, didn’t it? It’s not quite true of course; Patrick may have been born on the isle of Britain, but in a time before the Angles had arrived and started making it Angland. No, his family were Roman Catholic churchmen from the Roman Imperial province of Britannia. Today, nobody is going to go around speaking in […]
» Read moreYesterday, a gust of wind in downtown Seattle snapped my umbrella right in two. At this moment, I can hear the rain beating against my office windows with amazing force. Mostly here in Pugetopolis, we have drizzly, misty sort of rain. Not this week. Combined with the spiritual storms buffeting me of late, it’s making for a stormy Lent. In […]
» Read moreThe most popular post on this blog by far was the one I wrote for the passing of two institutions, the last Hapsburg prince and the space shuttle program. While of course, I happen to think it’s one of my better posts, a poetic elegy to the passing of years, the fact is that most people who come to the […]
» Read moreTurns out that there are exemptions in the new HHS regulations for the Amish and for members of Medi-Share, a program of Christian Care Ministry. But not for Catholics. Source: USCCB
» Read moreOn the old calendar, today is the feast of Pope Saint Gregory the Great, confessor and doctor of the Church (540 – 604). In addition to the above, Saint Gregory was also a Benedictine abbot prior to his election as Pope. So it is in the monastic spirit that today I offer a recent catechesis by Pope Benedict XVI on […]
» Read moreThere is something magical and compelling about a doorway, about a crossroads. It is a time and place in between the old and the new, between past and future; the liminal space where for a moment time stands still and new possibilities, undreamt of mere moments before, now come sharply into focus. Thus says the LORD: “Stand by the roads, […]
» Read moreNot only men, but also women went out into the desert in the 4th and 5th centuries. Today’s short reading is attributed to one of these ascetic women saints, Syncletica of Alexandria (c. 270 – 350). Amma Syncletica of holy memory said, “Sore is the toil and struggle of the unrighteous when they turn to God, and afterwards is their […]
» Read moreSince Lent began, I’ve been praying the hours using an old 1963 Monastic Diurnal. The history of the Divine Office is complicated enough that I’m not going to go into it here. Suffice to say that there were some serious changes following the reforms of 1970. One of the big changes was the calendar. This came home to me this […]
» Read moreYesterday, weird anti-Catholic slogans were spray-painted on Saint James Cathedral in Seattle and on O’Dea Catholic High School across the street. The photo was taken of the marble facing on the front of the Cathedral. You can seen the bronze cathedral doors in the background. Photos of the rest of the damage may be seen here. The phrases spray-painted on […]
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(This is more a note to myself than anything else. How are you pursuing your Lent this year?) The Church calls us to renewed prayer, fasting, and almsgiving during this season of Lent. This year, I have chosen the theme of a pilgrimage as my guide. The comparison of our sojourn here on earth as a pilgrimage is not new […]
» Read moreQueen Esther, seized with mortal anguish, had recourse to the LORD. She lay prostrate upon the ground, together with her handmaids, from morning until evening, and said: “God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you. Help me, who am alone and have no help but you, for I am taking my life in my hand.” […]
» Read moreAn old man was asked, “What is the straight and narrow way?” He replied “The straight way is this, to do violence to one’s thought and to cut off one’s own will. That is what this means. ‘Behold we have left all and followed Thee.’” (Mk 10:28). (Apophthegmata Patrum – The Desert Fathers)
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Today is the feast of the blessed martyr Saint Polycarp (he of many fishes). Burned alive in Rome for the crime of being a Christian bishop, he was a disciple of Saint John the Apostle. Although I could wax on and on about the great Polycarp, I’m not going to, for as the headline to this post reveals, a truly […]
» Read moreFor the last several years, I’ve been attending Ash Wednesday Mass at Saint James Cathedral in Seattle in the morning before work. Today was no exception. Over the years, Mass attendance at the Cathedral has varied pretty wildly. I remember one year where there was nobody sitting in my pew, or in the pews in front of and behind me. […]
» 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 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 […]
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