Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
This video was made by Diana Rubio, a former parishioner of Holy Rosary and mother to two of our altar servers. All of the photos were taken over the last five or six years. See if you can find anything that says to you “unviable parish”. Diana says: After many attempts, I can finally post this video that I’ve created […]
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What kind of life could the child possibly look forward to? He was born with a cleft palate, cerebral palsy, and spina bifida. In these progressive days, the child very well might have been aborted after the doctor showed the mother her first detailed fetal ultrasound. Blessed Hermann of Reichenau But the child had the great fortune to be born […]
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Forty-one days ago, we learned that our parish of Holy Rosary was to be suppressed. Twenty-five days ago, we celebrated our last Confirmations as Holy Rosary ceased to be a parish in the Archdiocese of Seattle. Eleven days ago, Archbishop Etienne celebrated the final Mass for Holy Rosary parish. And then, six days ago, we received this in the mail. […]
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Saint Hildegard of Bingen is one of those medieval figures who can cause a lot of confusion to people not paying close attention. She (or, rather, a version of her with her Christianity stripped out) has been adopted by some of the New Agers as one of their own. Of course, if you strip the Christianity out of the life […]
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Depart from me, I will weep bitterly; labour not to comfort me. (Antiphon 1 of Monastic Lauds for the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows) Two days ago, Archbishop Paul Etienne celebrated the final Mass of Holy Rosary parish in Tacoma. Perhaps appropriately, today is the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. In his blog, his excellency had this to […]
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O great work of love: death then was dead when on the Cross Life iteself had died.(Antiphon 1 of Monastic Lauds for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross) At some point over the next day or so I may have some reflections on yesterday’s Mass (and unexpected procession). I’m still processing the emotions, sense of mourning, and the consolations and […]
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Today is the fourteenth anniversary of my final oblation to Saint Martin’s Abbey in Lacey. Recently, Francine and I have considered the idea of transferring our promise of stability to Mount Angel Abbey in St. Benedict, Oregon. Just another moment of uncertainty in this uncertain age. Saint Benedict. Detail from a fresco by Fra Angelico. As Oblates, we promise to […]
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Nine months after the solemnity of her Immaculate Conception, celebrated on 8 December, today we celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a feast so ancient that it is celebrated on the same day in both East and West. WEST: Giotto’s Birth of the Virgin Scripture tells us very little about the early life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. […]
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Current and former Holy Rosary Parishioners are invited to attend our farewell outdoor Mass with Archbishop Etienne and several former pastors on September 13th 2020 at Noon. Guidelines to Attend We are strictly limited to 200 in the congregation, and parishioners MUST sign up ahead of time.Those who are vulnerable are encouraged to stay home and participate in a Mass […]
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Only a handful of Popes ever get named “Great”. Today in the Ordinary Roman calendar is the feast of one of them, Pope Saint Gregory the Great, confessor and doctor of the Church (540 – 604). Gregory had been born into an ancient and wealthy Roman family. Before he was 30 years old, he had been a Roman Senator and […]
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As of yesterday, I am no longer a catechist, at least in the formal sense. Yesterday, Archbishop Etienne and Holy Rosary parish welcomed the Boylan-Nims family into Christ’s Church. And with them, our parish RCIA comes to an end, and by extension my role as its director. This was our penultimate Mass as a parish, and it seems fitting that […]
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Today is one of the more interesting feasts on the liturgical calendar, for today is the feast of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. OK, nowadays they’ve slightly sanitized the name; it’s now officially called the “Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist”, but for the sheer Catholic joy of calling a spade a spade, I’m sticking […]
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In this very volatile moment in our history, both of the United States and of the Catholic Church, where so much anger rises to the surface so quickly, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on the meaning of our times. This anger and factionalism and the accompanying doom-saying is hardly unique to our age. Charles Dickens’ great classic, A […]
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Dear Saint Monica,troubled wife and mother,many sorrows pierced your heart during your lifetime.Yet, you never despaired or lost faith.With confidence, persistence, and profound faith,you prayed daily for the conversionof your beloved husband, Patricius,and your beloved son, Augustine;your prayers were answered. Grant me that same fortitude, patience,and trust in the Lord. Intercede for me, dear Saint Monica,that God may favorably hear […]
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On the old calendar, today is the feast of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was moved in the calendar reform to the Saturday following the Second Sunday after Pentecost. For what reason, I’ve no idea. On the new calendar, today is also a Marian feast, that of Our Lady Queen of Heaven. Whatever changes there might […]
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No, not that one. Today is the feast of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. Born in 1090 to a noble Burgundian family near Dijon, he entered the monastery at age 23. In less than three years, he was sent by his abbot to found a new monastery in Vallée d’Absinthe on 25 June 1115. Bernard named this new monastery Clairvaux, meaning […]
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On this day in 2004, the Blessed Virgin Mary became the instrument of my conversion, and Francine’s reversion, to Jesus Christ and to His Church. Two days ago, the Marian parish to which we belong, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, was suppressed. Mary looms large in our Catholic life. Today is the Solemnity of her Assumption into heaven. Francine […]
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