Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
UPDATE. Unfortunately, we were unable to get everything properly organized in time for this event. There are quite a few rules and regulations regarding gatherings that I was unaware of. This is entirely my fault. Mea culpa! So we will have to cancel. I can only offer my sincere apologies to everyone. All is not lost, however, as we are […]
» Read more
A century ago, on May 30, 1920, the cornerstone of Holy Rosary Church in Tacoma was laid. It was the feast of Saint Joan of Arc, who had been canonized just ten days before. Here’s what our parish history says about the day: May 30, 1920 The cornerstone of the new Church is laid by the Most Rev. Joseph McGrath, […]
» Read more
Saint Bede the Venerable translating the Gospel of John Today in the calendar of the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is the feast of this blog’s patron, Saint Bede the Venerable. The amazing Saint Bede was a monk, priest, historian, and a Doctor of the Church, all while dealing with Viking attacks. I took the name Bede when I […]
» Read more
Viri Galilæi, quid admiramini aspicientes in cælum? Mirroring the forty days of Lent, forty days have passed since Easter. For most of the world today is the Solemnity of the Ascension. Some dioceses, particularly in the United States and including my own Archdiocese of Seattle, have elected to transfer this great feast to the following Sunday. Of course, in these […]
» Read more
Today is the feast of a most remarkable saint, Peter Celestine. Pietro Angelerio was born in the village of Sant’Angelo Limosano, in south-central Italy, in the year 1215. At age 17, he became a Benedictine monk. By the time he was in his thirties, his abbot had given him permission to enter a hermitage in a cave. He became famed […]
» Read more
After the suicide of Judas Iscariot, the remaining Apostles gathered to choose another to replace him. They had some criteria: Therefore, it is necessary that one of the menwho accompanied us the whole timethe Lord Jesus came and went among us,beginning from the baptism of Johnuntil the day on which he was taken up from us,become with us a witness […]
» Read more
On this day in 1917, the Blessed Virgin began appearing to three shepherd children in Fátima, Portugal. She appeared on the thirteenth day of six consecutive months, culminating in the great Miracle of the Sun. The image of the mother in the Presence of the Son. (Holy Rosary, Tacoma, July 2017) Regardless of miracles, Catholics are not obliged to believe […]
» Read more
Two years ago today, we buried our pastor, Rev. Michael Wagner. This short, two-minute video was produced by our local newspaper. Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat eis. In memoria æterna erit iustus, ab auditione mala non timebit. Absolve, Domine, animas omnium fidelium defunctorum ab omni vinculo delictorum et gratia tua illis succurente mereantur evadere iudicium ultionis, […]
» Read more
Since my conversion, May the second has loomed large in my life. Shortly after my baptism, I became an Oblate of the Order of Saint Benedict. Each year, we read through Saint Benedict’s Rule three times, a chapter or so each day. May 2 is one of the three days of the year where we begin the Rule again. This […]
» Read more
Mary’s month of May begins with a day for her husband. Today, celebrated around the world as “International Workers’ Day” is the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker. There’s poetry to the fact that the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin begins by putting the focus on her husband, and therefore on their family life. Imagine the Holy Family of […]
» Read more
Today is the feast of four great Abbots of the Benedictine Order: Saints Odo, Majolus, Odilo, and Hugh. They were all good and holy men, and during the course of their reigns over the Abbey of Cluny and its associated priories, they reformed western monasticism – indeed, it could be fairly said that together they saved western monasticism. My Monastic […]
» Read more
Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine:et lux perpetua luceat eis.In memoria æterna erit iustus,ab auditione mala non timebit. Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord:and let perpetual light shine upon her.She shall be justified in everlasting memory,and shall not fear evil reports. Absolve, Domine,animas omnium fidelium defunctorumab omni vinculo delictorumet gratia tua illis succurentemereantur evadere iudicium ultionis,et lucis æternae beatitudine perfrui. […]
» Read more
John Mark was one of the original seventy disciples (Luke 10:1 ff). Tradition holds that he was one of those who left Christ when he preached on the Bread of Life (John 6:44-6:66). Saint Peter brought him back to the faith. He traveled with Paul and Barnabas, who thought him unreliable (Acts 15:37-41). Again he left, again he came back […]
» Read more
With all of the livestreamed Masses going on right now, it was inevitable that the music companies and hymnal publishers would start to raise a fuss about licensing and copyright. Here’s a secret: the Latin Mass parts and the Gregorian hymns are not under copyright. I mean, there are hymnal publishers that will change a few notes or words so […]
» Read more
“Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” (G.K. Chesterton) Saint George of Lydda (Eastern Version) Today’s feast is of the martyr Saint George. Pious legends of dragon slaying notwithstanding, George was a soldier of the Roman army who was killed during the persecutions […]
» Read more
Today, the Second Sunday in the Octave of Easter, is also known as Divine Mercy Sunday. Pope John Paul II proclaimed the Sunday after Easter as the Sunday of the Divine Mercy (Dominica II Paschæ seu de divina misericordia) in accord with the visions of the Divine Mercy received by Saint Faustina. But what is the Divine Mercy? In short, […]
» Read more
As we approach the end of the Easter Octave, I am once again struck by the poetic quality of the hymn translations of the Monastic Diurnal. Specifically, I’m thinking about the Easter hymn, Aurora Lucis Rutilat. The first part of the translation is from a version done in 1852 by J. M. Neale, but then in the fifth verse (below) […]
» Read more