Christus Resurréxit! Resurréxit Vere!
Exult! Exult!
A Great Silence on Earth
From an ancient homily on Holy Saturday, found in today’s Office of Readings: Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who […]
» Read moreGood Friday: God is Dead
Today is Good Friday: the commemoration of the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ at Calvary. Ecce lignum Crucis, in quo salus mundi pepéndit. Veníte adorémus.Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the salvation of the world. Come let us adore.(Missale Romanum: Friday of the Passion of the Lord) Ecce homo: Behold, the man He was condemned by […]
» Read moreMaundy Thursday:
Do This in Memory of Me
The Season of Lent comes to its end this evening, as we celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. This celebration commemorates the institution of the Eucharist, the source and summit of Church life. Unlike most Protestants, the Catholic and Orthodox (and others of the Apostolic Tradition) believe that God is really there, wholly present in the consecrated bread and […]
» Read moreAd Multos Annos!
Today is the 92nd birthday of Father Benedict, once Pope Benedict XVI. Happy birthday! Obviously, we don’t know how history will judge the life and works of Pope Benedict XVI. As for me, I think that in a century or so, he will be enrolled amongst the Doctors of the Church. Pope Francis visits Father Benedict, 2019 If you have […]
» Read moreGene Wolfe (1931-2019)
Gene Wolfe has died. Mr. Wolfe was an enormous influence on me as a writer and as a human being. Gene Wolfe (1931-2019) He was a master of implication and manipulating the reader’s inferences. You could read the first page of any Wolfe book and know things about the world in which the book was set that he never directly […]
» Read moreTenebræ
Hosanna to the Son of David!
This weekend, Holy Week begins with the Sunday of Lord’s triumphal entry into Jersusalem – Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. Although Good Friday is coming – the Passion and Death are coming – for the moment, this moment, joy resounds as our King arrives in His city. In most parishes throughout the world, the principal Mass is celebrated by […]
» Read moreFriday of Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin
On this Friday, a week before Good Friday, the Church has traditionally remembered the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin. While the commemoration was removed from the calendar in 1970, it survives in the Extraordinary Form, as well as in many local calendars including that most Catholic country of Malta and many Hispanic countries. The commemoration is so widespread, that […]
» Read moreSchedule for Holy Week
The following is the Holy Week schedule for the parishes of Holy Rosary and Visitation in Tacoma, Washington. It’s less jam-packed than previous years, but there’s still a lot here! Wednesday Tenebræ is not to be missed. And of course, the Holy Triduum is essentially one giant liturgy (with some serious overnight breaks) that begins with the Introit of the […]
» Read moreMissale Romanum at Fifty… plus one
A good friend pointed out to me that my post yesterday on the fiftieth anniversary of the promulgation of the Novus Ordo Missae was a little darker than perhaps I intended. This is a fair comment. I may have been in a slightly grumpy mood yesterday. Even five years ago, the idea of a “new liturgical movement” to restore the […]
» Read moreMissale Romanum at Fifty
NOTE: Particularly if this article leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, you’ll want to read the follow-up. It is a sort of apologia. Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the promulgation of the Novus Ordo Missae by Pope Saint Paul VI in his Apostolic Constitution Missale Romanum. There is, so far as I can tell, no mention of this […]
» Read moreJubilate Deo!
In April of 1974, Pope Saint Paul VI issued a small book called Jubilate Deo containing various Latin chants. Copies were sent as “a personal gift” to all the Bishops of the world. In the accompanying letter from the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship, we read, In presenting the Holy Father’s gift to you, may I at the same time […]
» Read moreI am still Abba Lot
During Lent, I am often reminded of this, one of my favourite stories from the Desert Fathers: Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, “Abba, as far as I can I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my […]
» Read moreIntroíbo ad Altáre Dei – the Prayer and the Posters
At our parish of Holy Rosary, the clergy and servers pray Psalm 43 (42) before Mass in the narthex. Well, since we were forced to move to the auditorium this past November, we pray it in the hallway outside. This psalm begins with the antiphon, “I will go to the altar of God”, or in Latin, “Introíbo ad altáre Dei”. […]
» Read more