Good 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) He was condemned by his own people, […]
» Read moreTenebræ Debrief
Last night’s Tenebræ service was incredibly powerful. There were probably a hundred people in attendance, and we had half a dozen servers and the full choir. Fr. Wichert led. And the choir! Oh, they were fantastic! The last anthem, sung in absolute darkness, was absolutely heavenly. On a personal note, this is one of my favourite (para)liturgies that we celebrate […]
» 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 moreHoly Week, Busy Week
Every year I take vacation during Holy Week. There are a couple of reasons for this, both spiritual and practical. On the spiritual level, I find that I need time to prepare myself. There may have been some work in the garden the past couple of days. I may also have resumed my habit from earlier in Lent of praying […]
» Read moreTenebræ
This Wednesday evening at 8:00pm, our parish of Holy Rosary will celebrate a Tenebræ service. You are most welcome to join us. What is Tenebræ? The word itself is Latin for “shadows”. It is a Holy Week service tied to the prayers of the Liturgy of the Hours, being a concatenation of Matins and Lauds, anticipated the night before. In […]
» Read moreHosanna 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 moreSeattle Has a New Auxiliary Bishop!
Pope Francis has named Monsignor Daniel H. Mueggenborg, a priest of the Diocese of Tulsa, as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle. He will join Bishop Eusebio Elizondo as assistant to Archbishop Peter Sartain. The Northwest Catholic, the official publication of the Archdiocese ran a story this afternoon: “It is with deep joy that I share this good […]
» 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 General Roman Calendar in 1970, it survives in the Extraordinary Form and in many local calendars, including the calendar of that most Catholic country of Malta, as well as in many Hispanic countries. […]
» Read moreSchedule for Holy Week
The following is the Holy Week schedule for the parishes of Holy Rosary and Visitation in Tacoma, Washington. There’s a lot here! Palm Sunday is a busy weekend, with extra Confession time. 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 […]
» Read morePassiontide
A week ago we celebrated Lætare Sunday, a burst of joy in the midst of Lent. This was, coincidentally, the fifth anniversary of our first Mass at our parish of Holy Rosary. This coming week, the week before Holy Week, we double-down on Lent. Traditionally, today’s Fifth Sunday of Lent marks the beginning of Passiontide, when we walk with Christ […]
» Read moreVesting Prayers
One of my volunteer positions at my parish is that of MC and Altar Server coordinator. Since I started in that position, we’ve made any number of changes. One of the simplest and most profound, though, was the reintroduction of Vesting Prayers. And what are they? In the immemorial tradition of the Roman Rite, certain prayers were recited while vesting […]
» Read moreDesert Fathers for Lent: the Way
An 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)
» Read moreYes is the Answer
The mercy of God is a scandal – Christ offers His infinite mercy to every worst kind of sinner, excluding no one. This eternal upwelling of mercy overflows, cascading upon the whole of the human race. It extends to murderers. It extends to rapists. It extends to thieves, and liars, and stalkers, and vandals. It extends to tax collectors and […]
» Read moreBenedictine Liturgical Ideals and the New Evangelization
Although it no longer appears on the Universal (Roman) calendar, today is one of two feasts of Saint Benedict celebrated by Benedictines throughout the world. This is the day in the year 547 when Saint Benedict of Norcia died. Saint Benedict is generally considered the founder of western monasticism, and his Rule spread throughout the west as the Roman Empire […]
» Read moreA Cup of Joe
Here’s an insight into how my mind works. As I was walking into work one morning a couple of years ago, commuter coffee mug firmly in hand, it suddenly struck me: the reason we call coffee “joe” is because it gets us through our morning, much as Saint Joseph got his foster-son Jesus through the “morning” of his life. I […]
» Read moreLectionary Confluence
On Thursday, I unexpectedly found myself at two daily Masses, the first in the Extraordinary Form, and the second in the Ordinary Form. The differences were stark – made even more so by the fact that the Ordinary Form Mass was a School Mass and thus the readings were done by schoolchildren, and the homily was preached to them. The […]
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