Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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)
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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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Well 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 […]
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Over on our Camino Blog, I’m running a series called “Camino Photo of the Day”. Occasionally, I will cross-post these here. This sign is posted in the common room of the Municipal Albergue in Azofra. You will see or hear variations of this phrase all along the Camino. It’s not only a good explanation of the difference between a pilgrim […]
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We’re just back from the Rite of Election. This is where our Catechumens and Candidates signify their call to the Easter Sacraments. In theory, this should be done at the Cathedral, but the enormous number of people entering the Church make this impractical. Every year, the Archdiocese of Seattle celebrates a number of these Rites throughout the Archdiocese – this […]
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This is a busy Lent. This week, I literally have some event or class or liturgy on my calendar every day of the week, including two Rites of Election. Fortunately, my role in those two (at least) is not as MC, but as RCIA Director and sponsor, and this is pretty low stress. On the other hand, I led last […]
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Archbishop J. Peter Sartain has granted to the faithful of the Archdiocese of Seattle a dispensation from the obligation to abstain from meat on Friday, March 17, the commemoration of Saint Patrick. Western Washington Catholics can enjoy their corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day this year without worrying about breaking their Lenten (sic) Friday commitment. Seattle Archbishop J. […]
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The following open letter can be found in various liturgical blogs, and it is well worth reading. Although I am not one of the signatories, I very much associate myself with the sentiments expressed here. A Statement on the Current Situation of Sacred Music We, the undersigned—musicians, pastors, teachers, scholars, and lovers of sacred music—humbly offer this statement to the […]
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At my parish of Holy Rosary in Tacoma, we are celebrating Sunday Vespers as we do each Lent. While some weeks, this will be simple chanted Vespers, most weeks this year it will be a form of Solemn Vespers. Father Wichert led us in Solemn Vespers last night, chanted in the Presence of the exposed Blessed Sacrament. This was followed […]
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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. […]
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Most folks have seen some variation of this photo of Bernini‘s “Chair of Peter” in the Vatican. It’s a masterpiece of baroque art, found in every art textbook covering the period. The chair in question is carried aloft by four saints. The image of the dove in the Holy Spirit window has been duplicated and copied all over the world […]
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