Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
From the earthquake-ravaged Monastery of Norcia, we have news that the founding Prior, Rev. Cassian Folsom, O.S.B., has resigned. The earthquakes of the past several months have presented us with incredible challenges, which require vigorous, creative leadership. While I am in good health at the moment, I do not have the strength or energy necessary to meet these challenges. Therefore […]
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Fifty-six years before the English Puritan refugees at Plymouth celebrated their “first Thanksgiving”, Spanish explorers and their Timucua allies celebrated one in Saint Augustine, in what is now Florida. They had bean soup.
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For the close of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis has released an Apostolic Letter Misericordia et Miseria, “Mercy and Misery”. MISERICORDIA ET MISERA is a phrase used by Saint Augustine in recounting the story of Jesus’ meeting with the woman taken in adultery (cf. Jn 8:1-11). It would be difficult to imagine a more beautiful or apt […]
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Yesterday, on the great feast of Christ the King, we held our annual feast of thanksgiving at Pistachio House as we do every year. Daughter Raine and I went to the Noon Mass at Holy Rosary. There were some additions to the Mass, as we closed out the great Jubilee Year of Mercy. In the afternoon and evening, we had […]
» Read moreBefore, during, and after last night’s vigil Mass for the Solemnity of Christ the King, Rev. Caleb Insco, F.S.S.P., heard Confessions at Holy Rosary. Fr. Insco is a newly-minted priest serving at St Joseph. I am grateful for Fr. Insco’s zeal and charity, and I would like to publicly thank him for his service to the Lord and to the […]
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The Catholic Herald published an article this morning on one of today’s saints that absolutely delights me: Of all the great characters from children’s literature, who better to have a namesake to intercede for us in heaven? (At least, in the absence of a St Bofa of Sofa.) After all, it was she, of all the Pevensie children, who first […]
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Over at my Camino blog, I’ve been posting a “Camino photo of the day” since early July. If you haven’t seen them, check them out! Today’s photo and short explanation may be more relevant here than usual. Today’s photo requires some backstory. One year ago today, I sent my application to the Archdiocese of Seattle to discern for the diaconate. […]
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My friends, it has been a rough couple of weeks. You may have noticed that my posts here of late have been few and far between. For this I apologize. I have been in the grips of a mild depression, which may have even risen to the sin of acedia. Certainly I plan to Confess the same a little later […]
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Today in 1605, a cabal of Catholic plotters, hoping to turn back the tides of reformation and restore a Catholic monarch to Great Britain, attempted to assassinate the very Protestant King James. Their plan – if you can dignify it by calling it a plan – was to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of England’s […]
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Can we talk about Gregorian chant? Because today has some doozies. I confess that I was a fan of chant long before I was a Catholic. Indeed, God used the beauty of this music to draw me to Him. Specific chants are prescribed for each Mass in both the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite. Each day’s […]
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Let’s talk Purgatory. We have to, to make any sense at all out of today’s feast. Today is officially “The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed”, but like most folks, I’ll stick with the simple version – All Souls’ Day. Over the years, I’ve heard numerous homilies and essays that mix this day up with yesterday, All Saints’ Day. Somebody […]
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Happy Feast of All Saints! This is the day where we celebrate all the saints, known and unknown: the Church Triumphant. We ask them to pray for us. I for one could use all the help I can get! This day has been a feast since the sixth or seventh century, and it was fixed on November 1 in the […]
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Today is the 601st anniversary of King Henry V’s famous victory over the French at the Battle of Agincourt. As Shakespeare reminds us in his Henry V, this battle took place on the feast of Saints Crispin and Crispinian. May you have the joy of the feast! Enter the KING WESTMORELAND. O that we now had here But one ten […]
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Joseph Stalin famously demanded to know “How many divisions does the Pope of Rome have?” Stalin was, of course, asking the wrong question, as the saint whose feast is today finally proved. When Karol Wojtyła was elected Pope John Paul II in October of 1978, I was not only just 11 years old – I wasn’t even Catholic. It’s safe […]
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This morning, our local newspaper the Tacoma News Tribune, ran this photo in their “Looking Back” section. I have reproduced the caption exactly as it appeared in today’s paper. Note the snarky tone when referring to the Altar Boys. Not to mention the use of “processional” as a noun. Oh, and this was 75 years ago. What about this past […]
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This past Sunday, my parish of Holy Rosary celebrated its 125th anniversary – our Quasquicentennial. The project for this celebration was started several years ago by Dr Michael Barkley, a gentleman from the parish who deserves all credit for getting this ball rolling. His great-grandparents were in fact the first couple married at the parish, back in October of 1891. […]
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Saint Luke is my kind of writer. Luke the historian and Luke the lyrical poet are both in evidence in his New Testament writings, his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. He freely admits that he never met Christ in the flesh, that he was not a witness to the events he describes in his Gospel. Like any good […]
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