Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
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, […]
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March 25 is the usual date for the great feast of the Annunciation of Gabriel to Mary, but it is transferred to the Monday after the Easter Octave whenever it falls within Holy Week. Very rarely, Good Friday – the date of Our Lord’s Crucifixion – is also on March 25. Conception and death, all in one day. This is, […]
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Bishop Paul Hinder, Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia makes this urgent appeal for prayer for Salesian Priest Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil, kidnapped in Yemen in the recent attack on the Care Home in Aden.
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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 […]
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The thing about Holy Week is that its liturgies – if they are to be done well and worthily – require practice and rehearsal. We had two on Saturday (for Palm Sunday and Easter Vigil), and I’m going to one for Holy Thursday in about an hour. We’ll probably sneak in a quick one before Tenebræ. Friday is the rehearsal […]
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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 moreOne week from today, we will be in Spain. Yowza! It’s odd, this countdown being the same as the countdown to Easter. It seems to give both things an even greater urgency, as if that were even possible. Since we volunteer in our parish, this week – Holy Week – is already pretty busy. Now add to that the fact […]
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The following is the Holy Week schedule for the parishes of Holy Rosary and Visitation in Tacoma. There’s a lot there. One thing to bear in mind is that the Holy Triduum is essentially one giant liturgy (with some serious overnight breaks) that begins with the Introit of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, continues through the […]
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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 […]
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This evening at the end of the Vigil Mass for Palm Sunday, our pastor imparted to us the traditional Pilgrims’ Blessing. The specific rite was originally recorded in the Missal of Vich Cathedral in Barcelona, and is thought to date to about the year 1078. We are very grateful to Fr. Wichert, our pastor, for imparting this ancient blessing to […]
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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 the Crucifixion 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 […]
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Here’s an insight into how my mind works. As I was walking in to 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. […]
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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. […]
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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 […]
» Read moreThere has not been a lot of training this week. In fact, I have not left the house since Sunday. I get migraines a couple of times a year. Normally, I can spot the symptoms of a developing migraine and “head it off at the pass” with hydration and Excedrin. On Saturday afternoon, however, I did not spot the symptoms […]
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A week ago we celebrated Lætare Sunday, a burst of joy in the midst of Lent. This was, coincidentally, the fourth 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, this Fifth Sunday of Lent marks the beginning of Passiontide, when we walk with Christ […]
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