2009 Belongs to Our Lady
For over thirty years now, my dear old friend Father Jacob, O.P. and I have renewed our consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of...
Misericordiam non mutavit, sed multiplicavit
My incomparable Saint Bernard (depicted above with Saint Ambrose in a 1475 painting by Francesco di Giorgio Martini) spoke so eloquently this morning of the...
At Vespers
This painting of the adolescent Jesus is in the chapel of the Casa San Francesco in Carsoli (Aquila), Italy. I preached this evening at Pontifical...
Oremus
The Prayer of the Faithful The Prayer of the Faithful for the Ordinary Form of the Mass poses a number of complex problems. The lack...
Sed quid invenientibus?
Among the Cistercians A tender and burning love for the Holy Name of Jesus found expression in the lyrical preaching of Saint Bernard and the...
Adoro Te Devote, Latens Deitas
Caesar van Everdingen painted this magnificent Holy Family in 1660. Saint Joseph, with the open book of the Scriptures on his lap, appears absorbed by...
Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine
The Fifth Day in the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord 1 John 2:3-11 Luke 2:22-35 The Child Jesus, Priest and Victim The very...
In principio erat Verbum
Last night, in his Christmas homily, Pope Benedict XVI said, “In the stable of Bethlehem, the very town where it had all begun, the Davidic...
The Reign of the Bambino
It is customary in Rome, and elsewhere in Italy, to keep the presepe (Nativity scene) up until the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord...
Adoro Te Devote, Latens Deitas
Caesar van Everdingen painted this magnificent Holy Family in 1660. Saint Joseph, with the open book of the Scriptures on his lap, appears absorbed by...
Anna of the Face of God
December 30 Sixth Day of the Octave of Christmas 1 John 2:12-17 Luke 2:36-40 Holy Anna The sacred liturgy treats the holy prophetess Anna, daughter...
Deus noster in terris visus est
December 29 The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas 1 John 2:3-11 Luke 2:22-35 Victim, Priest, and Temple The very first sentence of today’s...
To Treasure the Infant Christ
December 28 Feast of the Holy Innocents 1 John 1:5-2:2 Matthew 2:13-18 The Child in Egypt The name Egypt occurs three times in today’s gospel....
O Bambino mio Divino
Tu scendi dalle stelle O Re del Cielo E vieni in una grotta Al freddo al gelo O Bambino mio Divino Io ti vedo qui...
The Gospel of the Father
I like this painting by the Dominican Fra Bartolomeo (1473–1517), a disciple of Savonarola, because it shows our Holy Father Saint Bernard together with Saint...
Drink to the Love of Saint John!
BLESSING OF WINE ON THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST On the Feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist, at the end of...
Quod vidimus et audivimus, annuntiamus vobis
This Saint John the Evangelist was painted by Francesco Furini sometime in the 1630s. Today it hangs in the Musée des Beaux–Arts of Lyon. December...
In principio erat Verbum
This is an extraordinary painting of the Nativity, principally because of the crucifix on the rustic shelf inside the stable. It is the work of...