The Blessing of Oil in the Roman Ritual
Oil for Our Lamps The other day, a dear and generous friend, knowing that oil lamps burn in the Oratory before the Blessed Sacrament and...
Te, Christe, solum quaerimus
For my friend, Monsignor A.B.C. Sometime in the early 1970s the Benedictine nuns of the Abbey Pax Cordis Iesu at Ryde, in the Isle of...
Sin’s Knotty Entanglements
On the Twenty-Third Sunday After Pentecost and the ferial days following it, we pray: Absolve, quaesumus Domine, tuorum delicta populorum: ut a peccatorum nexibus, quae...
Ut sanaret filium ejus
Passing On the Tradition One of the best things about being a very small monastic household is the freedom to make use of the opportunities...
Mass of the Holy Guardian Angels
Lauren Ford’s “Guardian Angel” depicts a little girl walking through the Connecticut woods that I so love, on what appears to be a late October...
Love of Truth and the Constant Thirst for God
Ember Wednesday in September There are so many things that I would want to write about! Yesterday, for example, was the first of the September...
Mass of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, Priest
There is a verse in the book of Ezra that is, I think, a wonderful expression of the life and mission of Saint Pio of...
Saint James, Apostle
General Intercessions That the Holy Catholic Church, founded on the faith of the apostles, may hold fast to the knowledge of the glory of God...
Vere dignum et justum est
In preparation for the great monastic solemnity that began with First Vespers this evening, I offer this proper Preface for the meditation and joy of...
Votive Mass of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest
The Initiative of Pope Pius XI With the beginning of the Annus Sacerdotalis, a number of people have asked me about the Votive Mass of...
Saint Pachomius, Abbot
The antiphon Ad Benedictus this morning, with its lilting seventh mode melody, is an apt portrayal of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the...
In the Company of the Blessed Virgin
The 2002 editio typica of the Missale Romanum contains the following Collect for the memorial of Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, Priest. The Collect is...
Who by the mouth of our father David . . .
The stained-glass window depicts King Athelstan the Glorious. Acts 4: 23-31 “And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said,...
The Holy Abbots Robert, Alberic, and Stephen
Happy Onomastico to novice Brother Stephen of the Abbey of Our Lady of Spring Bank! Be sure to visit him at Sub Tuum today! Collect...
Conversion of Saint Paul
General Intercessions That the Church in East and West may persevere in seeking the unity willed for her by Christ from whom the whole Body...
Saint Francis de Sales
General Intercessions That the Church may never be without gentle shepherds according to the meek and humble Heart of Christ: servants of unity and of...
In our time, grant us your peace
Rainbow Over Gaza This AP photo shows a rainbow over Gaza today, 18 January 2009. In the context of what is happening in the Mideast,...
Saint Aelred of Rievaulx
For study and meditation: proper texts for the Mass of Saint Aelred, Abbot. January 12 Saint Aelred, Abbot Entrance Antiphon MR The Lord is my...
Numquam sine aqua Christus
El Greco’s painting of the Baptism of the Lord has, at least to my eyes, a Chagall-like quality. Whereas one would expect a predominance of...
The Wondrous Name That Brings Salvation
The Feast That Came Back The feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, established by Pope Innocent XIII in 1721, disappeared (along with a...