Domine Jesu, suscipe spiritum meum
The Prayer of Saint Stephen Saint Stephen had so patterned his life after that of our Lord Jesus Christ — Witness, Priest and Servant —...
The Grace of Things Unplanned
Control Recently, I was led to think about the significance of surprises or, if you will, the grace of things unplanned and unforeseen. Having persevered...
Surprised by the Gospel . . . again
Saint Bartholomew’s Gospel I find it curious that, for the feast of Saint Bartholomew, the Roman Missal does not give the passage from Saint John’s...
Stories Written by the Hand of God
The Grace of the Liturgic Word In offering Holy Mass and in preaching here at the Monastère-Sainte-Anne de Montmahoux, I am profoundly moved at the...
The Rule of Saint Benedict: A School for Bishops
Are There Any Bishops Among My Readers? Saint Anselm’s pastoral qualities as a bishop surely originated in his experience as abbot of Bec. On 21...
Suscipe Me, Domine
March 21 The Transitus of Our Holy Father Saint Benedict My very dear Oblates, friends, and readers of Vultus Christi, tomorrow (21 March) we will...
Saint Paul, the First Hermit
Planted in the House of the Lord Today, in our Benedictine calendar, we commemorate Saint Paul the First Hermit (+343). The Introit of the Mass,...
Benedictine All Souls Day
Praying for the Dead It is a cherished monastic tradition to pray for the dead. Some monasteries still hold to the old custom of praying...
Monk: A Man Who Gives God Time to Act
The Holy Father’s homily to the Carthusian monks of Serra San Bruno in Calabria, on Sunday, 9 October, is a message to all who profess...
A Vocation’s Unexpected Turns
Birth, Passion, Death Each year the Church gives us two feastdays of Saint John the Baptist: the first on June 24th to mark his nativity,...
Letter to a brother on the way
How many greater gifts will come to you in the truly blessed life that lies before us, is, I must admit, beyond my capacity to...
The Core of Monasticism Is Adoration
In the address pronounced three years ago at the flourishing Heiligenkreuz Abbey, Pope Benedict XVI offered the whole Church a veritable Charter of Monastic Life...
Benedictine Oblates
Oratory of the Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle Our First Meeting On Sunday afternoon a group of four men and three women participated...
Ut sanentur
End of the Penal Code This morning at Chapter we concluded the eight chapters of the Holy Rule (XXII-XXX) that comprise Saint Benedict’s so-called “penal...
Confirmetur in eo caritas
Chapter This morning at Chapter (a daily reflection on a chapter of the Rule of Saint Benedict) we read one of my favourite passages: “That...
The Surpassing Power of Love
Preface for the Feast of Saint Scholastica, Virgin Truly it is right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you...
Blessed Marmion Novena: Day Nine
Blessed Columba’s Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary For those who already know of Blessed Columba Marmion’s friendship and frequent spiritual exchanges with Désiré-Joseph Cardinal...
Blessed Marmion Novena: Day Eight
Blessed Abbot Marmion’s entire chapter XIV, entitled The Divine Office, in Christ, the Ideal of the Priest deserves to be studied, and meditated, and brought...
Blessed Marmion Novena: Day Seven
A Book to Own and Meditate Today’s passage from the writings of Blessed Columba Marmion is taken from Union With God, Letters of Spiritual Direction....
Blessed Marmion Novena: Day Six
Tomorrow will be the sixth day of our novena seeking the intercession of Blessed Columba Marmion. I invite the readers of Vultus Christi who are...