Vexilla Regis
The hymn Vexilla Regis was composed in 569 A.D. by Saint Venantius Fortunatus on the occasion of the solemn reception of a Relic of the...
O Passio Magna
A Compunctionate Prayer There are a number of variants of this beautiful prayer on the Passion of Christ. This particular version is found in a...
Via Crucis for Priests
First Station Jesus Condemned to Death This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover...
A Litany for Passiontide
Litany of the Passion by Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman Blessed Cardinal Newman’s Litany of the Passion reveals the tenderness and compunction of his Christocentric...
In the Garden
In the garden, His Face was unseen, for the eyes of His friends had grown heavy with sleep, and there was none to meet the...
The Inner Sanctuary Beyond the Veil
Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent Genesis 17: 3-9 Psalm 104: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 (R. 8a) John 8: 51-59 Christ our Priest On this...
The Two Annunciations
The Annunciation of the Lord is being celebrated today on the Monday of Passion Week; Friday will be the Commemoration of the Compassion of the...
Come to Me and drink
Introit Psalm 55:2 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for man hath trodden me underfoot: all the day long he hath afflicted me, fighting against...
Votive Mass of the Passion of Our Lord
It is customary in some places to offer the Votive Mass of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ or to keep the Commemoration of...
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....
Eia, Mater, Fons Amoris
Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent Commemoration of the Sorrowful Compassion of the Blessed Virgin Mary The Virgin of Sorrows is the Portress of...
Recordare
Wednesday Within the Second Week of Lent Jeremiah 18: 18-20 Matthew 20: 17-28 Beata Passio On Sunday last we celebrated the Transfiguration of the Lord....
A Church with Face and Garments Soiled
Good Friday 2005: A Prayer by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger Lord, your Church often seems like a boat about to sink, a boat taking in water...
O Hostie rayonnante!
On the feast of Corpus Christi, la Fête-Dieu, 1931, Mother Marie des Douleurs (1902-1983) wrote a meditation in the form of a dialogue with Jesus,...
Reparation
Answer Me Tell me, my people, what I have done, that thou shouldst be a-weary of me? Answer me. Was it ill done, to rescue...
The Most Precious Blood
One cannot enter into Holy Week without contemplating the adorable mystery of the Precious Blood. I am completely smitten by Bernini’s little known depiction of...
“They Have Killed Our Shepherd”
At the end of Holy Mass today at the Monastery of the Glorious, we sang the antiphons In Paradisum and Chorus Angelorum for the repose...
Singing the Mystery of the Cross
My doctoral dissertation — it seems so long ago — focused on the Proper Chants of the Paschal Triduum in the Graduale Romanum. The chants...
Fulget Crucis Mysterium
Our Lady Saint Mary, Saint John the Beloved Disciple, and the Wounded Side of Christ With First Vespers of the Fifth Sunday of Lent we...
Et tu aperuisti lancea latus meum
Friday of the Passion of the Lord Isaiah 52:13-53:12 Psalm 30 Hebrews 4:14-5:9 John 18:1-19:42 Last night He sat with us at table. His Face...