Supplica to Blessed Vladimir Ghika
Monsignor Vladimir Ghika, priest and martyr, was beatified yesterday, 31 August 2013, in Bucarest, Romania. His liturgical feast is fixed on May 16th, the date...
Blessed Vladimir Ghika
Joy in Heaven and on Earth The beatification of the Romanian Prince, Monsignor Vladimir Ghika, martyr, took place this morning in Bucharest, Romania. I have,...
Prepare to Disappear
Birth, Passion, Death The Church gives us two feastdays of Saint John the Baptist each year: the first on June 24th to mark his nativity,...
I set thee apart for myself
Yesterday, at the invitation of the Chancellor of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Malta in Ireland, I offered Holy Mass and...
Go to my brethren and say to them . . .
“Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that He had said these things to her.”...
Go Francis, rebuild my house
“In the Church of St. Damian where he was accustomed to pray, he heard three times a voice from Heaven saying: “Go Francis, rebuild my...
It is not good for man to be alone
Priestly Union with the Blessed Virgin Mary Today’s feast of the Espousal of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Joseph compels me to reflect on...
Become Like a Consuming Fire
The First Benedictine Oblates In the Benedictine tradition, January 15th is the feast of the young disciples of Our Father Saint Benedict, Maur and Placid....
The Man Enchanted With Christ
A Saint With Holy Siblings Saint Gregory of Nyssa is often overshadowed by his illustrious brother Saint Basil the Great and his remarkable sister Saint...
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 —...
In My Gallery of Heavenly Heroes
December 1st is the dies natalis of four holy priests who figure in my personal gallery of heavenly heroes. Saint Ralph Sherwin, Priest and Martyr,...
O mon Dieu, Trinité que j’adore . . .
Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity + 9 November 1906 Blessed Elizabeth’s Elevation to the Most Holy Trinity, written by the young Carmelite on 21 November...
The Sacred Heart in Margaret’s Kitchen
A Family Story My Irish grandmother’s Christian name was Margaret Mary. As one might expect, a framed picture of the Sacred Heart figured prominently in...
Letter to a Soul Suffering from Scrupulosity
Just the other day someone suffering from scrupulosity wrote me, asking for counsel. Reading through the Letters of Saint John of Avila, our new Doctor...
Counsels of Saint John of Avila
The Quest for a Spiritual Father It often happens that souls will lament their failure to find a spiritual father or, more often than not,...
I pay all my debts from Christ’s merits
When you place yourself in God’s presence, endeavour rather to listen to Him, than to speak to Him, and strive more to love Him, than...
I went astray and still I remembered Thee
This is a most unusual depiction of Saint Augustine washing the feet of Christ. A friar named Strozzi painted it in 1629. Augustine, wearing an...
28 August: Saint Augustine
Here are some lovely texts for the feast of Saint Augustine. At First Vespers Holy Father Saint Augustine, Hearken to thy children’s cry; Plea for...
Saint Bartholomew, the Simple Apostle
A Learned Rabbi Today is the feast of Saint Bartholomew, the apostle whose other name is Nathanael. A native of Cana in Galilee and a...
O Doctor Mellifluus
Inflamed With Zeal The liturgy describes Saint Bernard as a man all ablaze with zeal for the house of the Lord. The little phrase, “inflamed...