The wholly flaming fire
Tomorrow we will be keeping the feast of Saint Bonaventure, Doctor of the Church. The Seraphic Doctor counsels us wisely: Question grace, not instruction; desire,...
Saint Henry, Emperor and Benedictine Oblate
While Keeping Vigil Benedictine Oblates living and working in the world have two holy patrons: Saint Francesca of Rome whom we celebrated in March, and...
Saint John Gualbert
Good for Evil and Blessings for Curses Good rendered for evil; blessings for curses; pardon, peace, concord, and reconciliation. A Collect for the Memorial of...
Saint Bede the Venerable
A Model for Monks Today is the feast of Saint Bede the Venerable, a model for all Benedictine monks by reason of his serene fidelity...
Evviva Santa Rita!
Visiting Saint Rita When I was a lad growing up in Fair Haven, I would occasionally venture beyond the boundaries of my immediate neighborhood and...
Holiness never goes out of fashion
Today is the feast of Pope Saint Peter Celestine, monk, Supreme Pontiff, and hermit. On 4 July 2010, in the context of the Year of...
Saint Athanasius
Here are some “jottings in the margin of the Missal” as Dom Marmion would call them: just a few random thoughts on the Propers of...
Saint Catherine and the Church
A Church Ever Youthful Looking at Saint Catherine of Siena we see a woman fully alive, a woman who, in spite of intense and prolonged...
A Pope and an Ursuline
Saint Pius V, Pope Saint Marie de l’Incarnation, Ursuline O God, who didst raise up Pope Saint Pius V within Thy Church to uphold the...
Ex abundantia enim cordis os loquitur
Today’s feast of the Holy Abbots of Cluny compelled me to return to Pope Benedict’s exposition of the contribution of Cluny to the life...
The Joy that Flows from God’s Goodness
The treasured Wednesday catecheses of Pope Benedict XVI constitute a precious heritage for the Church in every place and time. One will want to return...
Man ate the bread of angels
Wednesday of Pascha Come, you blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom, alleluia prepared for you since the foundation of the world, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia...
The prayer of a priest
This little prayer has been part of my life since 2005. My good friend Monsignor Arthur B. Calkins proposed that I include in it a...
A Lover of the Pierced Heart of Jesus
Blessed Marie de Jésus Deluil–Martiny Today, besides being, in our monastery, Feast of Reparation for Offenses Committed Against the Most Holy Sacrament, is also the...
Supplica to Saint Dymphna, Virgin and Martyr
I received this morning a heart–rending request for prayers to Saint Dymphna on behalf of a woman who has been suffering from mental illness for...
Frank Duff, Holy Layman
Heroic Fidelity to the Divine Office Shortly before his death on 7 November 1980, layman Frank Duff, founder of the Legion of Mary, addressed a...
Ipsius vultum mundo valeat ostendere
Collect Custodi, quaesumus, Domine, in populo tuo spiritum, quo beatum Carolum episcopum implevisti, ut Ecclesia indesinenter renovetur, et, Christi se imagini conformans, ipsius vultum mundo...
Le peuple immense de ceux qui T’ont cherché
Here (once again) is the homily I preached in French six years ago at the Monastère Saint-Benoît in Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne, France. Richard Chonak’s fine translation follows....
An Irish Bishop who died in Italy
Blessed Thaddeus McCarthy We keep the commemoration of Blessed Thaddeus Machar (McCarthy) today, and I had to admit to knowing next to nothing about the...
Saint Gaetano Catanoso
The liturgical memorial of Saint Gaetano Catanoso occured on September 20th. Pope Benedict XVI canonized him on October 23, 2005. In the homily of the...