The Last Collect of Advent
December 24 Collect at the Hours and at the Mass in the Morning Come quickly, we beseech you, Lord Jesus, and do not delay, so...
Et vocabit nomen eius Iesum
Fourth Sunday of Advent A Isaiah 7:10-14 Psalm 23:1-6. R. cf. vv. 7. 10 Romans 1:1-7 Matthew 1:18-24 Mary and Joseph Today’s Gospel presents the...
Fra Leone and Nuestra Señora de la Expectación
Monsignor Patrick Brankin was kind enough to remind me that the Basilica of Nuestra Señora de Zapopan in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico is dedicated to the...
Heart of Jesus, Formed by the Holy Spirit in the Womb of the Virgin Mary
I pray thee, O Most Holy Virgin Mary, that I might hear the Heartbeat of redeeming Love, and that with Thee I might adore the...
Feast of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Yes, today, December 18th, is one of the liturgy’s loveliest old Advent festivals of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that of the Expectatio Partus. It was...
Bravissimo, Maestro Bocelli!
I just had to translate this interview with Andrea Bocelli for the readers of Vultus Christi: Maestro, we are in Advent, a Marian time par...
The Santo Bambino of the Aracoeli
One of my favourite little pilgrimages in the Eternal City is to the Santo Bambino Gesù in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli. Aracoeli...
The Great O Antiphons
How delightful to see in this painting both little Johns, the Baptist and the Theologian, together with the Incarnate Word, Holy Wisdom. Note that the...
Venerable Mother Maria Pierina De Micheli
“I desire that my Face, which reflects the intimate afflictions of my Soul, the sorrow and the love of my Heart, should be honoured more....
A Mother Ever-Virgin
O SAPIENTIA Genesis 49:2, 8-10 Psalm 71: 1-2, 3-4ab, 7-8, 17 Matthew 1:1-17 The Wondrous Exchange O God, Creator and Redeemer of human nature, who...
Rosy Reminder
Did you get pink (or rose) flowers for Gaudete Sunday? Rose–coloured roses may be your first choice, but I like carnations — one single huge...
Qui sequitur te, Domine, habebit lumen vitae
December 14 Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church Isaiah 48:17-19 Psalm 1 (R. Jn 8:12) Matthew 11: 16-19...
Mary Rose Up in Haste in Those Days
Our Lady in Advent The presence of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the liturgy of Advent is like the fragrance of roses in December. Our...
A Marian Grace Sweeping Through the Church
On December 8th, His Eminence Ivan Cardinal Dias, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, opened the Jubilee Year of Lourdes. His homily...
Am I not here whom am your Mother?
“Hear and let it penetrate into your heart, my dear little son: let nothing discourage you, nothing depress you: let nothing alter your heart or...
Rejoice, O Virgin Mother Clothed With the Sun
This beautiful Akathist to the Blessed Virgin Mary of Guadalupe is the work of Dr. Alexander Roman. Akathist to Our Lady of Guadalupe 1 Kontakion...
Strengthen Ye the Feeble Hands
Monday of the Second Week of Advent Isaiah 35:1-10 Psalm 84:8ab and 9, 10-11, 12-13 (R. Isaiah 35:4f) Luke 5:17-26 The Promises of God Again...
Whatsoever Things Were Written
Second Sunday of Advent Isaiah 11:1-10 Psalm 71: 1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17 Romans 15:4-9 Matthew 3: 1-12 The Comfort of the Scriptures Today’s Second Reading...
More on the Immaculate Conception
First Vespers Last evening, as I opened my antiphonal to begin the First Vespers of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I was...
Mary, Younger Than Sin
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Genesis 3: 9-15, 20 Ephesis 1:3-6, 11-12 Luke 1:26-38 Back to Creation’s Dawn The mystery...