Lazare, veni foras!
Caravaggio’s Resurrection of Lazarus depicts a dead man stunned by his sudden return to life. The head of Christ is the very one Caravaggio painted...
Gazing on Christ’s Open Heart
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent Ezechiel 47:1-9, 12 Psalm 45:2-3, 5-6, 8-9 John 5:1-16 All You That Thirst Today’s texts are just waiting...
Stational Mass at Santa Croce in Gerusalemme
The Solemn Stational Mass of the Fourth Sunday of Lent will be celebrated in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme this evening, 18 March...
Mothering Sunday and the Golden Rose
Mothering Sunday The Church is our Mother; we were born of her womb in Baptism. She is our Mother because, as the Introit sings, she...
Eruditi et Nutriti
Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent Deuteronomy 4:5-9 Psalm 147: 12-13, 15-16, 19-20 (R. 12a) Matthew 5:17-19 The Word Repeated The liturgy is circular,...
A Divine Enclosure Set Round About Our Hearts
Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent Introit I cried out and you heard me, O God; bend your ear and hear my words: keep...
Quaerens me, sedisti lassus
Third Sunday of Lent John 4:5–52 A Monk’s Prayer Saint John makes a point of saying that, “Jesus, wearied as He was with His journey,...
The Novena to Saint Joseph
There are Catholics, belonging to a certain theological “caste”, who sniff condescendingly at novenas and other expressions of popular devotion. They forget, perhaps, the words...
Benedict XVI: God Has A Face
In a questions–and answers–session with the clergy of Rome on February 22, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI returned to what had already become a leitmotif of...
Rosary With the Holy Father
Tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI will lead university students and young people from all over Europe in praying the Holy...
Three Connecticut Natives and Saint Francesca Romana
The Monastery of Tor De’ Specchi of the Benedictine Oblates of Saint Francesca Romana is open to the public but one day a year on...
Io vado in paradiso
I must have been in fourth grade when, thanks to Sister Mary Clara’s school library, I discovered The Life of Saint Dominic Savio by Saint...
Thursday: A Weekly Festival of Corpus Domini
Every Thursday in our choir chapel (located on the second floor of the monastery and just behind the organ chamber of the Basilica) we have...
Cistercian Martyrs of England
I was deeply moved when the martyrology for today, March 8th, was read in Chapter. Hearing the names of these English Cistercian martyrs read out...
Ecce ascendimus Ierosolymam
Second Wednesday of Lent Jeremiah 18: 18-20 Psalm 30: 4-5, 13, 14-15 Matthew 20: 17-28 The Sorrowful Passion of the Lord “Behold, we are going...
Condemned
Monday of the Second Week of Lent Daniel 9:4b-10 Psalm 78: 8, 9, 11 & 13 Luke 6:36-38 Sin’s Slimy Trail Last Friday the Gospel...
Vultum Tuum, Domine, Requiram
The Second Sunday of Lent The Transfiguration of the Lord Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18 Psalm 26: 1, 7-9, 13-14 Philippians 3:17-4:1 Luke 9:28-36 The Transfigured Face...
Convertens Animas
Saturday of the First Week of Lent Entrance Antiphon The law of the Lord is unspotted, converting souls: the testimony of the Lord is faithful,...
Please Join Me in Prayer
I received two urgent requests for intercessory prayer today: From Massachusetts, Father Jim O’Driscoll asks for prayer for his sister–in–law Emily suffering from cancer. Her...
If You Would Know His Heart, Seek His Face
Just as one learns what is in the heart of one’s dearest friend by looking at his face, just as a wife can know what...