Sixth Day of the Novena
On December 30, 1861 Saint Gabriel of the Addolorata , who was twenty-three years old at the time, wrote these lines to his brother Michele....
Fasting
Friday After Ash Wednesday Isaiah 58:1-9a Psalm 50: 3-4, 5-6ab, 18-19 Matthew 9:14-15 Holy Fasting Today the prophet Isaiah puts a question to God: “Why...
Wondrous Hidden God
Yearning, I adore you, wondrous hidden God, Living Bread by bread concealed, speaking heart to heart. Give me now the faith that sees darkly through...
Fifth Day of the Novena
Following the same evocative rite used by Saint Gabriel of the Addolorata in 1857, young Indonesian Passionists making their First Profession are symbolically crowned with...
Fourth Day of the Novena
The fourth day of our novena coincides with the beginning of Holy Lent. At the beginning of his religious life Saint Gabriel of the Addolorata...
Let Dawn Our Darkened Spirits Bless
Turner’s “Sunrise” is, I think, the perfect illustration of our Lenten Lauds Hymn, Jam, Christe, Sol Iustitiae. The Lengthening Day Lent is a lovely word....
Third Day of the Novena
Today is the third day of our novena to Saint Gabriel of the Addolorata. At the Mass of the Holy Face we will be reading...
Second Day of the Novena
A word from Saint Gabriel of the Addolorata: Love Mary!… She is lovable, faithful, constant. She will never let herself be outdone in love, but...
And He Arose
Monday of the Seventh Week of the Year I Mark 9:14–29 A Tormented Child Today’s Gospel recounts the deliverance of a boy tormented by an...
Jesu, Quadragenariae
VESPERS II Jesus! You taught and sanctified Observance of this Lenten tide; Be pleased our fast to consecrate, And by it mend our broken state....
Some Fond Return of Love: Praying to Saint Gabriel
Novena to Saint Gabriel of the Addolorata February 18 — 27, 2007 The liturgical memorial of Saint Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother falls quite suitably...
Mater Mea, Fiducia Mea!
My telephone rang this morning shortly before 9:00. An Apostle of the Sacred Heart was calling to invite me to join her and two others...
The Comfort of the Beads
Given the grace of today’s feast, you may want to begin praying the Rosary of the Seven Dolours. It is prayed on seven sets of...
The Measure of Our Weakness
Sixth Friday of the Year I Mark 8:34-9:1 I just came from the altar, having celebrated the Votive Mass of the Most Precious Blood. This...
“They Shall Look on Him Whom They Have Pierced”
The coincidence of the Holy Father’s Lenten Message with the liturgical memorial of Saint Claude La Colombière prompts me to post an article that I...
Saint Claude’s Prayer to Jesus, the True Friend
I think it was in 1974 that a priest friend gave me a little book of the writings of Saint Claude La Colombière in French....
A Chant Meditation on the Holy Father’s Lenten Message
The Antiphon, O quantum in cruce, found in Laudes Vespertinae, the Cistercian collection for Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, is the perfect meditation on the...
The Joy of All Our Days
A Feast in Europe In all of Europe today is the feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius, co–patrons of Europe with Saint Benedict, Saint Catherine...
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI FOR LENT 2007
“They shall look on Him whom they have pierced” (Jn 19:37) Dear Brothers and Sisters! “They shall look on Him whom they have pierced” (Jn...
Reading the Signs
Tuesday of the Sixth Week of the Year I Mark 8:14–21 Unintelligence My French Bible subtitles today’s passage from Saint Mark: “The Unintelligence of the...