Recommended Reading
I have never made a secret of it: Blessed Abbot Marmion has been for me a spiritual master, a father, and a friend from the...
Clean Hands and a Pure Heart
Monday of the Thirty–Fourth Week of the Year II Revelation 14:1–3, 4b–5 Psalm 23:1–2, 3–4ab, 5–6 (R. 6) Luke 21:1–4 Prayer for the Holy Father...
A Wonderful Day
I offered Holy Mass in thanksgiving for my twenty years of priesthood today, gathering with family and friends in the little church of the Monastery...
We Are Thine and Thine We Wish To Be
In 1925 Pope Pius XI decreed that the Consecration of the Human Race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus first carried out by Pope Leo...
Les belles amitiés: Thérèse et Théophane
Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face (1873–1897) Saint Théophane Vénard (1829–1861) It is true that the Lord chooses the little...
Holy Mass: Our Great Thanksgiving
Votive Mass In Thanksgiving to God 1 Kings 8:55-61 Psalm 144: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11 John 15:9-17 “Solomon stood before the altar of the...
Thanksgiving: A Papistical Approach
Being a Papist and not a Puritan, I have always felt somewhat ambiguous about the Thanksgiving holiday . . . not about the domestic observance...
Et Ecce Ostium Apertum in Caelo
Thirty–Third Wednesday of the Year II Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr Revelation 4:1–11 Psalm 150:1–2, 3–4, 5–6 (Rev 4:8b) Luke 19:11–28 Heaven’s Open...
22 November, Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr
ENTRANCE ANTIPHON GR I spoke of your testimonies before kings, and I was not ashamed: I meditated also on your commandments, which I loved (Ps...
Ecce, Sponsus Venit!
Strong, Serene, Majestic, Invincible When in 1867 Abbot Prosper Guéranger set about opening a Benedictine monastery for women at Solesmes, he placed the whole enterprise...
Pope Benedict XVI on the Vultus Christi: God With a Human Face
In his address at the Pontifical Gregorian University on 3 November, the Holy Father identified the immediate object of the different branches of theological knowledge...
Mater Ecclesiae
Forty–two years ago today, on 21 November 1964, Pope Paul VI solemnly declared the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of the Church. Pope John Paul II...
Pro Orantibus: Praying for Those Who Pray
From the Holy Father’s Angelus Message, 19 November 2006 On the occasion of the liturgical memorial of the Presentation of Mary Most Holy in the...
Mother Clelia Merloni
Today is the anniversary of the death of Mother Clelia Merloni (1861–1930), the foundress of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart. Mother Clelia’s life was...
Houseguest
I borrowed the logo from my brother Terence’s dog training business for this entry because I don’t have a photo of Dulcie (named for a...
18 November, The Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
The days between the solemnity of All Saints and the First Sunday of Advent are rich in images of the heavenly Jerusalem. The Dedication of...
My Elizabethan Friend
I happen to have a friend who — quite apart from the fact that she is of Hungarian descent — reminds me of Saint Elizabeth...
In Anniversario Propriae Ordinationis
Exceptionally, on the occasion of the anniversary of his ordination, the Church allows a priest to pray at Holy Mass a set of orations in...
Visit of the The Webmaster
As I was teaching my weekly liturgy class to the nuns of the monastery and their friends this morning, I glanced out the window and...
Pie Iesu Domine, dona eis requiem.
Commemoration of All the Departed Who Militated Under the Rule of Saint Benedict Romans 8:14–23 Psalm 63, 1, 2–3, 4–5, 7–8 (R. 1b Gospel: John...