In the Hand of His Providence
Blind and Blinkered With a touching simplicity Our Lord says, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten...
St Francis de Sales & the Rule of St Benedict
Holiness Is Symphonic The symphonic quality of holiness is a glorious thing orchestrated in Christ, by the Holy Ghost, to the praise of the Father....
Saint John Chrysostom on Priests
All men are ready to pass judgment on the priest as if he was not a being clothed with flesh, or one who inherited a...
St John Chrysostom, Bishop & Doctor of the Church
A Preacher Unlike Any Other Would that Saint John Chrysostom, the Patron Saint of Preachers, could stand here in my place today and preach with...
Conversion: Saint Paul’s and Ours
Image: A detail from the incomparable Caravaggio’s Conversion of Saint Paul. A Divine Inbreaking For Benedictines who make a vow of conversion — conversatio morum...
Illumina faciem tuam super servum tuum
The Journey Begins Today we begin the great annual journey to the Pasch of the Lord. It is a laborious ascent marked by four phases:...
At First Vespers of Septuagesima
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The secret and admirable way of silence
In this passage from a letter of 1678 addressed to a Religious of the Monastery of Toul, Mother Mectilde shows herself a teacher of interior...
Saint Agnes, Virgin Martyr
A Winter Constellation The wintertime liturgy sparkles with a constellation of virgin martyrs and holy women. The Roman Canon enshrines their names: Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha,...
Fear nothing
Mother Mectilde de Bar to the Community of Toul, 1678 (Part II) If you have something hidden deep down inside you, God knows it, and...
On Praying the Rosary for Unity
Holy Mary, Mother of Unity Pope Leo XIII requested that the Rosary be prayed specifically for the intention of reconciliation and reunion. Here is the...
The Primacy of Adoration
Let all the earth adore Thee, O God, and sing to Thee: let it sing a psalm to Thy Name, O Most High. V....
Cum transieris per aquas, tecum ero
When Thou Passest through the Waters Saint Maurus, together with Saint Placid, is honoured as one of the first disciples of our father Saint Benedict....
Reprove, entreat, rebuke
13 Jan. 14 May. 13 Sept. For the Abbot in his doctrine ought always to observe the bidding of the Apostle, wherein he says: “Reprove,...
We have seen the true light
The Epiphany Mystery–Events The mystery of the Epiphany or, if you will, of the Theophany — that is, of the appearing of God in the...
Saint Aelred, Abbot of Rievaulx
A Saint Full of Sympathy for Physical and Moral Infirmities Jocelin of Furness, a contemporary of Saint Aelred, gives the following account of the saintly...
This Day Is Fulfilled This Scripture in Your Ears
And Jesus returned in the power of the spirit, into Galilee, and the fame of him went out through the whole country. And he taught...
Maria Sieler: The Love of Christ for His Priests
A Hidden Soul Sixty–three years ago, in the heart of Rome, died one of those hidden souls whose entire life is but a silent offering....
On the need for more Irish canonisations
Catholic Culture and Holiness Yesterday on his blog, Remembering Father William Doyle, S.J., our dear friend, Benedictine Oblate Pat Kenny, wrote a compelling plea for...
Thy Name and Thy Countenance
O God, Who didst constitute Thine only-begotten Son the Savior of Mankind, and didst bid Him to be called Jesus: mercifully grant, that we who...