In the School of the Host

Let all the hard and rugged paths by which we walk towards God be set before him. (Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter LVIII.  Of the...

Divine Providence for Families

Two of our Oblate families currently face housing difficulties. Last evening, we began, for this intention, a novena consisting of the Litanies of Divine Providence....

A Pentecost Alleluia

Alleluia! Today the Spirit of the Lord has invaded the cosmos and filled it! Life spills out of the Cenacle and, like a torrent of...

Spiritus Domini replevit orbem terrarum

Alleluia! The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world (Wis 1:7); every created thing trembles for joy, every waiting heart recognizes the sound...

Novena to Saint Dymphna

The great novena in preparation for Pentecost runs concurrently this year with the novena in preparation for the feast of Saint Dymphna, Virgin and Martyr. ...

Favourite Prayers to the Holy Ghost (II)

Blessed Columba Marmion (1858–1923) wrote this prayer to the Holy Spirit at the Abbey of Mont-César in Louvain on Christmas 1908. It is part of...

Favourite Prayers to the Holy Ghost (I)

Apart from the universally treasured Veni Creator Spiritus, the Veni Sancte Spiritus, and the O Heavenly King, there are a few prayers to the Holy...

Behold, I am here

3 Jan. 4 May. 3 Sept. And the Lord, seeking His own workman in the multitude of the people to whom He thus crieth out,...

Lollygaggers Need Not Apply

Prologue of Our Most Holy Father Benedict to His Rule 2 Jan. 3 May. 2 Sept. Let us then at length arise, since the Scripture...

Beginning Afresh

Benedictines Always Beginning Again We began today, once again, the reading of the Holy Rule from the beginning. In Benedictine life, we are always beginning...

Priests: Ministers of the Sun

On this feast of Saint Catherine of Siena, here is a particularly poignant passage from The Dialogue. The image is Giovanni da Paola’s Saint Catherine...

Catherine in My Life

Images Today’s feast of Saint Catherine brings to mind how she has moved about in my life at various times. Having grown up in a...

To prove the world wrong

The Gift Above All Gifts Already today, the sacred liturgy begins to prepare our souls for the Gift above all gifts: the outpouring of the...

I Will Never Be Able to Thank Enough

A Little Soul Blessed Maria Gabriella was “a little soul.” She has affinities with Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face,...

Mio Dio, la tua gloria!

Ut Unum Sint Although the Roman Martyrology notes the day of her death on April 23, 1939, the Cistercian and Trappist calendars commemorate Blessed Maria...

Your distress shall be turned into joy

The Discourse in the Cenacle So profound, so unsearchable, so full of mystery is the discourse of Our Lord in the Cenacle on the night...

Saint Juliana of Mont Cornillon

In celebration of the feast of Saint Juliana of Mont Cornillon, it is fitting to re–read Pope Benedict’s discourse (General Audience of Wednesday, 17th November...