Enter Into the Veiled Places and Learn the Mysteries of God
Go to Be an Offering and a Fragrant Incense Today’s feast is Eastern in origin, Eastern in sensibility. To taste its mystery one has to...
Into the House of the Lord
Our Lady in the Temple The solemn dedication of the Church of the Mother of God near the Temple in Jerusalem took place on November...
The Earlier Mysteries of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The image is a detail from Dürer’s Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (1519). I especially like Saint Anne’s motherly hand resting on Our Lady’s...
The terrible glory of the priesthood
Reading Canon Eugène Masure’s book, Parish Priest (Fides, 1955) I came upon this remarkable passage: It is not only at the Last Supper and on...
Prayer of a Priest
Convert Thou me entirely, O my beloved Jesus, that I may live every moment— up to and including the very moment of my death —...
Holiness through a tangle of thorns
She had a vision of a young man who, in order to guide her through the tangle of thorns that surrounded her soul, took her...
She Sings Her Ode to the King
Saint Gertrude the Great, Virgin Her Heart Overflows With a Goodly Theme It is right and just that today we should sit at the feet...
And never to despair of God’s mercy
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all he hath done for thee. Who forgiveth all thy iniquities: who healeth all thy diseases....
One heavy devil
Today we celebrate the feast of All Saints Who Militated Under the Rule of Saint Benedict. One might also translate the name of the feast...
Blessed are the merciful
In thy sight are all they that afflict me; my heart hath expected reproach and misery. And I looked for one that would show me...
Accedite ad eum et illuminamini
Several years ago I translated this splendid text of Mother Mectilde de Bar entitled “On the Solemnity of Thursday.” In it, Mother Mectilde pours out...
Totis visceribus diligebat Christum regem
The title of today’s entry is from the Magnificat Antiphon: O how blessed a bishop was he! His inmost heart of hearts yearned on the...
Saint John Lateran in the Morning Light
Years ago, when I lived in Rome, I could see from the window near my cell the Basilica of Saint John Lateran in the morning...
I have not lost sight of my plan for you
Comfort and Hope Holy Mass opens this morning with words of comfort and hope. As a rule, the Introit of the Mass is the prayer...
Saint Willibrord: from Ireland to The Netherlands
Missionary Monk and Archbishop Saint Willibrord, whom we remember today, was educated at the monastery of Ripon in England under the direction of Saint Wilfred....
Winsome Saint Willibrord
Energetic in Everything He Undertook for God Saint Willibrord is the patron saint of The Netherlands. He was also a Benedictine, one of the companions...
Pray for Ireland Today
On this Feast of All Saints of Ireland, I invite the readers of Vultus Christi to intercede for the Church in Ireland today: Lord Jesus...
Benedict XVI on Saint Charles Borromeo
In 2010, to mark the 400th Anniversary of the Canonization of St Charles Borromeo, Pope Benedict XVI addressed a Message to Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, Archbishop...
Saint Malachy’s Pastoral Plan for Ireland
Today is the feast of Saint Malachy of Armagh. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, who counted Saint Malachy among his friends, describes the Archbishop of Armagh’s...
Cum recordaremur Sion
We sat down by the streams of Babylon and wept there, remembering Sion. Willow-trees grow there, and on these we hung up our harps when...