Paris Again
Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Yes, Paris again. Paris is as much the theatre of great miracles of grace as it is the theatre...
Ave Verum Corpus
Sacrilege Will the distressing news of the sacrilege perpetrated in Pamplona, Spain provoke any kind of concrete response? Spanish “artist” Abel Azcona stole more than...
Saint John of the Cross
The approach of Advent is marked by two saints of the Cross. First there is Saint John of the Cross (24 November) who, as we...
For you, too, I have a destiny and a hope
The Temple: Heart of the World Today’s Gospel is part of a bigger discourse in which Our Lord prophesies the destruction of the Solomon’s magnificent...
Cecilia
Wishing a very blessed feastday to our Oblate sister Cecilia of Rome in Connecticut! A Veiled Face I never tire of looking at the statue...
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....