August 6th: The Blessing of Grapes
The tradition of the Roman Church marks the feast of the martyrs Pope Saint Sixtus and his four deacon companions on the 6th/7th of August...
Lex orandi, lex credendi: the ground of priestly piety
As a Holy Victim The Secret of the Mass for today’s feast of Saint Alphonsus Maria Liguori goes to the heart of an authentic priestly...
To be nothing and to await all from God
This text of Mother Mectilde is very fitting for today’s feast of Saint John Cassian. My own commentary is in italics. The image of Mother...
Sicut filii carissimi in dilectione
Letter of Dom Columba Marmion, Abbot of Maredsous, to Father Louis Peeters, S.J., Provincial of the Belgian Province of the Company of Jesus I took...
Our Lady in the Chapter Room
It occurred to me that today’s feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is most suitable for letting readers of Vultus Christi see the wood–carved...
The wholly flaming fire
Tomorrow we will be keeping the feast of Saint Bonaventure, Doctor of the Church. The Seraphic Doctor counsels us wisely: Question grace, not instruction; desire,...
Saint Henry, Emperor and Benedictine Oblate
While Keeping Vigil Benedictine Oblates living and working in the world have two holy patrons: Saint Francesca of Rome whom we celebrated in March, and...
Saint John Gualbert
Good for Evil and Blessings for Curses Good rendered for evil; blessings for curses; pardon, peace, concord, and reconciliation. A Collect for the Memorial of...
Tunc dixit: Ecce venio
CHAPTER XXXIII. Whether Monks Ought to Have Anything of Their Own 11 Mar. 11 July. 10 Nov. The vice of private ownership is above all...
In a Life that is All Hidden
Tomorrow is the 374th anniversary of the profession of Catherine de Bar under the Rule of Saint Benedict. It was the feast of the Translation...
The Mass — You Can’t Live Without It, Part II
Here is Part II of the talk I gave on Saturday: The Liturgy, Summit and Wellspring The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, affirms...
Mectildian Jubilee Year: 1614—2014
Ten Reasons Why the Mectildian Jubilee Year Is Significant for the Whole Church 1. Catherine Mectilde de Bar, born at Saint–Dié in Lorraine (France) on...
Let their healing redound to the glory of God
People burdened with sufferings of all sorts often come to the monastery to ask for our prayers. I often recommend enrolling the sick, the burdened,...
A priest can do so much for God
Dom Columba Marmion was 31 years old and a monk of Maredsous for three years when, in November 1889, he wrote the following to a...
Nowhere else, as in the liturgy
Blessed Columba Marmion’s doctrine concerning the liturgy is luminous and serene. His repetition of the phrase, “nowhere, as in the liturgy” affirms the teaching of...
More on the Benedictine-Jesuit Conundrum
The “Deputation” Argument The whole Benedictine—Jesuit controversy of the beginning of the last century is something that has long captured my attention. My own research...
Corpus Christi 2014
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Come to Me all you who labor and are heavily burdened
Pope Pius XII and Eucharistic Adoration Already, in the years immediately following the Second World War, and mostly in northern Europe, voices were raised in...
I set thee apart for myself
“I claimed thee for my own before ever I fashioned thee in thy mother’s womb; before ever thou camest to birth, I set thee apart...
Until Christ be formed in us
Mediator Dei When, in 1947, Pope Pius XII wrote the encyclical Mediator Dei, he was fully and painfully conscious of two opposing currents of thought...