One must never fear to give Mary too much
I continue today my translation of Mother Mectilde’s text on true devotion to the Blessed Virgin. She wrote this text sometime during her Benedictine noviciate...
One must begin with the Mother
Your Life is Hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3) The Annonciades, having been obliged to flee their monastery in Bruyères, found a compassionate welcome...
No ground for boasting in the presence of God
The Preferred Offering When the holy Mother of God and Saint Joseph go to the temple for her purification and to present the Child Jesus,...
Faciem tuam, Domine, requiram
In 2011, my dear friend Richard Chonak performed a spiritual work of mercy for the readers of Vultus Christi by translating this magnificent text of...
The Human Face of Divine Mercy
Look closely at this painting (1488) by Bartolomeo di Giovanni; it was commissioned for the Hospital of the Innocents in Florence. The six-sided altar at...
I lost myself in Him
Catherine de Bar’s Mysterious Prophetic Dream Some time after her religious profession in 1633, and before the destruction of the monastery of Bruyères in 1635,...
Led on by God’s Providence
In Doubt Go to Mary Catherine de Bar, now Sister Saint John the Evangelist, novice in the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annonciade,...
Vocation, Depression, Crisis, and Grace Through Mary
A Girl Grieved by Offenses against God In 1629 Catherine de Bar is going on fifteen years of age. With the Thirty Years War...
Thou hast set Thy tabernacle among us
Great comfort today in the passage from Leviticus 26 that is appointed to be read in our lectio continua. 2 It is for you to observe...
Far better that I should think on Him
As time permits, all during this Mectildian Jubilee Year (1614–2014), I shall be posting on the life and writings of Mother Catherine Mectilde de Bar....
The Effects of One’s First Holy Communion
Mother Mectilde on One’s First Holy Communion Catherine de Bar was nine years old when she received Holy Communion for the first time. She had...
Supplica to Saint Dymphna, Virgin and Martyr
I received this morning a heart–rending request for prayers to Saint Dymphna on behalf of a woman who has been suffering from mental illness for...
Letter to Our Oblates: Still More on Lectio Divina
Thursday, 16 January 2014 My dear Oblates, A few of you asked for further clarifications with regard to the “what” of lectio divina. I am...
Frank Duff, Holy Layman
Heroic Fidelity to the Divine Office Shortly before his death on 7 November 1980, layman Frank Duff, founder of the Legion of Mary, addressed a...
Letter to Our Oblates: Lectio Divina Revisited
14 January 2014 Feast of Saint Hilary of Poitiers My very dear Oblates, The Bible: A Liturgical Book Today’s feast of Saint Hilary of Poitiers,...
The Webcam in the Sanctuary
Adoration and Adoration I should like to respond to a number of queries concerning the practice by which pious individuals gaze at a webcam image...
The Miraculous Responsory of Saint Anthony
Pray to Saint Anthony of Padua I just spoke to someone in great distress who, having lost something of value while traveling, asked me to...
Come ye to adore me
Here is the conclusion of Mother Mectilde’s Epiphany conference of 1694. Mother Mectilde wisely counsels against seeking extraordinary sensible manifestations of God’s will, subject to...
To love and adore always
For Catherine Mectilde de Bar, the adoration of Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament is not an occasional devotion; it is, rather, the direction...
You have seen His star
The Epiphany Conference 1694 Some years ago, I translated one of Mother Mectilde de Bar’s most important conferences; she gave it on the vigil of...