Caritas Christi urget nos
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI FOR LENT 2013 Believing in charity calls forth charity “We have come to know and to believe in the...
A Son of Ireland for the Whole Church
90th Anniversary Today is the 90th anniversary of the death of Blessed Columba Marmion, priest, abbot, and eminent Doctor of life in Christ. I am...
Sitting on the basket
Catholic Schadenfreude I grieve over the prevalence of the culture of Schadenfreude that modern technology facilitates. Schadenfreude is a kind of perverse delight taken in...
It is not good for man to be alone
Priestly Union with the Blessed Virgin Mary Today’s feast of the Espousal of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Joseph compels me to reflect on...
What are these wounds in thine hands?
Votive Mass of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ Yesterday (Friday) morning we had the Votive Mass of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus...
Benedict XVI: The Pope of the Face of God
Here is the text of the Holy Father’s General Audience of Wednesday, 16 January 2013. Again, he speaks to us of the Face of God....
Become Like a Consuming Fire
The First Benedictine Oblates In the Benedictine tradition, January 15th is the feast of the young disciples of Our Father Saint Benedict, Maur and Placid....
The Saints Understand One Another
Father Willie Doyle and Mother Mectilde de Bar belonged to different religious Orders, different cultures, and different moments in history. Their experience of prayer, nonetheless,...
Amen
I referred to this text of Mother Mectilde de Bar in yesterday’s homily. It is taken from Le véritable esprit [The True Spirit], the book...
The Man Enchanted With Christ
A Saint With Holy Siblings Saint Gregory of Nyssa is often overshadowed by his illustrious brother Saint Basil the Great and his remarkable sister Saint...
Mary is the Mother of Our Peace
In reading and meditating the Holy Father’s homily for January 1st, I was moved to discover that he spoke so eloquently and so simply of...
O Thou, Innocent Lamb of God
Over the centuries, souls have been drawn irresistibly to the mystery of the Infant Christ. Among these was the great Pierre Cardinal de Bérulle, the...
The Innocence of Childhood Restored
For the Feast of the Holy Innocents Those for whom I wrote and prayed this prayer today, on the feast of the Holy Innocents, will...
Thank You to Friends Unknown
But when thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth. That thy alms may be in secret, and thy...
Domine Jesu, suscipe spiritum meum
The Prayer of Saint Stephen Saint Stephen had so patterned his life after that of our Lord Jesus Christ — Witness, Priest and Servant —...
Thy glory so hidden, and Thy love so despised
Among the mectildian-benedictine practices that our monastery has come to cherish is that of the Amende honorable (Act of Honourable Amendment): a prayer of adoration...
Transeamus Usque Bethleem
Monastery of Decani, Fresco of the Nativity of Our Lord MIDNIGHT MASS SOLEMNITY OF THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI...
The Gatehouse is Open!
Open for Business After months of work, The Gatehouse, our monastery’s bookshop is open for business! The environment is warm and inviting. We kept the...
Massacre of the Innocents
A Hellish Crime The massacre of innocent children and of others ten days before Christmas, in my own home state of Connecticut, is evidence enough...
Adore te devote, latens Deitas
O hidden God, I adore Thee. O silent God, I adore Thee. O utterly humble God, I adore Thee. O ineffably obedient God, I adore...