Beyond Compare More Glorious than the Seraphim
At the end of Holy Mass today, we renewed the devotional election of the Immaculate Virgin Mary as Abbess and Queen of our monastery, a...
From the Blight of Sin to the Bliss of Grace
Back to Creation’s Dawn The mystery we celebrate on the feast of the Immaculate Conception takes us back to creation’s dawn, to a moment of...
Advent Vespers: Conditor Alme Siderum
The Orbit Determined By Christ At the very moment when the Magi, guided by the star, adored Christ the new king, astrology came to an...
In My Gallery of Heavenly Heroes
December 1st is the dies natalis of four holy priests who figure in my personal gallery of heavenly heroes. Saint Ralph Sherwin, Priest and Martyr,...
The Humility of Taking Small Steps
From this morning’s General Audience: Encountering the Face of God In Jesus of Nazareth we encounter the face of God, descended from Heaven to immerse...
Thoughts of peace, and not of affliction
The painting by Albrecht Dürer depicts the afflicted Job and his wife. Affliction The verb to afflict derives from the Latin affligere, meaning to cast...
O mon Dieu, Trinité que j’adore . . .
Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity + 9 November 1906 Blessed Elizabeth’s Elevation to the Most Holy Trinity, written by the young Carmelite on 21 November...
He went in, and took her by the hand
The 23rd Sunday After Pentecost Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 9,18-26. As he was speaking these things unto them, behold a...
Prayer and Fasting
In the Sight of the Nations The impending presidential elections in the United States, and also the plight of Christians affected by the conflict in...
Be nothing and await all from God
This text of Mother Mectilde demonstrates her assimilation of the purest monastic doctrine. The beautiful image of Mother Mectilde is a detail of the painting...
A Few Souls Weep
Exposition and Adoration Not long ago, on a Friday evening, while visiting a major international Marian shrine recognized by the Holy See, I attended exposition...
The Grace of Things Unplanned
Control Recently, I was led to think about the significance of surprises or, if you will, the grace of things unplanned and unforeseen. Having persevered...
Surrendered to the Power of Fruitful Love
Richard to the Rescue Richard Chonak, Vultus Christi‘s genial webmaster and a dear friend, was kind enough to put his gifts at our service by...
Livrée à la puissance de son amour fécond
Dimanche, 21 octobre 2012 Monastère Saint-Jacques Homélie prononcée à l’occasion du jubilé de 60 ans de profession monastique dans la Congrégation des Bénédictines de Jésus...
Credo
Here is the Holy Father’s first Catechesis of the Year of Faith, given at this morning’s General Audience. It seems to me that during the...
The Sacred Heart in Margaret’s Kitchen
A Family Story My Irish grandmother’s Christian name was Margaret Mary. As one might expect, a framed picture of the Sacred Heart figured prominently in...
La dottrina della Chiesa è “certa e immutabile”
The Council did not formulate anything new in matters of faith, nor did it wish to replace what was ancient. (Pope Benedict XVI) Here is...
Annus Fidei
Thursday, 11 October, the feast of the Divine Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, opens the Year of Faith. The Credo of the People of...
Father Willie Doyle: Scruples and Their Treatment
More than one reader has shared with me that the most helpful thing written on scruples and their treatment is a little pamphlet by Father...
Letter to a Soul Suffering from Scrupulosity
Just the other day someone suffering from scrupulosity wrote me, asking for counsel. Reading through the Letters of Saint John of Avila, our new Doctor...