The Chain that Sets Free
Father Francesco Bamonte’s witness to the power of the Holy Rosary in his book, Possessioni diabolici ed esorcismo (Paoline, 2006) so impressed me that I...
Selected Memories of a Catholic Boyhood
The Real Saint Francis There is no denying it: Saint Francis appeals to all sorts of people. Animal lovers, pacifists, environmentalists, non-Christians, secular humanists, and...
O Rosario benedetto di Maria
Prayer at Noon For Catholics in Italy and throughout the world, today, Sunday, 3 October 2010, marks the return of an appointment with the Supplica,...
Thérèse de l’Enfant Jésus et de la Sainte Face
Thérèse is so often referred to as “little,” that we risk not seeing the breadth and depth that are really characteristic of her, and the...
There is only one thing which lasts
Excerpt from the Holy Father’s Homily in Glasgow “There is only one thing which lasts: the love of Jesus Christ personally for each one of...
Just Asking
The Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum, On certain matters to be observed or to be avoided regarding the Most Holy Eucharist, was promulgated by the Congregation for...
O Holy Father John Chrysostom, you are a brilliant torch flooding the universe with light!
Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church 1 Corinthians 7:35-31 Psalm 44:10-11, 13b-14, 15-16 (r. 10a) Luke 6:20-26 A Preacher Unlike Any Other...
Prayer for the Conversion of England
The forthcoming Apostolic Visit of Our Holy Father to the United Kingdom invites us to pray boldly for the conversion of England: the return of...
The Core of Monasticism Is Adoration
In the address pronounced three years ago at the flourishing Heiligenkreuz Abbey, Pope Benedict XVI offered the whole Church a veritable Charter of Monastic Life...
Saints Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus
Collect O God, by whose grace Saint Joseph of Arimathea was emboldened to ask for the sacred Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, that together...
A claritate in claritatem
The Martyrology We are, at every moment, surrounded by “so great a cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1) who encourage us by their example and support...
Pax Benedictina
Collect Almighty God, who made Blessed Alfredo Ildefonso a good shepherd, to build up with exemplary virtue the flock entrusted to him; grant that we...
Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost
The Collect Keep, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy Church with Thy perpetual mercy, and because the frailty of man without Thee cannot but fall,...
When the Saints Ask for Our Friendship
Friends in High Places At certain times in one’s life, a particular saint will begin, in so many ways, to say, “Will you too be...
A Time of Blessings
Photos by Paula Cole Writing from Connecticut I’m writing from my parents’ dining room table in Connecticut! Today is the first full day of my...
Saint Helena, Empress
The feast of Saint Helena is August 18th. When I lived at Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome, it was celebrated with all due solemnity....
Will you pray with us?
Novena to Our Lady of Knock August 13 — 21, 2010 Immaculate Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Knock, Queen of the Cenacle, and Mother of...
Take me unto Thyself, O Lord
The Offering Nowhere is the Eucharistic subtext of the Rule of Saint Benedict more apparent than in Chapters 58 and 59. The entire rite of...
When anyone newly cometh to be a monk
The Reception of Brethren I am often struck at how appropriate to the circumstances and events of daily life the appointed passage of the Holy...
God: always more ready to hear than we to pray
La guarigione del sordomuto, Cristoforo de Predis, Milano, 1440-1486 11th Sunday After Pentecost Today’s Introit, well served by its sturdy 5th mode melody, is a...