Of Controllers, Correctors, and Castigators
Notice the instrument of penance in Saint Benedict’s hand. It rather contrasts with the gentleness of his expression. Every occasion of presumption should be avoided...
Kinship in the Cloister
Here is the talk I gave this morning in Chapter. Ties That Bind The presence of members of the same family in a monastery has...
Impossible Things
Benedictine Wisdom I have been studying the Rule of Saint Benedict and trying to live it (however badly) for nearly forty years. This, however, is...
Mass of Our Mother of Good Counsel
ENTRANCE ANTIPHON MR I called upon God and the spirit of wisdom came to me; I learned without guile and I impart without grudging; I...
Secundum Cor Tuum Vivere
Our Lady of Good Counsel Tomorrow, April 26th, is the liturgical memorial of Our Mother of Good Counsel. The shrine church of Our Mother of...
My Sheep Will Hear My Voice
Thanks to the Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd in Forestdale, Massachusetts for the lovely mosaic of the Good Shepherd. The Shepherd’s Voice On this...
By night be Thou our heart’s repose
I came across this hymn for Compline in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed in Les heures du Saint-Sacrement published at Lille in 1856...
Oremus pro pontifice nostro Benedicto
This morning at the end of Holy Mass, we chanted Psalm 19 for the Holy Father on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of his...
God rejects no one. The Church rejects no one.
“Yet in his great love, God challenges all of us to change and to become more perfect.” The Holy Father’s address to young people in...
The Conclusion of the Year for Priests
Dear Priests, The Year for Priests brings great joy to the Church and she thanks the Lord for having inspired the Holy Father to announce...
The Holy Father Preaches: Grace and Penitence
I translated this small section of the spontaneous homily given by the Holy Father on the morning of Thursday, April 15, 2010, during a Mass...
Interpellans pro nobis Christus Pontifex noster
Today’s Collect O God, who for the salvation of the world, brought about the paschal sacrifice, be favourable to the supplications of your people, that...
Feria Quarta Post Dominica II Paschae
This is the icon of the Holy Face in our monastic oratory. Photo by Becky Loper. Ut, quod fide recolimus, perpetua dilectione capiamus Second Wednesday...
My Lord and My God!
Second Sunday of Pascha Acts 4: 32-35 Psalm 117: 2-4. 15c-16b and 17-18, 22-24 (r. 1) 1 John 5: 1-7 John 20:19-31 The Day the...
Eduxit Dominus populum suum
Saturday of Pascha “Sabbatum in Albis Depositis” The Lord brought forth His people with joy, alleluia: and His chosen ones with gladness, alleluia, alleluia. V....
Aqua Sapientiae
Tuesday of Pascha Proper of the Mass Those of you who follow the preaching of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, will have noticed how...
Holy Pascha
The Vigil Christ is risen! Last night, as we kept the great and solemn vigil, “the mother of all vigils,” the brightest Eucharist of the...
Dominicis Passionis Sacramenta
Tuesday of Holy Week The Collect for Holy Tuesday merits special attention. The dominicis passionis sacramenta are the sacred signs and rites by which the...
Saint Bernard on the Wounds of Christ
Where can the weak find a place of firm security and peace, except in the wounds of the Savior? Indeed, the more secure is my...
Into the Harbour of the Sacred Passion
A Word Out of Silence The chant of the Passion plunges us into silence. The Word has been silenced. Only a fool would dare to...