Letter to a Brother Priest
Dear Father X, You asked me the other day to write something that would encourage you to be faithful to your daily Eucharistic adoration. Here...
For the Church in Ireland
After reading, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, the Holy Father’s beautiful letter to the faithful of Ireland, I was moved to intercede in...
Mediatrix of Grace for Every Contrite Sinner
Dear friends, let us learn from the Lord Jesus not to judge and not to condemn our neighbor. Let us learn to be intransigent with...
Prayer to Saint Joseph for Priests
O glorious Saint Joseph, who, on the word of the angel speaking to you in the night, put fear aside to take your Virgin Bride...
Mass of Saint Patrick, Principal Patron of Ireland
I thought it might be interesting, in time for tomorrow, to present the Proper Mass for Saint Patrick, Principal Patron of Ireland, as given in...
Where our paths converge
Learn From the Saints Yes, Our Lord would have you learn from His saints. It is good to study the saints and receive their teachings....
An Hermeneutic of Priestly Continuity
I was inspired to offer a little commentary on the brilliant address that the Holy Father gave this morning to the International Theological Conference, “Fidelity...
Saint Joseph, Advocate and Defender
We began praying the novena to Saint Joseph this evening after Compline. Here is another version of one of the novena prayers to Saint Joseph,...
In our struggle with the powers of darkness
Joseph Like his baptismal patron, Saint Joseph, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, seems, at times, to stand alone in the night. One has the...
Benedictine Oblates
Oratory of the Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle Our First Meeting On Sunday afternoon a group of four men and three women participated...
Ut sanentur
End of the Penal Code This morning at Chapter we concluded the eight chapters of the Holy Rule (XXII-XXX) that comprise Saint Benedict’s so-called “penal...
Confirmetur in eo caritas
Chapter This morning at Chapter (a daily reflection on a chapter of the Rule of Saint Benedict) we read one of my favourite passages: “That...
Yielding to the attraction of the saints
Every Lent I choose — or rather ask Our Lord to choose for me — a saint or saints to be my Lenten companions. From...
Shrove Tuesday: Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus
In Rome and in other places, Shrove Tuesday is observed as the Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus. In 2007 I had the privilege...
Pro peccatoribus iugiter exorans
This profoundly moving painting is by Guercino (1647). It depicts Saint Peter weeping before the Blessed Virgin on the first Holy Saturday. Look at it,...
The Surpassing Power of Love
Preface for the Feast of Saint Scholastica, Virgin Truly it is right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you...
With Pope Benedict XVI: At the Throne of Grace
The Holy Father’s homily for Vespers on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is, as are all his homilies, a model of liturgical...
Christ’s priests have no priesthood but His
This morning His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI addressed the bishops of England and Wales on the occasion of their ad limina visit. His message was...
Blessed Marmion Novena: Day Nine
Blessed Columba’s Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary For those who already know of Blessed Columba Marmion’s friendship and frequent spiritual exchanges with Désiré-Joseph Cardinal...
Blessed Marmion Novena: Day Eight
Blessed Abbot Marmion’s entire chapter XIV, entitled The Divine Office, in Christ, the Ideal of the Priest deserves to be studied, and meditated, and brought...