13 Years
A Welcome to County Meath, Ireland It was thirteen years ago that we first set foot in the little abandoned Monastery that was to become...
Mother Mectilde and the Ave Maria
Our Lady of Victory Leading up to October 7, 1571, Pope St Pius V, as GK Chesterton was to put it, “cast his arms abroad...
The Legend of St. Francis
Francis saw the goodness of God in created things, especially in created things that showed some truth about living the holy life. Among the birds...
Blessed Columba Marmion on Humility and Confidence
A Secondary Patron of Our Monastery Along with St. Thérèse and several others Saints, Blessed Columba Marmion (1858-1923) is a secondary patron of our monastery...
127th Anniversary of St. Thérèse
Fidelity to Her Cross Today we celebrate the 127th anniversary of the Dies Natalis of a most dear secondary patron of our monastery. St. Thérèse...
God’s Liturgical Providence Speaks of St. Thérèse
Although St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face is constantly on our mind in the monastery — and more often than...
89th Anniversary of Abbot Celestino Maria Colombo
In addition to today being the feasts of Our Lady of Ransom and Our Lady of Walsingham (whose statue is in our refectory), today is...
Novena to St. Thérèse (24 September-2 October)
The Anniversary of Taking the Veil Today is the anniversary of the day when St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face...
Padre Pio Priest and Victim
Monsignor Arthur Calkins (1945-2024), Marian scholar par excellence and a dear friend of the Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle passed away unexpectedly earlier this...
The Last Great Day of the Feast
The September New Year In a previous post we noted that September is a sort of New Year, and that it also marks Rosh Hashanah,...
“He Took Me In His Arms and Placed Me There” — Abandonment and the Prophet Job
September, marked in many parts of the world by the changing of the seasons and the colours of nature, is marked in the Divine Office...
The Most Holy Name of Mary
Victory in the Name of Mary In 1683 Pope Innocent XI extended the existing Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary to the universal...
The Vigil of the Nativity of Mary
A Collect for the Vigil of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary ANT. Crastina die in ascensu diluculi egredietur stella ex Jacob divini luminis...
Christ’s Manifestation in Mary
Stella Ista The fifth antiphon for the Epiphany is a sweet, yet somehow haunting, seventh mode melody. As it is sung again and again, at...
The Blessed Virgin Mary Compared to the Moon
September 5, O Luna Tota Pulchra ANT. O Luna tota pulchra et sine macula, semper gratia et gloria plena! Luna perfecta in æternum! Luna splendidissima...
Mary and the Light of the First Day
Light like a Nebula The creation of light on the first day, three days before the creation of the sun, exerts a certain fascination upon...
The Blessed Virgin, Holy in the Womb of St. Anne
September 3, O Ignis ANT. O Ignis effulgens et inextinguibilis! Ignis inflammans et illuminans! Ignis divinæ caritatis, qui in utero lates beatissimæ Annæ! Veni, appare...
The Deifying Light and Mary, the Mount of God
The Deifying Light Selection of the Rule of St. Benedict for January 2, May 3, September 2 Let us arise, therefore, at long last, at...
The Presignation of Mary in the Old Law
September 1, O Radius ANT. O Radius divinæ claritatis, candor lucis æternæ, splendidior sole lumineque pulchrior, Virgo Maria! Noli tardare, cito veni, et illumina mentes...
O Antiphons for the Marian New Year
New Beginnings “Nunc coepi!” cries out St. Josemaria Escriva, ” now I begin!” “This,” he writes, “is the cry of a soul in love which, at...