Am I not here who am your Mother?
At Clear Creek Brother Juan Diego and I have been at Clear Creek Monastery for the past few days. I have been preaching a retreat...
Rejoice, O Virgin Mother clothed with the sun!
Again this year, I want to present this beautiful Akathist to the Blessed Virgin Mary of Guadalupe. It is the work of Dr. Alexander Roman....
Letter to a Soon-to-be Novice
Second Sunday of Advent My dear son, Listening to the Liturgy You have often heard me say that the sacred liturgy is, first of all,...
Tota pulchra es, Maria
The Novena in Preparation for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary begins today and continues through December 7th. Tota pulchra...
The Filial Obedience of the Priest
Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, Secretary of the Congregation for Clergy, addresed the following letter to the priests of the Church on November 18th. “Do you promise...
Clear Creek
I am leaving this afternoon for the Monastery of Our Lady of the Annunciation at Clear Creek to preach the monastic community’s annual retreat. I...
Sin’s Knotty Entanglements
On the Twenty-Third Sunday After Pentecost and the ferial days following it, we pray: Absolve, quaesumus Domine, tuorum delicta populorum: ut a peccatorum nexibus, quae...
See that you be truly what you are called
A Mirror for Monks I was fortunate to obtain for our monastic library a lovely used copy of A Mirror for Monks by Ludovicus Blosius....
Via Crucis for Priests
I’m happy to announce that my Via Crucis for Priests has been published in Magnificat’s Year for Priests Companion. Read about it here. It would...
Pope Benedict on Saint Bernard
Faith is above all a personal, intimate encounter with Jesus, and to experience his closeness, his friendship, his love; only in this way does one...
Ut sanaret filium ejus
Passing On the Tradition One of the best things about being a very small monastic household is the freedom to make use of the opportunities...
Contemplation of the Glorious Face of Christ
In yesterday’s general audience, our extraordinarily “Benedictine” Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, presented the figure of Peter the Venerable, Abbot of Cluny. For the nascent...
Sitit sitiri: He thirsts that we should thirst for Him
Progress Report Our little community life, marked by the rhythm of the Hours, by Eucharistic adoration, work, and welcoming guests, is already that of the...
Grant Such Holiness to Your Priests
The painting is by the so-called Master of the Osservanza and dates from around 1440. Notice the lovely chasuble of the priest and the noble...
Saint Ephrem on the Mystic Names of Mary
It is not surprising that Our Blessed Lady, the Mother of God, has inspired countless litanies and akathists. The mystery of Mary, or what Saint...
Adorers of the Eucharistic Face of Jesus
A Thursday of Adoration and Reparation For the very first time, our embryonic monastery observed the Thursday of Adoration and Reparation for Priests. Being three,...
Preparations
Today will be filled with the final preparations for the arrival of Diego and CJ tomorrow, and Brendan on the 12th. Thanks to the amazing...
I Will Have Mercy Upon Whom I Have Mercy
Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska One might say that Saint Maria Faustina belongs to the spiritual family of the Little Thérèse whom we remembered last Sunday,...
Into the Secret Harbor
An Endorsement Once again, I want to endorse Secret Harbor — Portus Secretioris, a blog that is, quite simply, the fruit of assiduous lectio divina...
With a good courage and a willing mind
Praying for my Postulants As I chanted the responsories at Matins in the pre-dawn darkness, it became clear that they, in some way, were addressed...