In the traditional calendar, December 2 is the feast of St. Bibiana, Virgin and Martyr. Having been imprisoned for her faith, she refused the sexual advances of her jailer, and was beaten to death with lead-loaded thongs. The Collect for her feast is magnificent: Deus, omnium largitor bonorum, qui in famula tua Bibiana cum virginitatis…
When the feast of St. Martin of Tours comes around each year—that’s November 11th, a day he shares on the Roman calendar with St. Mennas, a great soldier, desert solitary, and martyr in Egypt—I always think about food. The reason has nothing to do with Armistice Day. Rather, it’s because of the almost eight years…
“How freely did I weep in thy hymns and canticles; how deeply was I moved by the voices of thy sweetly sounding Church! The voices streamed into my ears; and the truth was poured forth clearly into my heart, where the tide of my devotion overflowed, and my tears ran down, and I was happy…
Above: Detail from a stained glass window, St. Francis of Assisi Chapel, Lincoln, NE All of us who have sufferings to bear and faith in Jesus have a desire to be healed by Him, in some way, at some level. We see in the Gospels that the obvious way in which to go about this…
Above: Bishop Athanasius Schneider in Lancaster, PA. Photo by Allison Girone. In my life, I have often encountered people who say something like the following to Catholics who love the traditional liturgy—or, for that matter, who wish to see the modern liturgy celebrated in a manner manifestly in continuity with its predecessor: You’re making too…
Above: mosaic of St. John Ogilvie returning to Scotland where he was martyred by heretics in 1615. Photo by Fr. Lawrence, OP. Part I: Seeing Holy Mass with Benedictine Eyes Part II: Seeing Holy Mass with Carmelite Eyes Part III: Seeing Holy Mass with Dominican Eyes Part IV: Seeing Holy Mass with Franciscan Eyes The old saying,…
Above: painting in the museum of San Marco in Florence showing St. Clare and St. Francis in holy conversation. Photo by Fr. Lawrence, OP. Part I: Seeing Holy Mass with Benedictine Eyes Part II: Seeing Holy Mass with Carmelite Eyes Part III: Seeing Holy Mass with Dominican Eyes An exact contemporary of Saint Dominic, Saint…
Part I: “Seeing Holy Mass with Benedictine Eyes“ Part II: “Seeing Holy Mass with Carmelite Eyes“ The Dominicans are the towering “lights” of the Church. Think about it: Saint Albert the Great, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and Saint Catherine of Siena, among others, were all Dominicans. The intellectual wattage and spiritual luminosity hardly gets brighter than…
Above: depiction of Our Lady giving the brown scapular to the Carmelite Ss. John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, and Therese of Lisieux from the church of Santa Maria della Victoria in Rome. Photo by Fr. Lawrence, OP. Read part I of this series “Seeing Holy Mass with Benedictine Eyes“ One of the most…
Our Lord in His generosity has given the Church many wonderful “schools of spirituality” nurtured within the great religious orders. While ultimately all of these schools are in harmony with each other (otherwise they could not be considered Catholic!), each one approaches the spiritual life, the virtues, the practice of the Faith, devotions, apostolate, etc.,…
On September 19, 2022, Church Life Journal published an article co-authored by John Cavadini, Mary Healy, and Thomas Weinandy—the first in a projected five-part series, “The Renewal of the Liturgy: Successes, Failures, and Contemporary Concerns.” In order to bring to the public a more realistic account of the issues at stake, OnePeterFive is pleased to…
