In the Vineyard of Silence
A silence so full it seemed to hum with the voice of God.
How to do Holy Week: Mary is the Model
Let us embrace this gift given to us: “Behold your Mother.”
Colligite Fragmenta: Passion Sunday – “Iesus autem abscondit se”
From the pre-Lent, “Gesima” Sundays onward, Holy Mother Church began her plunge into liturgical death. At first we lost the “Alleluia”, the Gloria, and on Sundays we dressed in penitential violet to herald the proximity of Lent. With Lent, these privations applied every day, with the exception of our great feasts. Moreover, we became stiller…
Colligite Fragmenta: “Laetare” Sunday, the 4th of Lent
I will guess that we have all heard the explanation of why this Sunday is called Laertare (“Rejoice”) and why we have rose (rosacea) vestments and that the Roman Station is at the Church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. St. John Henry Newman wrote of this church: “This Basilica is so called, because Saint…
Children: Culture, and Demography
These two books give important insights into the relationship between economics, demography, and values.
The Magnanimous Housewife
In the A.D. era, humility is the route to magnanimity.
Colligite Fragmenta: 3rd Sunday of Lent
Welcome to the second part of Lent. As Pius Parsch puts it in The Church’s Year of Grace, in the first two weeks we put ourselves on guard against attacks by the Prince of this world, the Devil and fallen angels, with the weapon of mortifications. On this Sunday we move from defense against the…
Sacred Initiation and Baptismal Symbolism in Tolkien’s Stories
The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision.
Colligite Fragmenta: 1st Sunday of Lent
With the “Gesima”, pre-Lent Sundays we added a layer of context to our contexts: Roman Station churches. Each day of Lent has, by millennial tradition, an assigned church in Rome. On weekdays, people gathered at a nearby “collect” church and then processed singing penitential litanies and hymns to the “stopping” church, or “statio” where the…
Pilgrimage to Mt. St. Michel – Guardian of France
At some points, the water reached our knees.
Colligite Fragmenta: Quinquagesima Sunday
With Quinquagesima Sunday we are at the threshold of the season of Lent. Holy Mother Church has been preparing us for spiritual combat through these preparatory Sundays. When you follow the Vetus Ordo of the Roman Rite, Lent can never take you by surprise. As part of our arming for battle, this Sunday asks us…