The Vigil of the Epiphany: the Forgotten Gateway to Christ’s Manifestation
Among the earliest losses of the 1955 reforms was one of the most venerable.
In Illo Tempore: Most Holy Name of Jesus
The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus developed gradually from devotional practice into the Church’s universal liturgical calendar. Its scriptural foundation lies in the New Testament emphasis on the saving and sovereign power of the Name (Phil 2:9–11; Acts 4:12), but its formal celebration arose later through medieval pastoral reform. In the 15th century,…
In Illo Tempore: Sunday in the Octave of Christmas
Almighty and eternal God, who in the fullness of time sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, has placed us within the joyful mystery of the Octave of Christmas. In these sacred days time is suspended, as if Mother Church reached out and gently stopped the pendulum. A single day…
Lost Feasts and Principles from the Pre-1955 Roman Missal
The Roman Calendar in 1954: The Last Year of Wholeness.
In Illo Tempore: 3rd Sunday of Advent “Gaudete”
The Church, as she leads us through Advent, does so with a pedagogy at once sober and exultant, marked by a rhythm that quickens as the great mysteries draw near. From the 1st Sunday, when the Lord is announced as still distant yet surely coming, the liturgy – Mass and Office – presses forward with…
In Illo Tempore: 2nd Sunday of Advent
The Church places before us on the 2nd Sunday of Advent a Gospel passage from Matthew 11:2-10 whose two movements mirror each other like the ends of a well bound book. The first concerns the identity of Christ as sought by the imprisoned Forerunner. The second concerns the identity of the Forerunner as confirmed by…
In Illo Tempore: 1st Sunday of Advent
The paper cup must become more like the swimming pool if it is to receive what is poured out with divine liberality.
Colligite Fragmenta: 24th and Last Sunday after Pentecost
All good things come to their end, with the exception of God’s love and the eternal joy of Heaven. Thus, the Church, in her liturgical wisdom, allows the cycle of the year to come to its own solemn conclusion, so that we may be stirred up again to begin anew. As this series of reflections…
Colligite Fragmenta: 23rd Sunday after Pentecost
Let’s have some context. We are drawing toward the end of the liturgical year, when the Church’s gaze turns ever more intently to the consummation of all things, the Second Coming of the Lord, the resurrection of the dead, and judgment. Pius Parsch, in The Church’s Year of Grace, sees in these autumn Sundays a…
Colligite Fragmenta: Dedication of St. John Lateran
The dedication of a church is therefore a liturgical wedding.
Colligite Fragmenta: 21st Sunday after Pentecost
As the liturgical year draws to its close, the Church’s voice takes on autumnal gravity. The Sundays after Pentecost turn our eyes toward the final harvest, when the Lord will take all things to Himself. This Sunday’s Collect, Epistle, and Gospel form a single meditation on mercy and judgment, protection and peril, the divine household…
