Rise thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead: and Christ shall enlighten thee. –Ephesians v. 14 We Catholics live in a world that is weary of itself and awaits liberation. A new calendar year dawns, and yet the same …
Category: Spiritual Reading
New Years’ Examen for Every Trad
“I had not forgotten my promise to consider whether we should make the patient an extreme patriot or an extreme pacifist. All extremes except extreme devotion to the Enemy are to be encouraged,” writes C. S. Lewis’s infamous demon Screwtape …
The Lifting of the Chasuble at the Elevations: Touching the Hem of Christ’s Garment
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. …
Seeing Holy Mass with Jesuit Eyes
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 …
Seeing Holy Mass with Franciscan Eyes
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 …
Seeing Holy Mass with Dominican Eyes
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, …
Seeing Holy Mass with Carmelite Eyes
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 …
Seeing Holy Mass with Benedictine Eyes
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 …
The Triumph and Peace of the Assumption
Above: The Assumption of Mary by Luca Giordano (1634-1705). “Today the Virgin Mary ascended to heaven; rejoice, for she reigns with Christ forever.” The Church will close her chants on this glorious day with this sweet antiphon which resumes the …
A Spiritual Manual of Christian Militancy
A concise and profound manual of spiritual life, without rhetoric and without compromise: an antidote to modern, nebulous and sentimental pseudo-spirituality. This is Lived Christianity, the magnificent text by Dom François de Sales Pollien, just published by Calx Mariae Publishing …