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The Swoon of Our Lady
The Blessed Mother, being helped by the Holy Women after collapsing at the foot of the Cross. Model for a larger sculpture by Antonio Begarelli. Photographed in the Victoria & Albert Museum,...
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The Crucifixion
Consider how your Jesus, after three hours of agony on the Cross, consumed at length with anguish, abandons Himself to the weight of His Body, bows His Head, and dies. Romanesque crucifixion panel on a...
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Holy Saturday – The Harrowing of Hell
FROM AN ANCIENT HOMILY FOR HOLY SATURDAY Read in the Office of Readings in today’s liturgy What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great...
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Christ in the Tomb
The city of Naples, Italy leaves much to be desired; however, should you ever find yourself there, you must go to the Sansevero Chapel museum to see this life-sized sculpture of the Veiled Christ. I...
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Needed: Lenten Almsgiving Alternatives
In many places it’s a tradition by now to save one’s pocket change for Operation Rice Bowl, a program run by Catholic Relief Services (CRS). However, CRS unfortunately continues to make bad decisions...
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Lent Is Upon Us
While I’ve had some blogging ideas lately, I’ve not had the time actually to post them. In any case, I did want to put the link back up for the Lenten Reading Plans. So those of you accessing the blog...
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Fat Tuesday’s Excesses
Shrovetide Revelers In the Catholic world, the time leading up to Lent has traditionally been known as “carnival”, from the Latin words for saying farewell to meat (“carne vale”); during this time...
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A Time of Martyrs
Lucas Cranach the Elder. Beheading of John the Baptist. 1515. I said to some priest friends at dinner tonight that after I was ordained nearly seven years ago, whenever I preached about martyrdom I...
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Some New Altarware
Our new altar candlesticks, crucifix, and missal stand arrived recently for Holy Rosary parish – one of the fruits of the fundraiser that I had. (Side note: another Mass for benefactors will take place...
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Potato Onion Oil Egg Salt
Tonight I tried my hand at a great meatless meal, Spanish Tortilla. It is nothing like the tortilla we know in the USA, made from flour or corn. This one, rather, is made from eggs and potatoes (and...
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Mass Ad Orientem for the Annunciation
This morning I celebrated Mass ad orientem for the Solemnity of the Annunciation, on our historic high altar at Holy Rosary Church. The Mass (which was a Novus Ordo in English) was offered for all the...
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A Holy Thursday Gift
For several months now I’ve been undertaking a transformation of the rectory chapel here at St. Barnabas, to change it from the guest room that it used to be to a room that looks like a chapel and is a...
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Altar of Repose
This year I had a traditional altar of repose set up in my parish, the Cathedral of St. Paul. A local carpenter constructed the backdrop and shelf assembly that was erected in front of our statue of...
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The Purification of the Church
“Could you not watch with me one hour?” Last weekend in my parish I preached on the current scandals in the Church and our response to them. You may be interested in reading that homily here. In it, I...
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Pre-Lent
This Sunday (three Sundays before Ash Wednesday), February 17, 2019, is traditionally known as Septuagesima — Latin for “seventieth” and understood to be approximately the seventieth day before...
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Lenten Fasting in the Eastern Churches
An interesting icon of Christ carrying his Cross, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, inasmuch as it is signed in Latin (!) by its painter: “Nikolaos Tzafouris painted [it]”.I’ve already...
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Sundays in Lent – Both/And
My friend, Fr. Zehnle, posted something on Twitter today that I thought was very good: I think he’s responding to the classic Catholic discussion on how the Sundays of Lent are not included in the...
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Quinquagesima Sunday – Choosing Our Lenten Penances
The vestment I used for Mass today in the Extraordinary Form. It really triggers some people. (The colors in the photo aren’t quite right — it comes off as more thoroughly “purple” in real life.)...
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Lenten Abstinence for Vegetarians and Vegans
The law on abstinence, which applies to Ash Wednesday and all the Fridays of Lent, requires us to abstain from eating any meat on those days. Under current law, broths made from meat may be taken, as...
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Does Friday Penance Bind Gravely?
Today, when this is being posted, is a Friday of Lent — a day of abstinence from meat for all Catholics who have completed 14 years of age. But is it really a sin if one chooses to eat meat anyhow...
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