Sunday, August 24, 2025

Mary Magdalene’s Metanoia

A blessed feast of Mary Magdalene, which - or who - was raised from memorial status in the liturgical revisions of 1969 to a...

Saint Lawrence of Brindisi: Bible and Cappucino

Guilio Cesare Russo was born to a family of Venetian merchants, but not in Venice, but rather far to the south, in the village...

Saint Arsenius the Great, and the Silent

Saint Arsenius, called ‘the Great’, (350 – 445), whom we recall on this 19th of July, was one of the early monks of the...

The Profound Peace of Assisi

I wasn’t quite prepared for Assisi, even if it was just what I needed. I suppose God works like that. When I got off...

Florence: Art, Beauty and Truth

Firenze! Even the name - at least in Italian - signifies energy, exuberance, enthusiasm. What is one to say of Florence in a few words?...

The Eschatological Message of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Around this time of year in the Office of Readings, or Lauds, we follow the travails of the prophet Elijah from the Book of...

Le Sieci and Christ the King

I left off these reflections with my arrival in Florence, after the Purgatory - I will not say hell, for it had its end...

Orange Day and Saint Oliver Plunkett, the Last Martyr of the Protestant ‘Reformation’

July the 12th is ‘Orange’ Day, celebrated still with fervour in Northern Ireland, commemorating the defeat of the rightful Catholic king of the Stuart...

Swtizerland and Frauenthal

Upon arriving in Zurich from Vienna, I had an hour or so before I caught a connecting train down to Knonau and the convent....

Saint Benedict: Ora et Labora

A blessed feast of Saint Benedict (+543), as we commemorate the monk credited with saving what we know as 'civilization'. As a student in...