Weekly Insight
Our Lady Seat of Wisdom and of Combermere
A blessed āfeastā of Our Lady Seat of Wisdom,Ā Sedes Sapientiae. Thi ancient and venerable title of the Virgin Mary is celebrated on June 8th as the Chora tou Achoretou, the ācontainer of the uncontainableā,...
John Paul II and Corpus Christi
Here is the Corpus Christi homily of Pope Saint John Paul II from 2002. I was in Rome that year, my first-ever visit to the Eternal City (I've since returned twice). I was obliviously...
Corpus Christi: The Gift of the Holy Eucharist
(Here in Canada, Corpus Christi is transferred to the following Sunday, even if, as mentioned, the traditional day is the Thursday after Pentecost. We were a bit delayed in posting this previous but classic...
Corpus Christi and the Poetry of Thomas Aquinas
(In Canada,Ā the Solemnity is transferred to the next Sunday. In the universal Church, and various traditional rites and communities, it is celebrated on the proper day, the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. So here be...
Ave Verum – William Byrd’s Secret Treasure
On this Solemnity of Corpus Christi here in Canada, here is William Byrd's rendition of the Ave Verum, composed in the first years of the 17th century, published in 1605, during the time of...
Holy Norbert and Heroic Normandy
Saint Norbert (+1134) of Xanten was a zealous bishop and founder, who was at the forefront of the ecclesial reform named after Pope Gregory VII, a pope often referred to by his previous name,...
June is for the Sacred Heart of Jesus
God sent his only begotten son into the world, fully human and fully divine, possessing a fully human heart with valves and ventricles just like yours and mine. This heart, created by God, has written on it a deep desire to be in communion with Him. Thatās the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Bill C-9 and Fighting the Good Fight of the Faith
With the passage of Bill C-9 by the Senate yesterday, we're now closer than ever here in Canada to the dystopias predicted by Orwell's 1984 and Bradbury' Fahrenheit 451, where books are banned and...
Pope Benedict and Saint Boniface
BENEDICT XVI
GENERAL AUDIENCE
Saint Peter's Square
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Saint Boniface, the Apostle of the Germans
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today, we shall reflect on a great eighth-century missionary who spread Christianity in Central Europe, indeed also in...
Saint Boniface: Laying the Axe to the Root of Evil
Saint Boniface, bishop, missionary and martyr was hacked to death by a band of Frisian idol-worshippers on this June 5th in 754, along with 52 of his companions. There must have been quite a...
Saint Francis Caraciollo
This co-founder of the Adorno Fathers was born Ascanio dei Caracciolo Pisquizi, in the kingdom of Naples in the year 1563, just as the Protestant revolt was reaching its crescendo. Italy was largely spared...
Terminal at Tim’s, and a Modest Proposal
There's an old joke that asks what's the difference between God and a doctor?
God doesn't think He's a doctor.
Sure, it's hyperbolic and cynical, and many physicians do sacrificial hidden work for their innumerable patients,...
Lessons from My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is one of my darling brideās favorite plays. I, on the other hand, am more a fan of the original play script Pygmallion, by George Bernard Shaw. On May 20, Eliza...
Saint Charles Lwanga and Companion Martyrs: The Hope of Africa
If the Church seems moribund in North America, there is hope in the vast continent of Africa, where there are untold millions of Catholics, fervent, joyful and full of life. This spiritual energy that...
Peter and Marcellinus, Hidden Yet Their Voice Goes Out Through All the Earth
Like many of the early martyrs, not much is known of Saints Marcellinus and Peter, except that they died for the Faith during the persecution of Diocletian in 304, put to death by beheading...
