Weekly Insight
The Church Could Use A Few More Thomas (à) Beckets
A blessed continuing 'Merrie Christmas!' to all our readers, on this sixth day of the Octave, and then on through the the twelve days, right up to the Epiphany and the Baptism of our...
In the Bleak Midwinter, Gaudete Christus Natus Est
It's lovely how the simplest tunes often - perhaps most often, maybe even always - make the most beautiful of melodies. So it is with Gustav Holst's (1874-1934) carol 'In the Bleak Midwinter' (1906)...
The Hope of the Holy Innocents
The feast of the Holy Innocents, which we celebrate appropriately enough within the octave of Christmas, might seem a troubling commemoration at first glance. Remembering the wholesale slaughter of all the male children two...
Feast of the Holy Family
BENEDICT XVI
ANGELUS
St Peter's Square
Sunday, 31 December 2006
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
On this last Sunday of the year we are celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth. I address with joy all the families of the...
Chant Workshop in Ottawa
For those who want to learn something about the great tradition of Gregorian chant, or hone your incipient skills, there will be a a Chant workshop offered by Miss Catherine Helferty in Ottawa with...
AI and Entropy
Entropy may be described as the movement from order to disorder, from cosmos to chaos. It is the inevitable consequence of any closed system, and encapsulated as the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Any such...
Saint John, the Theologian
BENEDICT XVI
GENERAL AUDIENCE
Paul VI Audience Hall
Wednesday, 9 August 2006
John, the theologian
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Before the holidays I had begun sketching small portraits of the Twelve Apostles. The Apostles were Jesus' travelling companions, Jesus' friends....
Saint John, Son of Zebedee
Pope Benedict XVI offered three audiences on the Apostle John, back in 2006, and, concise as they are - a trait of the erudite Pontiff - they make for very rich and fruitful reading....
Saint John the Beloved, Seer of Patmos
BENEDICT XVI
GENERAL AUDIENCE
Paul VI Audience Hall
Wednesday, 23 August 2006
John, the Seer of Patmos
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In the last Catechesis we had reached the meditation on the figure of the Apostle John. We had first...
Saint John, the Apostle of the Logos
On this third day of Christmas, we not only get three french hens, but, far better, we get to celebrate the beloved Apostle, Saint John the Evangelist, whose Gospel signifies most clearly the eternal...
The Very First ‘Merry Christmas’
In one of those many ironies of history, it came as news to me that the first recorded use of the greeting 'Merry Christmas' was from Bishop John Fisher to Thomas Cromwell. Of course,...
A Song for Saint Joseph
My friend Beverlee Trindl and I attended Aquinas Dominican High School on Chicago’s south side. Our senior year we were asked by the choir director to compose a new carol for St. Joseph to...
Pope Benedict and Saint Stephen
BENEDICT XVI
GENERAL AUDIENCE
Saint Peter's Square
Wednesday, 2 May 2012
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our recent Catecheses we have seen how through personal and community prayer the interpretation of and meditation on Sacred Scripture open us to...
On the Feast of Stephen…not Boxing Day!
As the mid-19th century hymn has it, Good King Wenceslaus first went out, on the feast of Stephen, when the snow lay 'round about, deep and crisp and even...a hymn, published in 1853, which...
Christmas Hymns
A fine compilation of Christmas hymnody, done in wonderful harmony. Enjoy on this day of great joy! Christus natus est, alleluia!
https://youtu.be/zIQBBNIo1Hc
