Even if know that Easter is the most important feast of the liturgical year, Christmas still seems like a much bigger deal. Christmas is known for its cheer–singing, treats, presents, fires, and family–but we’re not quite sure how to celebrate Read more…
Good Friday, a day of devotions such as the veneration of the Cross and the Stations, is also a day for extended silent meditation. I offer two poems for reflection, one tied to devotion to the Cross, and the other Read more…
On March 29th, the Polish composer, Krzysztof Penderecki, passed away. Most people would not recognize his name, but his music appeared in eerie Hollywood films such as The Exorcist and The Shining. Despite that connection, Penderecki produced many sacred works Read more…
This Triduum we can take a virtual pilgrimage to Notre Dame in Paris to honor the Crown of Thorns on Good Friday and to Turin on Holy Saturday to venerate the Shroud. As we are confined at home for this Read more…
“Do this in memory of me.” Jesus’ command at the Last Supper forms the basis of the Church’s liturgy, not simply remembrance of Jesus but a mystical union with the actions of Christ through word, ritual, and the movements of Read more…
As Catholics throughout the world face closed doors at church, our Lenten fast has changed. We think of Lent as a time of giving up bad things and engaging in deeper prayer. Abstaining from attending Mass would not seem to Read more…
I stumbled across the pilgrim plague survivor, St. Rocco, when I was 15. It was my first time in Europe, visiting my aunt who was studying at the University of Montpellier (founded c. 1292) in southern France. I hadn’t heard Read more…
Medieval Lent was, to say the least, a lot harder. The season’s origins come from the early catechumenate, which led converts through a multi-day period of intense prayer and fasting before their initiation at the Easter vigil. Eventually, this time Read more…
Wine, Romanesque architecture, and the monastic life, all reached their high point in the Middle Ages, tucked away in the province of Burgundy. You may not have heard of Cluny, but, from its humble founding in 910, it quickly constructed Read more…
Victor Hugo begins The Hunchback of Notre Dame, amazingly, by discussing a fire! Not any fire, but one that destroyed a beautiful and historical Gothic building. The story opens in the Grand Hall of Paris’ Royal Palace on the 6th Read more…