The idea that the life of a Catholic, even on the natural level, should be markedly different from the life of, say, an Episcopalian, or a Jew, or a Buddhist, is not so readily apparent as some might assume. The … Continue reading
Category: Spiritual Life
Making Good Use of Scripture
(This piece is an excerpt from a lecture Brother Francis gave in the 1970s.) The Bible is the book that makes saints.
Imitating Christ’s Humility: Philippians 2
The Challoner edition of the Douay-Rheims Bible gives a good description of Philippians 2 at the head of the chapter: “He recommends them to unity and humility, and to work out their salvation with fear and trembling.” In broad overview, … Continue reading
Saints X and Y
Below is a little talk I gave this morning to our school students (most of whom are little), who are accustomed to hearing a few minutes’ meditation about the saint of the day before each Mass. Since today is a … Continue reading
The Relationship between the Virtues and the Gifts of the Holy Ghost
The gifts of the Holy Ghost resemble the infused virtues in a number of ways. Both are operative habits which have God as their efficient cause and the perfection of man as their final cause. Both reside in the human … Continue reading
On the Necessity of the Sacrament of Penance
Our Lord once said to His disciples, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” These words of our Divine Master ever remain true, because He Who said so is God and Truth itself. It is to each one of us … Continue reading
Peace, a Fruit of the Holy Ghost
I began to write this on the feast of St. John of San Facundo, a Spanish Augustinian Friar of the fifteenth century. He is the patron of the city of Salamanca. Conspicuous for being a peace maker among factions, he … Continue reading
The General Relationship between the Virtues and the Gifts of the Holy Ghost
The gifts of the Holy Ghost resemble the infused virtues in a number of ways. Both are operative habits which have God as their efficient cause and the perfection of man as their final cause.
On the Church and the World: Lessons from the Easter Liturgy and the Russian Prophet
Lessons from Today’s Liturgy. During Easter Week, the traditional liturgy presents us with rich Scripture readings proper to every day of the week. Today, Wednesday of Easter Week, we read the Gospel account from John 21 about the post-Resurrection miraculous … Continue reading
Passiontide Meditation
“He that is of God heareth the words of God.” — a meditation on Passiontide, based on the Gospel and Epistle for Passion Sunday. Passion Sunday. Today is Passion Sunday. The Church gives it this name because the two weeks … Continue reading
Lenten Combat Considerations
For your edification, I offer some thoughts on this week’s Sunday Gospel and Epistle, which focus us on the spiritual combat of the Lenten season, and of the Christian life. These meditations were prepared for Sunday, so they refer to … Continue reading
On the Hatred of ‘the World’
Below is a sublime liturgical reflection from the pen of my favorite spiritual writer, Abbot Prosper Guéranger. It is an excerpt from The Liturgical Year for the Tuesday of Quinquagesima Week, where that profound Benedictine master writes about the hatred we … Continue reading
The Annunciation by Father Leonard Feeney, M.I.C.M.
When the Blessed Virgin Mary, the spouse of the angelic Joseph, the royal son of David, was fourteen years, six months and seventeen days old, there occurred to her, and for her and through her, the greatest event that ever … Continue reading
Homesick For Heaven
In the long history of our Holy Catholic Church, the Carmelite Order is the only group of religious that can trace its beginnings back to Old Testament times. From the age of the prophet Samuel, there existed in the Holy … Continue reading
La Reconquistadora – The Virgin Mary and the Virtue of Fortitude
For the better part of eight hundred years, Catholic Spain fought to liberate herself from Islamic occupation. The Reconquista, or Reconquest, as this war of liberation was called, began to make great strides in the second half of the eleventh … Continue reading
