Here is the oration that the Church prays in the Mass and Office for the sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Tua nos, quǽsumus, Dómine, grátia semper et prævéniat et sequátur: ac bonis opéribus iúgiter præstet esse inténtos. Here is my translation: … Continue reading
Category: Spiritual Life
What’s in That Prayer? The Nativity of Mary, the ‘Beginning of Salvation’
Here is the oration that the Church prays in the Mass and Office of Our Lady’s Nativity: Fámulis tuis, quǽsumus, Dómine, cæléstis grátiæ munus impertíre: ut, quibus beátæ Vírginis partus éxstitit salútis exórdium; Nativitátis eius votíva solémnitas pacis tríbuat increméntum. … Continue reading
‘Hell and Its Torments,’ a Sermon of Saint Robert Bellarmine (Video)
A sermon by St. Robert Bellarmine, read by Charles Coulombe. Like a splash of cold water on the face, this is a wake-up call describing our skewed perspective of reality. Despite the enormous stakes of either Heaven or eternal torment, … Continue reading
What’s in That Prayer? The Collect for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Here is the oration that the Church prays in the Mass and Office for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Ecclésiam tuam, Dómine, miserátio continuáta mundet et múniat: et quia sine te non potest salva consístere; tuo semper múnere gubernétur. Here … Continue reading
What’s in That Prayer? Saint Stephen, the Pugnacious Propagator of the Church
Here is the oration that the Church prays in the Mass and Office of Saint Stephen of Hungary (1038): Concéde, quǽsumus, Ecclésiæ tuæ, omnípotens Deus: ut beátum Stéphanum Confessórem tuum, quem regnántem in terris propagatórem hábuit, propugnatórem habére mereátur gloriósum … Continue reading
What’s in That Prayer? The Collect for Saint Raymond Nonnatus
Here is the artful oration that the Church prays for the Mass and Office of Saint Raymond Nonnatus: Deus, qui in liberándis fidélibus tuis ab impiórum captivitáte beátum Raymúndum Confessórem tuum mirábilem effecísti: eius nobis intercessióne concéde; ut, a peccatórum … Continue reading
What’s in That Prayer? The Collect for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
The Church’s orations are often packed with doctrinal content, as well as moral edification and linguistic beauty. All that, and — in the case of the collects, anyway — the Church is asking for something quite specific. How the Church … Continue reading
Standing on the Edge
Have you ever paused on the edge of a life-changing decision, one in which you contemplated an irreversible choice that would separate you forever from everything that you know and love? Maybe you traveled to a new country, knowing you … Continue reading
Saint John Baptiste de la Salle: Zeal for the Salvation of Souls to Effect God’s Glory
The collect for today’s feast of Saint John Baptiste de la Salle is a beautiful one: Deus, qui, ad christiánam páuperum eruditiónem et ad iuvéntam in via veritátis firmándam, sanctum Ioánnem Baptístam Confessórem excitásti, et novam per eum in Ecclésia … Continue reading