This is a most glorious feast; my description can't do it justice. It comes right in the center of Lent, and links together the beginning -- the expulsion of humanity from Paradise -- and the end -- the Resurrection.

This time, I will build my post around some of my favorite hymns of the feast.

Come, Adam and Eve, our first father and mother, ( Read more... )

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. I am going to post below the sermon given today by Pope Benedict XVI, as this Feast coincides with his trip to Lourdes, France, for the 150th Jubilee of the Apparition of Our Lady to Bernadette. But before reading the sermon I definitely recommend reading the liturgical ( Read more... )

The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, is currently on a pilgrimage to France to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Our Lady of Lourdes. Last night at La Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris he gave the following address to a gathering of young people before celebrating Vespers with them. The message below is incredibly powerful, edifying, and uplifting ( Read more... )

There are many things we humans don't know about God. He had, for a long time, shrouded Himself with mysteries and an impenetrable fog through which we couldn't see much. If we would ask an old-time Israelite about God, whether God loves us, he would perhaps have said, God is terrible, I must fear him lest I die. If we would ask him about ( Read more... )

Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration. It is also the one year anniversary of my diagnosis of cancer. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but it is so amazing to me the way each of my steps along the way of my diagnosis and treatment coincided with a great liturgical feast of the Church. I find this to be especially poignant today, given the ( Read more... )