Category: prayer

  • The Rosary: The Nativity

    By way of introduction to the Third Joyous Mystery of the Rosary, please remember the scripture: Jesus was born in to a family that owned its own business. Jesus was born in a manger not because no inn would house a poor pregnant woman, but rather because the inns were full. Church tradition tells us…

  • The Rosary: The Visitation

    The second of the five Joyous Mysteries is known as the Visitation and commemorates the visit of our Blessed Lady to St Elizabeth, the mother of the Forerunner, John Baptist.  The Visitation is a later-comer to the Calendar and devotional life of the Western Church, having been introduced by St Bonaventure in 1263. The Franciscans,…

  • The Rosary: The Annunciation

    The first decade of the Holy Rosary is in honor of the Annunciation when the Archangel Gabriel came to Blessed Mary, the Ever-Virgin, and, greeting her, offered her the chance to become the mother of her Creator. Her acceptance of this greeting is the beginning of our salvation. One traditional way of meditation on the…

  • The Rosary: Introduction to the Joyful Mysteries

    The Joyful Mysteries are those events at the beginning of the life of Christ: The Annunciation of the Archangel to Mary The Visitation of Our Lady to St Elizabeth The Nativity of Our Lord The Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple The Finding of Christ teaching among the Elders in the Temple Each one…

  • Rosary with Byzantine Meditations

    Introduction When I was exploring Orthodoxy (2000-2001) and after I had converted, there was a massive jettisoning of anything Western. Any of my friends or long-time readers of the several incarnations of this blog can confirm this. Bye bye Mr. Francis; bye bye Mass; bye bye Mass Cards, bye bye Advent and Advent Wreaths; bye…

  • Love in the Time of Covid-19

    Dear Fathers in Christ – Some diocese are canceling public services. Some are not. No matter where you fall on the spectrum between APOCALYPSE and TOO MUCH HYPE there is something you can do to help us all: especially the folks in the places with no Masses. Put your Mass live on Facebook. Put your…

  • Before Communion

    JMJ Other than the Domine Non Sum Dignus, the Roman Rite (OF/EF) has few pre-communion devotions in the liturgy itself – although the EF also has the Confiteor recited before Communion. If you haven’t any others, the following, taken from Anglican and Eastern Orthodox traditions, are very useful to fill in this gap. There’s usually…

  • A Daily Act of Consecration to the Holy Family

    Please note: what follows is not an officially approved devotion in any way. If you find it useful, amen. If you feel it needs correction please let me know. HOLY FAMILY OF NAZARETH, hear the prayers of a prodigal son. I have sinned before heaven and against you. Take me as one of your hired…

  • Pray the Day Away

    ✙ JMJ The Readings for Wednesday in Easter Week (B2) Acts 3:1-10  Luke 24:13-35 Argentum et aurum non est mihi : quod autem habeo, hoc tibi do .Silver and gold I have none; but what I have, I give thee.In a funny book from 1987 called Life: A Warning, by Stephanie Brush, a lacklustre sequel to…

  • Mortimer and Me.

    ✙ JMJ The Readings for Tuesday, 1st Week of Ordinary Time (B2): 1 Samuel 1:9-20 Mark 1:21-28 Porro Anna loquebatur in corde suo, tantumque labia illius movebantur, et vox penitus non audiebatur. Now Anna spoke in her heart, and only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard at all. Today is the first…

  • The Empirical Bogey (O Oriens)

    Originally published in 2015, this essay is part of a series I used to do annually on the Great O Antiphons of Advent. This Verse will be sung tonight at Vespers and, since this night is the Longest Night, and tomorrow is the Dawn of Summer’s Advent, we sing. “O Dawn”. The church knows when…

  • O Lord: 2nd Advent Meditation

    Adonai, et Dux domus Israel, qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem dedisti: veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.Lord and Ruler the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the flame of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: come, and redeem us with outstretched…

  • O Wisdom: 1st Advent Meditation

    By way of introduction I have been posting meditations on the “Great O” Antiphons since I was Chrismated in 2002. There are seven in the Tridentine liturgy plus one more from the Sarum Rite. These 8 antiphons space out rather nicely over the 40 days of the Byzantine Rite Advent Fast which starts today, 15…

  • Custodia Oculorum

    The Latin Phrase which was employed as the title of this article is translated as “Custody of the Eyes”.  It’s a quaint, perhaps Victorian-sounding, phrase to which I was introduced by a Priest in NYC who had once been an Benedictine at the Great House of Nashdom in the UK. He noticed me, please forgive…