Holy Saturday commemorates the day between our Lord’s brutal execution, and his glorious resurrection. From the rising of today’s sun, to the setting of the same, his precious body was separated from his human soul, such that he who is eternal Life truly experienced the deprivations of death. God, of course, cannot die, and suchContinue reading “Setting a Watch”
Tag Archives: sin
Holy Justice
A major section of Saint Catherine of Sienna’s Dialogues addresses the widespread corruption afflicting the Holy Catholic Church, then (as now). The root cause of such corruption is, of course, personal, as is the case with the saintly governance practiced by those ministers who have been true to their divine calling. As for the saints:Continue reading “Holy Justice”
How the Wicked Praise God
“Whether the world wills it or no,” God explains to St. Catherine, “it offers me glory.” True, the intent of the wicked is to insult God. But the ways of the wicked are not wise, and the fruits of their wickedness are not as anticipated. From day to day, the “people of the world” mayContinue reading “How the Wicked Praise God”
Praying for Real
St. Catherine of Sienna warns us not to let our prayers consist “more in words than in affection.” The goal of prayer is for the soul to be “inebriated and set on fire and sated with holy longing, finding herself filled completely with love of [God] and of her neighbors.” Recognizing that “the soul isContinue reading “Praying for Real”
The Heavenly Round
Addressing our Creator, the poet marvels at the order with which he has “tuned” the heavens and the earth: Thou tun’st this World below, the Spheres above,Who in the Heavenly Round to their own Music move. For his part, the composer demonstrates the ability of music, fashioned by a creature made in the image ofContinue reading “The Heavenly Round”
Praying for Peter
Simon, Simon, behold Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren. Luke 22:31-32 In appointing as vicar a mere man, subject to original and actual sin, our Lord was well awareContinue reading “Praying for Peter”
Earth Shall Not Be Desolate
Immisit Dominus pestilentiam is among the earliest surviving works of Jan Dismas Zelenka, dating from 1709. It was composed for Holy Week services at Prague’s Saint Salvator Church. In commemoration of the time between Christ’s arrest in the garden and his Resurrection on Easter morning, the Blessed Sacrament was removed from the main church andContinue reading “Earth Shall Not Be Desolate”
Hunting the Lord
To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee: that thou mayst be justified in thy words, and mayst overcome when thou art judged. For behold I was conceived in iniquities; and in sins did my mother conceive me. For behold thou hast loved truth: the uncertain and hidden things of thyContinue reading “Hunting the Lord”
From Dust to Dust
On Ash Wednesday, we are reminded of the sentence pronounced by God upon our first ancestor: “Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return” (Gen. 3:19). Adam had been given everything: “a paradise of pleasure,” and total dominion over it. Made in the image of God, he understood, cared for, and enjoyed all ofContinue reading “From Dust to Dust”
Plentiful Redemption
Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice. Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication. If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it? For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited forContinue reading “Plentiful Redemption”
"His Tongue shall Speak Judgment" 