For months leading up to the Battle of Lepanto, fought on this day 443 years ago, Pope Pius V urged the faithful to pray for military victory against Muslim forces aiming to storm Italy from its Adriatic coast. Specifically, he enjoined Catholics in Europe to pray daily the most holy rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Christian navy prevailed, and on the Roman calendar October 7 was dedicated to Our Lady of Victory. Continue Reading »
Wake at four o’clock, Byzantine time.Attend to yourselves.Recall that all is vanity.Say together Matins.At the First Hour, lift the sunwith open palms.Water now may slake your thirst.Remain here close enough to be seenbut far enough apart to be unheard.As is our custom, the Third Hour.You often . . . . Continue Reading »
We tame the Lord’s Prayer. We have to, so it isn’t nearly as disturbing to us as an incautious reading would reveal. Certainly it is a comfort. We use it for everything. It is often the first prayer we learn in worship and frequently the last to escape our lips. Routinely, we use it to conclude church meetings. That may be a misuse, the prayer being more radical than a mere way to clear out the room, but I’ve done it too. Continue Reading »
A couple of weeks ago, I saw a New York magazine report on Whisper, the latest in social media. Whisper users post their updates, secrets, and statuses anonymously. Other users can “heart” or reply. User stats aren’t public, but the company says it gets over 3 billion page . . . . Continue Reading »
Nowadays we have difficulty imagining why anyone would willingly consent to be roused from a supposedly deep slumber by the summons to pray at midnight.
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I rarely pray to Christ. His sacrifice was so perfect, it’s far beyond my ken. I’m one of those who have denied Him thrice but take His bread and wine, then say amen. I pray three ways, first to the Holy Ghost in charge of poets who would serve the Lord, then to St. Michael, head of . . . . Continue Reading »
“We’re all contradictory. We all have the potential for great good and the potential for great sin — that’s the human condition.”Gayle recently spoke with Father John Bartunek, a priest in the order of the Legion of Christ, a religious congregation. Father . . . . Continue Reading »
Not long ago, and I’m sure you remember it as if it were yesterday, I wrote about my search for the perfect prayer book. Help Help Help, &c. Well, God and reader Ed P. have heard my cry. Ed P. writes: . . . I commend to your consideration the “Monastic Diurnal” published by . . . . Continue Reading »
Anne Lamott wrote once that prayer boils down to saying either Help Help Help or Thank you Thank you Thank you. The description’s accurate enough, as I have some reason to know, and as a default mode for prayer, I guess a person could do worse. To believe in God to begin with, and to believe that . . . . Continue Reading »
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