Meditations for the spiritual edification of our readers
For Easter Sunday, we offer a reflection on the Empty Tomb of Our Lord Jesus Christ, based on the Akathist Hymn on that theme. The Akathist Hymn is one of the most well-loved services of devotion in the Eastern Churches. Although there is some debate concerning the particulars of its authorship, many scholars agree with the [...]
In the early part of the Middle Ages the pious custom began of a novena of preparation before Christmas, but only in Spain and France. The Theatine Father Piscara Castaldo, in a book approved in 1525 by the author’s Father General, gives complete directions for the celebration of the Christmas Novena with Exposition of the Blessed [...]
November 2 and indeed the whole of November focus on the Holy Souls. There are actually two names for the day: “All Souls’ Day” and “The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed.” In around 998 A.D., All Souls’ Day was formally fixed on November 2 by St. Odilo, Abbot of Cluny; the influence of the monks [...]
We cite from a sermon on the Feast of the Holy Rosary. Newman had no text for this short sermon; it was compiled from notes taken at the time of preaching. It was delivered on Sunday, October 5, 1879. The cardinal was then 78 years of age, and was speaking to the boys at Oscott College, [...]
John Henry Newman was born in London on the 21st of February, 1801, the eldest son of John Newman, banker of the firm of Ramsbottom, Newman and Co. The family was understood to be of Dutch extraction, and the name itself, spelled “Newmann” in an earlier generation, further suggests a Jewish origin. At the age of [...]
The Transfiguration (1516-1520) by Raphael, Pinacoteca Vatican of the Vatican Museums, Vatican City Our divine Redeemer, in Galilee the summer before His sacred Passion, took with Him Saint Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, Saint James and Saint John, and led them to the heights of a solitary mountain. Tradition assures us that [...]
Holy Week is the last week of Lent, when we follow Jesus Christ from Palm Sunday, the Sunday of the Passion, to His death on Good Friday in preparation for His Resurrection from the dead on Easter Sunday. A major part of Holy Week involves a meditation on His Passion, which is read twice, once on [...]