On Good Friday, choirs around the world sing the Reproaches, also known as the Improperia, a series of antiphons and responses meant to be reproaches from Christ to His people. These reproaches are haunting, and worth listening to on this saddest of days, when the Creator of mankind was deserted, betrayed, tortured, and brutally murdered by the people He created to love and to love Him in retur...
What happens when a husband and wife are not on the same page spiritually? This can present significant challenges in a marriage that require Divine wisdom to overcome.
Tenebrae factae sunt—and it was dark (Mt. 27:45).
Before the revision of the celebration of Holy Week in 1955, the Church traditionally chanted Tenebrae during the three days leading up to Easter, known as the Sacred Triduum. This dramatic ceremony was sung during the hours in darkness—hence its name, as Tenebrae is translated from the Latin for “darkness” or &ldqu...
Come Holy Spirit with Thy Seven-fold gifts and anoint us with Thy Divine light, wisdom, and power. Come Lord Jesus Christ and anoint us with Thy Precious Blood, freeing us from every snare and stronghold of the principalities and powers of darkness. O Mother of God, glorious and Immaculate ever Virgin Mary, come and crush the head of the ancient serpent. O great father, St. Joseph, terror of de...
We've been walking the desert sands with Jesus the past few weeks, reflecting upon our own sinfulness and doing what we can to make reparation for our sins and the sins of others.
This Sunday, however, the Church shifts our focus from ourselves and our sinfulness to Jesus and His Passion.
Today, we celebrate Passion Sunday, the beginning of Passiontide.
Dom Prosper Gueranger says ...
Novena to St. Raphael for the Financial Provision of our Our Lady of Mount Carmel Retreat and Center for Spiritual Formation
DAY 1
“But I alone used to go often to Jerusalem for the festivals, as was prescribed for all Israel by longstanding decree. Bringing with me the first fruits of crops, the firstlings of the flock, the tithes of livestock, and the first shearings of sheep, I ...
Mortification frees the soul from every obstacle which retards the growth of grace... whereas prayer (intimate conversation with God) feeds this love and quickens this flight.
