Cemetery Cross in the Gloaming
Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give thine angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for thy love's sake. Amen.
Saint John Roberts – October 25
Beginning a series on patron saints of our oblates. Today is the feast day of St. John Roberts, patron of Jason John Edwards, Obl.S.B. Name-day blessings to you, Jason! [From an entry on St. John Roberts in the Catholic Encyclopedia. Photo: nave of the abbey church of Downside Abbey.] First Prior of St. Gregory's, Douai (now Downside Abbey), b. 1575-6; martyred 10 December,…
Archbishop of Canterbury to Present Reformation Resolution to Catholic and Lutheran Leaders
[Hood-doff to Jason John Edwards, Obl.S.B. for this story. (A fuller version can be found here.)] A resolution from the Anglican Consultative Council welcoming an agreed Roman Catholic-Lutheran declaration on justification will feature at a service in Westminster Abbey on 31 October. … After extensive ecumenical dialogue between the Pontifical council for Promoting Christian…
Anglican Before, Anglican After
Hood-doff to Deborah Gyapong for posing the question "What don't I miss" about leaving Anglicanism and becoming Catholic (while being allowed to retain aspects of the Anglican identity thanks to Anglicanorum coetibus). What sparked Deborah's question was reading a piece Fr. John Hunwicke had written about Newman's Anglicanism before Newman became Catholic and his Anglicanism…
That Old Anglican, Oxford, Patristic Tone
[Attached below is an eight-year-old post by Fr. Hunwicke from his blog that is still worth circulating. It refers to that pithy assessment Manning made about Newman bringing that "old Anglican, patristic, literary, Oxford" tone "into the Church." (Edmund S. Purcell, Life of Cardinal Manning, Archbishop of Westminster [London; New York: MacMillan and Co., 1896],…
On Reading a Passage from Martin Thornton
Fr. Matthew Cuthbert Dallman, Obl.S.B.'s excellent presentation to the oblates yesterday, based on chapter six of Martin Thornton's _English Spirituality_, stirred up a few thoughts, which I share here. Please feel free to add your thoughts and comments as well. It's a problem "when the Office is either turned into a subjective devotion, or omitted…
Consecrating the Ordinariate to St. Mary's Immaculate Heart
An invitation to join the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter's consecration to St. Mary's Immaculate Heart. From Bishop Lopes: "On Sunday, Oct. 15, I will consecrate the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter to Mary's Immaculate Heart by praying the prayer publicly at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston….
A Few Statements on English Christianity's Benedictine Influence
(Thanks to Father Matthew Cuthbert Dallman, Obl.S.B., for the following quotes.) Time for a regular Public Service Announcement: "Benedictine life and spirituality is central to the identity of English Christianity." The Most Rev. Steven J. Lopes, Letter to St Benet Biscop Chapter of Saint John's Abbey, Sept. 2017 "The Anglican tradition is profoundly Benedictine." The…
Congratulations, Chris Bede Lane, Obl.S.B.!
Congratulations to Dr. Christopher Bede Lane, Obl.S.B., of Front Royal, Virginia, on making his act of oblation Thursday (12 October 2017). Abundant blessings to you, Chris Bede, and through you to your family and all around you! (Photo: Chris signs his Act of Oblation on the altar of the Chapel of Christ the King, Christendom…
Congratulations, Nathaniel Joseph Marshall, Obl.S.B.!
Congratulations to Mr. Nathaniel Joseph Marshall, Obl.S.B., of Canton, Georgia, on making his act of oblation today (8 October 2017). Abundant blessings to you, Nathaniel Joseph, and through you to your family and all around you! (Photo: Nathaniel and his wife Kayla.)