I like to sing the simple tone Marian antiphons with my daughter, who hasn’t had any Latin yet. I sing first the original Latin chant, and then I sing it again, putting English words to the chant melody. That is, if I have an English version of the chant! Maria A. Trapp’s book Around the…
Any study of late medieval religion must begin with the liturgy, for within that great cycle of fast and festival, of ritual observance and symbolic gesture, lay Christians found the paradigms and the stories which shaped their perception of the world and their place in it….In the liturgy and the sacramental celebrations which were its…
A riddle for you, with six parts, one answer: What is Catholic worship? What is Gregorian Chant? What do “professional Catholics”–priests, monks, nuns–do all day? What converted and settled Catholic Europe? How do we work to “order our days aright,” optimally patterning our personal praying and working each day? What is the basis, bedrock, seedbed,…
Just 3…wait until you hear how important they are. So, little things are often the biggest things–especially in the spiritual life. (Of course St. Therese and many, many others would tell you that.) This is now the staple of my morning and evening prayer routine. I always have time for three Hail Marys no matter what…
When it comes to learning Church Latin, we all should imitate what we did as babies. Be a baby listening to our Holy Mother, the Church, at prayer, and learn Latin as you go. I’ve written some lessons I hope can help you learn Latin while praying along with the Church’s ongoing prayer. Many posts…
How’s your evening routine every day? Is it peaceful and recollected, with your thoughts tending toward heaven as you head to bed each night? Well, it can be that way–that is what the prayer of Compline is for.
Well, this post started out in my enthusiastic mind as a great idea, and then I did the research for it. I knew the “St. Andrew Novena” or “Christmas Novena” was coming up, so I thought I would share all about it with my dear readers. And…it’s much stranger than I thought. The St. Andrew…
The Blessed Virgin, the Queen of Heaven and earth, has repeatedly asked that Catholics pray the Rosary. At Fatima, she specifically urged that families pray the Holy Rosary together. And so, families wanting to implement a daily Rosary practice for the whole family are indeed doing a noble and holy thing—but also a challenging and…
So, there’s a “man-crisis,” as they say, in the Catholic Church. Catholic men (particularly young Catholic men) are not attending Mass, pursuing a regular spiritual life, or taking much involvement in their children’s religious education. The men are not randomly MIA; there are some key reasons for the man-crisis. One of the reasons stems from a species…
I have a small ambition: I really want to change the world. I want to save it–or at least, the souls in it. I want to help rebuild and restore Christian culture. Are you with me? Of course, it’s an immense undertaking that will likely take millions of people, generations of effort, and a constant outpouring of God’s abundant…
St. Catherine Catholic Culture Center 