There was a time when the world was lit only by the sun, or by fire.  Throughout most of human history, our early mornings and nights were lit by candles.  Today much of our world is illuminated by electricity.  But for us Catholics, candles are still important. Each year at the Easter Vigil, our most sacred liturgy, we begin by blessing a bonfire, and then … Continue reading Candles

During the summer travel season many people of faith will take the opportunity to not just travel, but to go on a pilgrimage. For the last thousand years or so, one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations has been the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostella in Galicia  in northwestern Spain. According to legend, the cathedral is the resting place of St. James the elder, one … Continue reading Camino de Santiago de Compostella

If you ask most Catholics to name the corporal works of mercy, most would probably come up with feeding the hunger and tending the sick.  But the work of mercy that is probably the least practiced today is burying the dead.  Today, burying the dead is a billion-dollar-a-year industry, and for most of us, that corporal work of mercy has been reduced to writing a … Continue reading Callistan Guild

This week marks the end of another year.  No, we don’t have our dates mixed up; the week, with the Feast of Christ the King, we are at the conclusion of another liturgical year, the cycle that the Church follows which delineates the feasts and seasons of the year. The new liturgical year begins next week, with the first Sunday of Advent.  During this season, … Continue reading Liturgical Calendar

One of the strangest episodes in the turbulent history of the Church in the ninth century was a meeting and ecclesiastical trial has come to be known as the Cadaver Synod. During a period of great political upheaval in Italy, from the year 872 – 965 there were 24 Popes. With so much chaos and such frequent shifting of power structures, very few documentary sources … Continue reading Cadaver Synod

In most Catholic Churches, on most Sundays, you’ll see a large book being carried in the entrance procession.  That’s the Book of the Gospels.  If you look at one up close, you’ll see that it’s a large, somewhat ornate book, containing the Gospel reading for each Sunday.  Although the Book of the Gospels has only recently started appearing in most Catholic parishes, the truth is, … Continue reading Book of Kells

In the history of the Catholic Church there have been good popes, and bad popes.There are also been more than a few who have exerted great influence over Western civilization, while simultaneously engaging in behavior that today would never be tolerated.  One great example of this is Pope Boniface VIII, who was pope from 1294 to 1303. First the bad news.  Raised in an influential … Continue reading Boniface VIII

It has to be said, right up front, that Catholics love blessings.  We will bless almost anything: Water, candles, meals, our children, new cars, animals, boats, wedding rings, palms, ashes, salt, eggs, houses, new cars, and all kinds of people:  sick people, old people, engaged couples, mothers, students, teachers…. We have a blessing for almost anything. But what is a “blessing,” exactly?  A blessing is … Continue reading Book of Blessings

It’s true that we Catholics have a blessing for just about everything.  In my 16 years as a priest, I’ve been asked  to bless new homes, cars, people, rosaries—last year one of my parishioners asked for a blessing to mark the opening of her new business, a pet store.  So we asked for God’s blessing on the new business, her new employees, their customers, and … Continue reading Blessing of Animals