I love old hymns. Especially ones that were meant to be sung during worship of God in the holy Mass. Hymns of the Breviary and Missal is a marvelous site. The web site has tons of historical notes which are just an incredible resource about the music. It explains concepts that, due to the age of the music, might not be so easily understood. If you love Hymnology I recommend that you go enjoy this web site and explore the depths of the entire project. I enjoy all the music of the Church. Even hymns which seem dark on the … Continue reading
Tag Archives: God
Civil Marriage is what the government does, Sacramental Marriage may occur at the same time as a civil marriage but they are not the same thing. A civil marriage can end in divorce, a Sacramental Marriage cannot. SACRAMENTAL MARRIAGE is a permanent bond. Death is the only parting of two souls bound in a Sacramental Marriage. This bond is so important that EVERYTHING depends on the answer to the question, “Was this marriage that ended in divorce merely a civil marriage or DID A SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE EXIST?” The authority in the Church with the responsibility for discerning through careful … Continue reading
On my favorite forum we had a discussion about divorce. Agreed upon was that divorce is too common among Catholics. I believe it is also too common among other Christians as well, but here I deal from the Catholic perspective and allow other Christians to apply the ideas to their own situations. I argued that the problem is not divorce but that Catholics enter into civil marriages without entering into Sacramental Marriages. Furthermore, the problem of lack of sacramental marriage is due to poor Catechesis (knowledge of what the Church teaches) and lack of discipleship (application of Church teaching to … Continue reading
Summer days start out early, the sun shines brightly through the skylight and I wake with the dawn. Today, I woke at 6:00. MORNING OFFERING I attempt to remember to greet the day with a brief prayer asking God to accept my efforts this day and asking for His aid in doing my work well. This is the ideal, this sometimes even happens! Other days, sadly all too often, my morning offering is made well after I begin my day. Still, I keep reaching for that ideal I have of waking and dedicating every day to God even before my … Continue reading
There is an old and wonderful prayer to the Holy Spirit. I’ll add it at the end of this blog post. Every time I read in the works of early Christian writers about God the majority of what I pick up is about God the Father or God the Son and lots about the most Holy Trinity but, except where discussed as part of the Trinity, there is not a lot of writing about the Holy Spirit. Even in the writings of most Saints there is much more about the Trinity, Father and Son than about the Holy Spirit. It … Continue reading
God desires our highest good and so He gives each of us a vocation to bring us closer to Him. God makes use of common things to communicate to us about our vocations. We pray for discernment and then look around at the evidence of God’s will for us that already exists. Why do we do this? Because most of the time the information about our own particular, unique vocation is already available to us but we aren’t looking properly and miss it. MY VOCATION I have discerned my vocation, prayed, evaluated my life, and practiced detachment to let go … Continue reading
What is a Lay Vocation? A vocation is the work a lay person does for God and includes everything that person does in this life. Every vocation is as unique as the person to whom that vocation belongs. Each of us has a special call, a special vocation, and it will be made up of many elements unique to us and is designed to help us become saints. A Lay person is any person who has not received Holy Orders (anyone not a deacon, priest or bishop). What are the elements that make up a vocation? Every single activity in … Continue reading
What is a Lay Person? I’m Baptized Christian, specifically a Catholic Christian, and as I am not a priest that means I am a LAY PERSON. Even monks, friars, sisters and nuns are LAY PEOPLE, unless the monk or friar is also a priest. A Lay person is any baptized Christian who has not received Holy Orders. That is pretty much every Christian out there. We are all called to be Saints. What does it mean to be a Christian and to become a saint? To be a Christian is nothing less than turning our lives around and living the … Continue reading
There is a booklet put out by a Catholic Saint called “Passionately Loving the World” and in this is expressed the need for every Christian to mediate the love of God to a world that often forgets Him and does not know Him. How does this work? It works by our recognizing the inherent goodness in God’s creation in spite of the many flaws created by human sin. We must love the good that is there, no matter where it is to be found. Do you love your dog? There is a lot of good in the family pet but … Continue reading
Tomorrow is the day I go on retreat. Once a year it is good to get away for a couple of days and take the time to think about where life is going and if changes are needed. I’ve not done this exact type of retreat before, one that is directed and intended for spiritual growth. In the past, I have attended various conferences, taken a room by myself and taken time between events and in the evenings to do my thinking and praying about the direction of my life. Done this way even a conference without any religious component … Continue reading