A famous phrase was coined after the Nuremberg trials..."the banality of evil." Wishing to stand things on their head I wonder sometimes about the evil of banality. I'm thinking of the banality of much religious life which is given over to dull talk about theology, rules, regulations and rubrics. It's boring. It's banal and perhaps the [...]
Any convert to the Catholic faith will soon come across this phrase, "Offer it up." Ordinary Catholic mothers used to say it when their kids were grumbling: "Offer it up dear!" The idea behind this practice is really one of Catholicism's treasures. It is the belief that our sufferings can be joined with those of Christ [...]
Work is Prayer. Prayer is Work. Reading is Work. Reading is Prayer.
Today as I was praying the holy rosary I began to see why this simple devotion is so powerful. I began to see how the Holy Rosary might heal our common sickness and bring healing to the whole world. To understand how the healing works we first have to understand the sickness. I call the sickness [...]
New every year New born and newly dear He comes with tidings and a song The ages long, the ages long. --Alice Meynell
Lectio Divina, or Holy Reading, is a wonderful, monastic contribution to spirituality. It combines two aspects of the threefold Benedictine life of Work, Prayer and Reading. When we participate in Lectio Divina we pray and read. We read and pray. The essential idea is that we read the sacred Scriptures not critically or even to gather information, [...]
Benedictine Monks Singing the Psalms Even a quick look at the monastic life will reveal how important the psalms are to the spiritual life. In choir, singing the psalms is the major part of the Divine Office. In some monasteries in the Middle Ages the monks would work their way through all 150 psalms [...]
If you go to confession just because you feel it is your duty and you scrounge around to find a few things you think might be a "sin" but you're not really sure and you think you probably haven't done anything bad because you're a nice person and after all, you didn't commit adultery or rob [...]
I saw a stable, low and very bare, A little child in a manger. The oxen knew Him, had Him in their care, To men He was a stranger. The safety of the world was lying there. And the world's danger. -- Mary Coleridge
Christmas Eve at Monastery of the Holy Spirit, Conyers GA Learn more about this Trappist monastery in Georgia, USA by visiting their website here.