O God, who by your only-begotten Son has overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life, grant us, we ask you, that we who celebrate the solemnities of our Lord’s resurrection may by the renewing of your Spirit arise from the death of the soul; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. […]
Oratio – Palm Sunday
Almighty and everlasting God, who of thy tender love towards mankind, hast sent thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the Cross, that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility: mercifully grant, that we may both follow the example of his patience, […]
On Grandchildren and Being Grandparents
God has blessed us with these 5 precious grandchildren (so far) and we are overjoyed to be their Mimi and Papa. To be grandparents to these tender and immortal souls is the greatest privilege and most sobering responsibility. [Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”2″ gal_title=”Grandchildren”] Being grandparents has also brought with it another means of sanctification. Watching our own […]
It’s Later Than You Think: A Collection of Thoughts on Numbering Our Days
It is reported that it was the ancient Athenian lawgiver, Solon, who divided the human life cycle into ten stages of seven years each:((https://www.institute4learning.com/2012/08/08/the-stages-of-life-according-to-solon-ancient-greece/)) 0-7 – A boy at first is the man; unripe; then he casts his teeth; milk-teeth befitting the child he sheds his 7th year; 7-14 – Then to his seven […]
Oratio – The Fifth Sunday in Lent
O God, who has given us the great and saving truths of your gospel: grant us, we ask you, to live amid these things, to meditate on them and to seek them; for one who goes on seeking, finds. Help us, therefore, to learn those things on earth, the knowledge of which shall abide with […]
Oratio – Fourth Sunday in Lent
Permit us not, O Lord, to hear your word in vain. Convince us of its truth, cause us to feel its power and bind us to yourself with cords of faith and hope and love that never shall be broken. We bind to ourselves today, you our God: your power to hold us, your hand […]
Hard Hearts and Soft Heads
The democratic impulses of the Enlightenment that began in the seventeenth century to topple kings and later aristocrats brought with its newly-found economic and political powers certain concerns: can the masses, the many, the demos, the hoi polloi, justly and effectively govern themselves? If the masses become king, what shall the minority do? The answer […]
Oratio – Third Sunday in Lent
Almighty and everlasting God, by whom that begins to be which was not and that which lay hidden is made visible, cleanse away the folly of our heart and purify us from our secret vices, that we may be able to serve you, O Lord, with a pure mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. […]
Aristotle On Happiness
Happiness, of which Aristotle writes in his Nicomachean Ethics, is more than a pleasant feeling or sense of personal contentment, but the ultimate good toward which everyone should direct his life. The modern English usage of happiness tends to carry a slightly less robust meaning than the Greek word from which it is derived. The Concise Oxford English […]
Oratio – Second Sunday in Lent
Almighty God, who seest that we have no power of ourselves, to help ourselves: keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all Adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault, and hurt the soul through Jesus Christ […]