Readings: Isaiah 50:5-9; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-36 Mark’s Gospel begins: The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. But for the next eight chapters there will be no mention of the title Christ until Peter uses it today. In between, however, Jesus is identified in many ways: a voice from heaven calls […]
Prayer in the Monastic Tradition
I would emphasize today this essential point: that the expression of community prayer in choir has to be rooted in our personal prayer. The external performance of monastic chant, if it is empty of spiritual devotion on the part of the monks and nuns offering it, is quite meaningless. That is obvious. You remember St. […]
Monastic Immersion Weekend
Our Monastic Immersion Weekend ended after a beautiful Mass celebrated by Fr. James. In our two days together we had wonderful conferences from Sr. Kathy Ullrich who spoke to us about the layers of our lives, outer, right here and inner. She also told us about a retreat the sisters had with the Abbot from […]
Monastic Immersion Weekend Begins Today
Ten men will spend two full days with the monastic community starting today. This Monastic Immersion Weekend, our seventh since beginning a few years ago, will welcome our 100th participant since the program began. Above are just two items participants receive-one for fun (the hat, obviously) and one serious, the Abbey Crucifix which is […]
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, 14 September, 2015
Readings: Numbers 21:4-9; Philippians2:6-11; John 3:13-17 This is the patronal Feast of our monastery and is a non-work day for us; we follow the Sunday schedule. The community Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM, Abbot Robert Barnes presiding and preaching. A relic of the holy Cross will be exposed from Vigils to Vespers for […]
Twenty-fourth Sunday, Year B, 13 September, 2015
Readings: Isaiah 50:5-9; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35 The community Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM, Fr. James presiding and preaching. Participants in the Monastic Immersion Weekend will be celebrating with us; please keep them in your prayers.
The Monastic Tradition of Liturgical Prayer
As our readers realize, we are considering the shape of our liturgical life and this can be an opportunity to review the monastic tradition of prayer. We can see it rooted in the Gospels, the Letters of the Apostles and find it expressed in the Acts of the Apostles which we happen to be reading […]
Laudato Si’; Part Six
In his introduction to his Encyclical, Pope Francis mentions that certain themes will reappear in the various chapters, each time viewing them from a different perspective or context. I hope it strikes even a casual reader how frequently he quotes teaching on caring for the environment from the various national conferences of bishops. Apart from […]
Twenty-third Sunday, Year B, 6 September, 2015
Readings: Isaiah 35:4-7; James 2:3=5; Mark 7:31-37 The community Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM, Fr. Vincent Collins presiding and preaching. It is the First Sunday of the month and Eucharistic Adoration will begin at 4:00 PM
Volunteer for an Environmental Project at Holy Cross Abbey
If you find yourself inspired by Pope Francis’ Encyclical on the Environment or have always wanted to be a part of the sustainability effort at Holy Cross Abbey–or need a good workout–we can offer you an opportunity through September and October. Now that the bird nesting season (15 May through 15 August) is over, we […]