Grant, Lord, a blessing. Benediction. May God the Father Omnipotent, be to us merciful and clement. ℟. Amen. Reading 4 From the Sermons of St. John of Damascus. 2nd on the Falling-asleep of Blessed Mary. This day the holy and animated Ark of the living God, which had held within it its own Maker, is…

Exactly six centuries ago, on August 15, 1425, Saint Frances of Rome established the Oblates of the Benedictine Congregation of Monte Oliveto in the Basilica of Santa Maria Nova, Rome. Reflecting on her life and the institution she established, Pope Benedict XVI spoke to the Oblates at the Roman monastery of Tor de’ Specchi: Born…

Evil—elusive and often misunderstood—does not lurk only in the kind of vicious act of cruelty perpetrated by the monstrous Bryan Kohberger when he brutally murdered four innocent University of Idaho students in November 2022. Yet, in the lead-up to his sentencing last month, media commentators speculated on what could have motivated Kohberger to commit such…

Numerous Catholics have discovered Catholic Tradition in the last few years, many of them because of the lockdowns in 2020 that forced Catholics to think outside the box if they wanted to have access to sacraments. In addition, in 2020, liturgies were streamed online throughout that Holy Week, so many Catholics who had never given…