brett

For unto us a Child is born, and a son to us is given…and His name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My very dear sons,

Tonight the argument is complete; the reason for all things has been stated in our hearing; the solution to the world’s problems (or to this great puzzle which the entire world really is) has now been provided; the Word has been uttered—or rather, in fact, it is always uttered, eternally uttered by the Father, but now especially for us. This is not just any word, but the very Word of God, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, the Word in Person, come to earth through […]

Tu Gloria Jerusalem, tu laetitia Israel, Thou art the glory of Jerusalem, thou art the joy of Israel, thou art the honor of our people, Alleluia. (Alleluia verse)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My Very Dear Sons,

When Christian artists represent Our Lady under the mystery of her Immaculate Conception, they usually do so, employing for the task, the sacred symbolism taken from the description of the mysterious woman enveloped in light, the woman described in chapter twelve of the Apocalypse.

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. (Apoc. 12:1)

They often depict as well a serpent crushed under her feet, which is a patent allusion to the […]

Post haec vidi turbam magnam…After this I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands (Apoc. 7:9).

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My very dear sons,

Where are the Saints?

The holy liturgy on this first day of November, feast of All Saints, likes to place before the eyes of our soul the vision of Saint John, in the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse, where the Saints, the Blessed, from each of the tribes of Israel are numbered: twelve thousand. Next to these Saints taken from the chosen people of Israel, Saint John speaks of a numberless crowd of blessed souls […]

Assumpta est Maria in caelum…Mary has been taken up into heaven: the Angels rejoice; in hymns of praise they bless the Lord. (First Antiphon of Lauds)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
My very dear sons,

On this day we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. According to an authoritative teaching of the Church, though the matter has not been strictly defined, Mary did, in fact, at the end of her on earth, undergo death—and this in order better to imitate her Son—but it was a death so gentle and peaceful that it resembled very much a falling asleep, a “dormition” as the Greek Orthodox tradition calls it, though they seem to hold that she only fell asleep in this way and did not die. As astonishing as this may […]

At that time: Peter said to Jesus: Behold we have left all things, and have followed thee: what therefore shall we have? (Matthew 19:2)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My Very Dear Sons,

As we know from the words of the Gospel just quoted, the promises made to Peter were not trifling. “Amen I say to you, that you who have followed me,…And every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father or mother, or wife or children, or lands for my name’s sake shall receive an hundred fold, and shall possess life everlasting.” (Matthew 19:28-29) Sometimes we find in Holy Scripture the literal and obvious fulfillment of a prophetic promise; other times we believe God’s word but cannot discern the exact meaning of what is predicted, being therefore unable […]

Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not; and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren. (Luke 22:31-3)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My very Dear Sons,

The great Apostles Saints Peter and Paul: these are brothers in a true sense, a transcendent sense, sharing traits of a common spiritual heredity. They both lived an unconditional commitment to the truth of the Gospel in persevering unto death in and for the Faith, even though their paths took them in very different directions. Both traversed dark places in order to belong in a definitive way to the light of God, while following Our Lord with their entire being. Both labored greatly to establish the Church […]