Onec again, we are grateful to Mr Robert Keim for sharing some of his writing with us, this time in a two part article on the subject of the liturgical use of bells. Mr Keim is a secular brother of the London Oratory of St. Philip Neri, a linguist, and a literary scholar specializing in the poetic and dramatic literature of the English Renaissance. A longtime student of the arts and spirituality ..read more

After I did a post on Tuesday about the book of hours of King Henry II of France (born 1519; reigned 1547-59), reader Steven Hensley noted in the combox that his Queen, Catherine de’ Medici (1519-89), also had a very beautiful book of Hours, illuminated in a similar style. Fortunately, this is also in the public domain through the website of the Bibliothèque national de France (Smith-Lesouëf 42 ..read more

From the decree of the Sacred Congregation for Rites Quemadmodum Deus, dated Dec. 8, 1870, by which St Joseph was formally recognized with the title “Patron of the Catholic Church”. Translation from the website of the Oblates of St Joseph, modified by myself. Just as God had placed Joseph, son of the Patriarch Jacob, in charge of all the land of Egypt, that he might save grain for the people, so ..read more

Here is another very beautiful illuminated manuscript from the website of the Bibliothèque national de France (Département des manuscrits, Latin 1429), a book of Hours made for King Henry II of France, who was born in 1519, and reigned from 1547 until his death in 1559. (During a tournament, he was injured in the eye by a fragment of his opponent’s lance, and died of sepsis after only ten days ..read more

June 20-22, at St Mary’s University in London: Register Today.My friend Fr Andrew Marlborough sent me information about what promises to be a great conference, which he is helping to organise, on “The Royal Priesthood and the Renewal of the Church”. Readers may recognise his name from articles of his which we have shared here on sacred art and artefacts appearing in auction houses in the UK and ..read more

The “Private” Mass from Its Origins to the Thirteenth CenturyCanon Gilles Guitard, ICRSP(Part 1, providing the history of this topic from antiquity to the 13th century, may be found here.)The FranciscansNow, there were some who wanted to classify the “private” Mass itself as an abuse and who sought a return to the celebration of a single Mass per day in a given community of priests. This was ..read more

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. But the hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and flieth: and the wolf catcheth, and scattereth the sheep: And the hireling flieth, because he is a hireling: and he hath no care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know mine, and mine ..read more

On this day in the year 1945, a 14-year old Italian seminarian named Rolando Rivi died as a martyr in a little town called Monchio, in the province of Modena. Rolando was born in 1931, and began serving Mass at the age of five; he made his first Communion on the feast of Corpus Christi, June 16, 1938. In 1942, at the age of 11, he entered the minor seminary at Marola, and was admired by his ..read more

St. Augustine preaching to Ethelbert and BerthaEleanor Parker’s Winters in the World: A Journey Through the Anglo-Saxon Year (London: Reaktion Books, 2022)It is said that when Pope St Gregory the Great commissioned St Augustine of Canterbury to convert the pagan Anglo-Saxons to Christianity after they displaced the Celtic Christian Britons in the sixth century, he instructed the missionary to ..read more

Marching on into the Triduum, here is the first set of photos of Tenebrae services. As always, there is always room and time for more, so please feel free to send yours in to photopost@newliturgicalmovement.org, and don’t forget to include the name and location of the church; and of course, our thanks to all the contributors - feliciter!St Mary’s Oratory – Wausau, Wisconsin (ICRSS)Tenebrae ..read more