Our Lady of Ashes

Reading Know Him in the Breaking of the Bread is a continuation of my reading the Bibliography from Stratford Caldecott's The Seven Sacraments: Entering the Mysteries of God as personal mystagogy.  Know Him in the Breaking of the Bread: A Guide to the Mass by Fr. Francis Randolph (Ignatius Press, 1998) is a very instructive description of the elements of the mass in the order they're celebrated, with a little prescriptive opinion thrown in to spice things up. The book is non-technical, free of theological or liturgical jargon, and easy to read. Fr Randolph is clear and concise in explaining the parts of the Mass, and several of his insights and explanations have altered the way I will be present to Mass and even the way I live out my every day participation in Christ's priestly office for the better. I recommend this to just about anyone who desires greater understanding and deeper participation of the Most Holy Sacrament. Years ago, I led a program called Reli...

Oh my loved friends, Ye children of the Church, Offer up your praise At the season of the dawn: Every morning let us give thanks, And bow down in adoration, To the good Being who hath arranged in order, All the starry lights on high. – Saint Ephraem Today is the feast day of Saint Ephrem, the Syrian, Deacon and Doctor of the Church. St. Ephrem had an amazing reverence for the Incarnation and Our Lady that infused everything he wrote particularly his hymns and poetry. These works were incredibly effective in fighting against heresies that attacked our Lord's Incarnation and the reverence due to Mary as their beauty and fidelity lifted the hearts of the people who sang them during the Mass. In fact, it is to St. Ephrem that we attribute the addition of hymns outside of the Psalms into the Mass.