There are countless truths and lessons to expound upon and learn from the liturgical season of Lent. There is one in particular that has stood out to me this year (2009). God spoke through the prophet Isaiah (58:1-12) to the People of God saying, “Is this the manner of fasting I wish, of keeping a day of penance? Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?” (Is. 58:5) Was God criticizing their manner of fasting and penance? No. God rebukes them for their hypocrisy and vain religiosity, namely because “your fast ends in quarreling and fighting.” (Is. 58:4)

Regardless if we are called to the monastic or secular way, if we bear the name Christian, we must not only liturgically accompany Christ in the desert, we must truly learn from him, imitate him, and share in his temptation in the desert and martyrdom on the Cross, lest we – like the children of Israel – be overthrown by the Enemy and perish by our own sinfulness. We must never forget that our entire life on earth is a desert and wilderness to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Cf. Phil. 2:12) through the seasons of aridity, temptation, persecution and wandering among the fear of being empty, broken, lost and forgotten. Nevertheless, if we are courageous and wholehearted enough to persevere – by grace and mercy through faith and patience – the desert or wilderness will prove to be our God-given “transitus” (Passover, Pascha, i.e., Easter) from the captivity of sin and death to the promised land of heaven and eternal life.

Profoundly saddened by the misfortunes that the Church was then passing through in his time (the 13th Century), St. Francis of Assisi conceived the incredible design of renewing everything conformably to the principles of Christian law – i.e., the Gospel. Francis, in the impossibility of opening the Order to all who had the desire of being formed in his “school”, resolved to provide, even for souls living in the whirlpool of the world, the means to tend to Christian perfection. Thus was born the project, which no founder of a regular Order had yet imagined, to cause the religious life to be practiced by all. Francis first conceived the idea, and the grace of God gave him to realize it with the greatest success.

BRAND NEW! AVAILABLE NOW for St. Patrick's Day! Perfect tee for the Irish of blood and Irish of heart! Our father among the saints Patrick of Ireland, Bishop of Armagh and Enlightener of Ireland, was born a Briton. Captured and brought to Ireland as a slave, he escaped and returned home. Later, he returned to Ireland, bringing Christianity to its people. His feast day is March 17. "I bind unto myself today The strong name of the Trinity, By invocation of the same, The Three in One and One in Three." - St. Patrick’s Breastplate aka The Deer’s Cry (Faeth Fiada) Black & Yellow Design on Green Unisex Fashion Fit Tee [*2X is a Basic Tee]

"Spiritual life, like any good thing, takes time and effort. From the earliest records available to us, we know that Christians sanctified their lives through daily prayer, which was seen as fundamental to spiritual life. While the specific times and prayers varied throughout Christendom both geographically and temporally, the faithful were generally urged to pray three to five times each day, either in private or together with the community. Thus, it can be said that there has been a rule of praying at least in the morning, around midday, and in the evening for the entire history of Christianity." - Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov, Morning and Evening Prayer Rules in the Russian Orthodox Tradition

Beloved, now is the acceptable time spoken of by the Spirit, the day of salvation, peace and reconciliation: the great season of Advent. This is the time eagerly awaited by the patriarchs and prophets, the time that holy Simeon rejoiced at last to see. This is the season that the Church has always celebrated with special solemnity. We too should always observe it with faith and love, offering praise and thanksgiving to the Father for the mercy and love he has shown us in this mystery. In his infinite love for us, though we were sinners, he sent his only Son to free us from the tyranny of Satan, to summon us to heaven, to welcome us into its innermost recesses, to show us truth itself, to train us in right conduct, to plant within us the seeds of virtue, to enrich us with the treasures of his grace, and to make us children of God and heirs of eternal life.

To all Christians of the Roman Catholic church, Anglican communion, etc., Happy New Liturgical Year! Today is the First Sunday of Advent - a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the feast of Christmas (25 December). In the English speaking churches that follow the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is also the first official date of implementing the new English translation of the Mass, which is a more solemn and accurate translation of the Latin text. In the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox churches, the Liturgical Year began on 1 September. Christians of these rites are honoring the Nativity Fast (or Philip's Fast) - a period of abstinence and penance in preparation for the Nativity of Christ (25 December). The fast is observed from November 15 to December 24, inclusively, and is similar to the Western Advent, except that it runs for 40 days instead of four weeks.

For many centuries, Christians have asked themselves, “How is it possible to pray without ceasing?” The Eastern Christian fathers and mothers of the earliest centuries of the Church, devised a method of constant prayer which has been near to the hearts of all, since it is Biblical, practical and accessible at any time and in any circumstance by priests, monks, nuns, and lay people. The prayer rope is a circular rope woven from yarn and comprised of knots that is used as an aid in prayer. It is either carried or worn (usually on the wrist). As we sit, stand, or kneel, we hold the prayer rope in our hand (usually the left) between our thumb and our index finger. We pray the prayer known as “The Jesus Prayer” once: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!" and then we continue to the move to the next knot. We continue to repeat the prayer, proceeding to the next knot after each prayer, until we come to the end of the prayer rope.

For the early Christians, the cross was a favorite symbol and badge of their faith in Christ. From the writings of St. Gregory the Great (540-604), we know that St. Benedict had a deep faith in the Cross and worked miracles with the sign of the cross. This faith in and special devotion to the cross was passed on to his brother monks and succeeding generations of Benedictines. For this reason, the cross is central to any medal containing the image of St. Benedict. Devotion to the Cross of Christ also gave rise to the striking of medals that bore the image of St. Benedict holding a cross in his right hand and his “Rule for Monasteries” in his left. Thus the cross has always been closely associated with the Medal of St. Benedict, which is often referred to as the Medal-Cross of St. Benedict.

The St. Benedict Holy Rule Tee is the front side of the St. Benedict Medal-Cross. In St. Benedict's right hand he holds the cross of eternal salvation and in his left hand is his “Rule for Monasteries”. On a pedestal to the right of St. Benedict is the poisoned cup, shattered when he made the sign of the cross over it. On a pedestal to the left is a raven about to carry away a loaf of poisoned bread that a jealous enemy had sent to St. Benedict. Above: Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti (“The Cross of our holy father Benedict”). Margins: Eius in obitu nostro praesentia muniamur! (“May we be strengthened by his presence in the hour of our death!”). Below: ex SM Casino MDCCCLXXX (“from holy Monte Cassino, 1880”).