Aligning with Grace

The Triduum - the Christian "High Holy Days" - has been ushered in with Thursday night's celebration of the Lord's Supper... I attend a service that is exquisite in every way - a blend of the old and new - replete with familiar aspects - the procession of the Holy Oils, the washing of feet, the singing of ancient chants and hymns in Latin - the Pange Lingua and Tantum Ergo, which take me back decades in my life, to a time more than a half century ago. Am I really that old? Who would have thought life could go by so quickly? I have always loved all things ancient - history and artifacts, books and places - always drawn to visit places of antiquity, impregnated with the energy of the legions who lived and died there before me... And while I feel called to enter deeply into the Sacred Mysteries of my own tradition, I am no less drawn to the ancient traditions of others, having yearned for participation in a true Passover  and Seder this week. Yes, I would have love...

A magnificent Holy Saturday begins with a Cardinal singing on my dogwood tree, even though it is still bare and without any buds yet. Cardinals remind us of our lives' true purpose... Then, I meet the morning with a brace of rich images dancing within the kaleidoscope of my mind; they are simply beautiful memories from yesterday... Where to begin? And where to end? Different scenes from the tableaux of my own spiritual journey, gently come into focus, and so, I share them in a stream of consciousness... My spirit is touched profoundly in ways I can hardly describe... I am blessed to spend the day in silence, and am called to prayer, meditation, and contemplation... I reach out for my oldest rosary, blessed by Padre Pio, the Franciscan priest bearing the stigmata, who died in the late sixties and was sainted about a decade ago. I think of his faith, his simplicity, and how there was a time I prayed this rosary often, choosing to do so today, to commemorate the Passion of the...

Last night I attended Holy Thursday services, often referred to as the Celebration of the Lord's Supper, at St John Neumann, in Reston, Virginia. The Sacred Triduum, constitute the "High Holy Days" of Christians, and it begins at sundown on Thursday, and continues through the wee hours of Sunday morning, ushering in Easter. It was a long service, which included washing of the feet and a final procession of the Blessed Sacrament out of the Church to its resting place in the chapel until Easter. This was followed by adoration for those who wished to remain until midnight, in a quiet and breathtakingly beautiful candle lit chapel. There was plenty of incense and ritual and traditional Latin chants, but with a more post Vatican II flavor. I marveled at the woman next to me, gifted with a beautiful voice whose pronunciation of Latin put mine to shame. But it was the sermon that was most moving for me, and I believe I was led here, to this church that is not one to which I ...

Yesterday, on the day of the first full moon in spring, that was also Wednesday of Holy Week, and is often referred to as Tenebrae - on the eve of the Triduum, and the culmination of a personal year of penitence and reflection - I am moved and led to seek the sacrament of Reconciliation, and absolution - not so much for the reasons others might seek it or expect - but because it is fitting and just, and in the natural order of things for my spirit... There can be no other worthy or acceptable conclusion for an Examen of Conscience that has spanned more than a year, validating the lonely journey towards atonement in which my soul has sought refuge, within the context of years of Loving-Kindness practice... I think of this, as I go down to the river after my morning meditation, on a windy and blustery day that is overcast, and seems more reminiscent of winter than of spring. The river is bursting with activity, waves following closely behind other waves in tight formation, and I instin...