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December 01, 2023
Spiritual Retreats 2023/24: Introduction
December 01, 2023
From Arizona to Argyll, here is our selection of places to reset, reflect and spiritually refresh mind and soul. Many of our selected retreats are situated in or alongside monastic and religious houses, including those of the Jesuits, Passionists, Benedictines and Franciscans. It is also an opportunity for religious people to share their charisms with
Divine Renovation is waking up churches
December 01, 2023
Lay engagement is a working plan to bring about parish renewal. There can’t be more convivial places than Boodle’s Club in London to discuss the renewal of the Church. It was the venue for a dinner and fundraising initiative for Divine Renovation, a highly developed and systematic plan for parish renewal, which is attracting many
Celestial assault in a mind-altering performance of Hildegard’s soaring music
December 01, 2023
Whatever we know about the 12th-century religious polymath Hildegard of Bingen is new knowledge, because she all but vanished from the record until the 1970s when her work was rediscovered, turning her into a cult figure. And there was plenty to discover. Essentially a Benedictine nun, she was also a mystic given to visions, theologian,
Developing struggles surrounding the Christians in the Holy Land
December 01, 2023
Fr Peter Vasko OFM, President of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, discusses the struggles facing Christians. The Christmas season traditionally sees an uplift in numbers of pilgrims coming to the Holy Land and Jerusalem, but the Hamas attacks of 7 October quickly stopped the pilgrimage trade. In this exclusive interview, Father Peter Vasko,
God’s good dogs: Saluting the legacy of Fr Patrick Primrose, a Dominican hero
December 01, 2023
Dominicans in the British Isles cannot boast of a long list of Reformation martyrs. Cromwell and his henchmen were largely quite successful at planting the right people in the right place to ensure acquiescence, and restricted the activities of what we would today call fundraising to such an extent that, when our houses began to
On The Record: some fine listening choices for Advent and Christmas
December 01, 2023
Perhaps more beautiful than the better-known “Veni Emmanuel” is the 17th-century French chant “Rorate caeli”. The antiphon melody shoots up to the heavens before a broad, majestic fall. It is the opening track of From the Vaults of Westminster Cathedral (Hyperion, 2009), a liturgical journey from Advent to Epiphany. With expressive shaping, an ever-increasing intensity,
‘Mystic passionate emotion’: Hector Berlioz’s uncompromising Catholic vision
December 01, 2023
Although he wrote a Requiem Mass, Te Deum, and other spiritual compositions, the French Romantic composer Hector Berlioz has regularly received brickbats from Catholic listeners. In The Catholic Encyclopedia (1907), the Dutch-American organist and choirmaster Joseph Otten decried the Berlioz Requiem as a “sacred work, but it does not express any deep personal faith from
Hear the angels sing: Some Christmas carols have a more complicated origin than we think
December 01, 2023
We might be surprised by the origin of certain Christmas carols, says Andrew Gant One of the notable features of our much-loved Christmas Carol tradition is that quite a lot of it doesn’t have much to do with Christmas. “The Holly and the Ivy” belongs to a rich tradition of fertility songs about the turning
Christmas traditions – and anti-traditions
December 01, 2023
Searching for a Barbie that can walk. We have a strict rule in our house, imposed by me about two weeks ago, that no one is allowed to talk about Christmas until after my birthday, which is on November 14 (yes, I share my birthday with the King). I am writing this on November 13,
When the wind has flayed the trees: melancholia and the season
December 01, 2023
Melancholy memories are part of the Christmas experience for many. Every Advent Sunday, I turn to a lovely poem by former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, “Advent Calendar”. “He will come like last leaf’s fall,” it begins, “One night when the November wind / has flayed the trees to the bone”. And later: “He will
My source of strength: How The Book of Psalms helped me through prison
December 01, 2023
Christmas in prison is often a poignant and testing experience. The Book of Psalms can be a source of strength, comfort and reassurance in the difficult circumstances of incarceration. I know this from being a prisoner at Christmas 24 years ago. I also know it from being on duty as a prison chaplain in HMP
Keeping the fast and keeping the feast
December 01, 2023
Kate Ford presents some fasting food for Advent, Sam Marsden looks forward to Christmas fare, and Cornelia van der Poll embarks on her own Operation Mincemeat. Slow Cooker Butternut Dahl 1 red onion 2 tablespoons rapeseed or sunflower oil 1 teaspoon garlic purée (or 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed) 1 teaspoon ginger purée (or 2cm fresh ginger,
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