Oblate Program at Belmont Abbey, NC

Tag: prayer

Interview with Brother Paul Quenon OSCO

JUDY VALENTE, correspondent: The lumber shed at the Abbey of Gethsemani in northern Kentucky. It’s late February. Each night at 8:00 Brother Paul Quenon walks to the shed, as he has every night for 20 years. He goes around back, where he finds his mattress. This is where he will sleep—outdoors, no matter the weather…. Read More ›

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Prayer can spark God’s mercy

Vatican City, May 18, 2011 / 10:30 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI continued his series of reflections on Christian prayer today as he spoke about the relationship between intercessory prayer and God’s mercy throughout history. In his third installment on prayer, Pope Benedict looked at Abraham’s example of praying for mercy. “We now turn… Read More ›

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He is a Saint (part II)

[To return to part I] One John Paul II Priest Recalls the Influence of John Paul the Great Allow me to quickly describe to you my personal experience with the newly beatified pope, whom I was allowed to meet at a general audience when I was 18 years old. As he walked through the middle… Read More ›

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Benedictine Spirituality: Peace in the Monastery of the Heart

Turn away from evil and do good; let peace be your quest and aim.” Over the archway of medieval monasteries were commonly carved the words Pax Intrantibus, “Peace to those who enter here.” These words were both a hope and a promise. Benedict’s vision of the peaceable kingdom was a real one. In a society… Read More ›

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God’s attitude toward sin is not blame but pity

My tendency in prayer is then to try to put my sin behind me. Acknowledging only that it was an interruption in our relationship, I want to forget it when I come before God. This is a mistake. It is like hiding one’s symptoms from a physician. To go to prayer aware of the shabbiness… Read More ›

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Speaking with Jesus about Jesus

Reading should serve prayer, should dispose the affections, should neither devour the hours nor gobble up the moments of prayer. When you read you are taught about Christ, but when you pray you join him in familiar colloquy. How much more enchanting is the grace of speaking with him than about him! Gilbert of Hoyland

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The Stillness of John Paul

Rome is getting ready for the May 1 Mass when Pope Benedict XVI will raise Pope John Paul II to the honors of the the altars. A Jewish composer remembers when he prayed with John Paul… By Robert Moynihan As the world mourns the tragic events in Japan, where a March 11 earthquake and tsunami… Read More ›

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Mother Teresa’s Rosary

“Young man,” inquired Mother Teresa, “do you say the rosary often?” “No, not really,” he admitted. She took his hand, while her eyes probed his. Then she smiled. “Well, you will now.” And she dropped her rosary into his palm. Jim Castle was tired when he boarded his plane in Cincinnati, Ohio, that night in… Read More ›

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Wisdom and Knowledge

Haphazard reading, constantly varied and as if lighted upon by chance does not edify but makes the mind unstable; taken into the memory lightly, it goes out from it even more lightly. But you should concentrate on certain authors and let your mind grow accustomed to them. The light of wisdom is kindled by fervent… Read More ›

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Prayer to be Freed of the Seven Deadly Sins

O Jesus, meek Savior and Prince of Peace, implant in me the virtues of gentleness and patience. Let me curb the fury of anger and restrain all resentment and impatience so as to overcome evil with good, attain your peace, and rejoice in Your love. O Jesus, Model of humility, divest me of all pride… Read More ›

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