In these dark days, some words from St John: ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it’. St Augustine wrote: ‘But where is that light? He was the true light, which lights every man that comes into the world. … Understand, beloved, for He came to infirm minds, to wounded hearts, to the […]

Here is the beginning of St Paul’s Letter to Titus: ‘Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who never lies, promised ages ago and at the proper time manifested in […]

Caravaggio’s painting shows the event which we commemorate today, in graphic detail. St Paul is thrown from his horse to the ground – literally, from his place of status and pride to the lowest degree of humility. In this, in a single instant, he becomes like his Lord, who chose Himself to take the lowest […]

These words of St Francis de Sales are pertinent for the challenges of our day: ‘Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset’. Our whole world has definitely been upset by the pandemic and […]

Here is part of our New Testament reading for today, from 1 Corinthians: ‘For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptised into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or […]

From the Book of Job: ‘For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump die in the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth […]

This important early Roman Martyr is mentioned in the Roman Canon of the Mass along with Saints Cecilia, Agatha and Anastasia. In some iconography she is shown with a cross, and in other representations she is shown with a lamb, in recognition of the meaning of her name. Her face shows only gentleness. May she […]

The recent fog brought to mind some of the teaching of the ‘Cloud of Unknowing’ on prayer. Here is part of Chapter 3: ‘Lift up thine heart unto God with a meek stirring of love; and mean Himself, and none of His goods. … For at the first time when thou dost it, thou findest […]

Here, in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, today is kept as the feast of St Wulstan, Bishop.  Born in Warwickshire in 1008, he studied monastic life in the monasteries of Evesham and Peterborough, then moving to Worcester where he was ordained priest in 1038. Today’s Anglican Cathedral was then a Benedictine Priory and he served there […]

Today, the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity begins. Here is St John Henry Newman’s prayer: ‘O Lord Jesus Christ, who, when Thou wast about to suffer, didst pray for Thy disciples to the end of time that they might all be one, as Thou art in the Father, and the Father in Thee, look […]