Today we are a week away from our big All Saints Vigil celebration here at the Dominican House of Studies. As we prepare for this event, it occurred to me to ponder what it means to be a saint, and … Continue reading
Author Archives: dbrindle
Union Brings Silence
If you are able to escape the stuffy mass of humanity in the Sistine Chapel and the security guards yelling “SILENCIO” and “NO PHOTO”, be sure to take the short walk down the hall to a room called the “Stanza … Continue reading
Open Wide Those Doors
Forty years ago today, a clarion call rang from the celebrant’s chair in Saint Peter’s Square: “Do not be afraid. Open, I say open wide the doors for Christ!” With those resounding words—so familiar now to myriad Catholics across the … Continue reading
Look at Me
Imagine it is 8 a.m. on a Friday morning and everyone is preparing to rush off to work or school or whatever morning activity is in their schedule. Now when someone gets to work or school, it is usually the … Continue reading
What the Father Was Doing During the Crucifixion
Editor’s note: This is the fifth post in our newest series, Beholding True Beauty, which consists of prayerful reflections on works of sacred art. The series will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the month of October. Read the whole … Continue reading
Desiring Martyrdom
The letters of St. Ignatius were some of the first writings of Church Fathers I ever read. One of my friends bought me a copy of The Apostolic Fathers, and the summer before I entered seminary, I read through them. … Continue reading
Contemplating Beauty in Music
Editor’s note: This is the fourth post in our newest series, Beholding True Beauty, which consists of prayerful reflections on works of sacred art. The series will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the month of October. Read the whole … Continue reading
Dominican Carmelites
Often the Church blooms most illustriously when her members work in sync. Saint Paul presents the human body as a great image for the Church, elaborating on it extensively at least six different times in his letters. The Lord loves … Continue reading
Self-Enclosures and Jammed Locks
I once spent a frigid night awake at a Florentine McDonald’s after getting stuck at the train station Firenze Santa Maria Novella. That part of the night wasn’t horrible. I conversed with a native Florentine who, among other things, boasted … Continue reading
Come Closer
Editor’s note: This is the third post in our newest series, Beholding True Beauty, which consists of prayerful reflections on works of sacred art. The series will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the month of October. Read the whole … Continue reading
Let This Cup Pass from Me
There are many fascinating stories about St. Catherine of Siena. She once almost got her head cut off. Another time, she caught the head of someone else just after it was cut off. Jesus literally removed her heart and replaced … Continue reading
The Crucifixion at Isenheim
Editor’s note: This is the second post in our newest series, Beholding True Beauty, which consists of prayerful reflections on works of sacred art. The series will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the month of October. Read the whole … Continue reading
Ignorance is Bliss?
We live in an age that is painstakingly well-informed, very aware of all types of news. Our awareness transcends the limits of distance: we can just as easily talk on the phone with a friend down the street as we … Continue reading
Friendly Justice
The last time I set foot in a McDonalds, I witnessed an injustice. Not a grave injustice—something minor, but nonetheless a system which failed to respect the entirety of the human person. I saw, for the first time, automated and … Continue reading
Seeing the Crucified
Editor’s note: This is an introduction to our new series, Beholding True Beauty, which will consist of prayerful reflections on works of sacred art. In a culture saturated with superficially attractive and distracting images, turning to truly beautiful art can … Continue reading
The Unimaginable
I think that Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “It’s Quiet Uptown” from the musical Hamilton is the best recent artistic expression of the inexpressible quality of human suffering. It is a powerful piece of music and poetry. Therefore, I want to let it … Continue reading
Your Guardian Angel
Just as parents rightfully seek the very best care for their children, God has done so in assigning us guardian angels. Since these creatures quite naturally evade direct human sensation, too often this gift goes unrecognized! However, Jesus himself draws … Continue reading
Unanswered Prayers?
God always answers our prayers. He doesn’t always give us what we ask for. If we ask for something bad, God will of course not give it to us. However, even if we ask for something good, it is often … Continue reading
The Spirit of Truth Novena
The Dominican Confraternities of the Angelic Warfare and the Holy Rosary in the Province of Saint Joseph are teaming up to co-sponsor a Novena for the intention that the Spirit of Truth would descend upon the Church with great power. In … Continue reading
Repent: A Cry of Hope
In the opening scene, and recurring many times throughout the 2006 Russian film, The Island, a monk named Anatoly cries out in anguish over and over again, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” He is tortured … Continue reading
Sigrid Undset and an Escape to Reality
In times of crisis, both personal and ecclesial, it can be a great comfort to revisit the lives of Catholics who have gone before us, who have suffered for the faith valiantly (or at least patiently), and have faced the … Continue reading
Apostle to the American Frontier
When the going gets tough, the tough get going, or so goes the saying. In these turbulent times of ecclesial crisis, a flashback to the early days of the Catholic Church in America—days in which plenty of tough folks faced … Continue reading
Scourged
“But Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released to them Barabbas, and handed over Jesus scourged so that He might be crucified” (Mark 15:15). How much can a single word hold? St. Mark used only one to record the scourging … Continue reading
He Casts Down the Mighty and Raises Up the Lowly
As a religious, one of the most beautiful parts of my daily prayer is singing the Magnificat at Vespers. The humility of the Blessed Mother’s prayer always strikes me. Rather than accepting the praise for herself, her “soul proclaims the … Continue reading
Call and Response
As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him (Mt 9:9). We hear little else about the apostle Matthew from the … Continue reading