Category: Feasts

The Christianity of the Ascension: Our Potential in Christ

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Sunday after Ascension, May 24, 2015 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. From middle school all the way through high school, if you could chart a single theme in the comments that teachers would make to my parents, whether in parent-teacher conferences, report cards, or notes sentā€¦

Making Some Noise: Anticipating Holy Saturday and the Harrowing of Hell

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
So, who’s ready for Holy Week? When I first learned of the practice of making noise during the “Arise, O God” of Holy Saturday (which is in imitation of the uproar of hell as Christ enters into it and destroys the power of death), I thought, “This is awesome!” And then I thought, “How would you ever introduce such a practice into a parish?”ā€¦

“Immensity, cloister’d in thy dear womb”: John Donne on the Annunciation

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Students of Renaissance English poetry all get to know John Donne, that 16th/17th century priest and poet who vacillated painfully between whether to remain with the Church of England or to be a Catholic. He also vacillated between a life of devotion and the passions which afflict us all since the Fall. And his poetry reflects all this struggle. To my mind, perhaps hisā€¦

Ego Patricius peccator rusticissimus

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
My name is Patrick. I am a sinner, a simple country person, and the least of all believers. This photo was taken in the summer of 2001 during a nearly month-long pilgrimage I took to Great Britain and Ireland. It was a dreary day in Downpatrick (and the photo was taken with real film! remember that stuff?), the place where St. Patrick returned toā€¦

The Gospel of Fastnachts, Pączki and Pancakes

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
On the calendar of Western Rite Orthodox Christians (who probably number a few thousand people within the canonical Orthodox Church, out of a couple hundred million or so, which is why they are unknown to most Orthodox Christians), today is Ash Wednesday. So yesterday was their Shrove Tuesday, also known as Fat Tuesday (in French, Mardi Gras). And of course, these days were lastā€¦