Undusted Texts

The Canon for the Third Sunday of the Great Fast , the Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross, comes as a shock.  We know Sundays are always mini-Paschas, celebrations of the Resurrection, even in the depths of the Fast. (So they always have full canons, rather than the penitential three-ode canons found during weekdays, for which the  Triodion  is named.)  We have continued to sing the resurrectional hymns from the Octoechos throughout the Fast.  Yet the Canon for this week hits us with unbridled Paschal joy, for the ikoi come from the great Paschal Canon that we gloriously shout out during Paschal Matins. The Cross is the great reverser: through the Cross, a Person bearing the deathless divine nature dies; through the Cross, we deathbound men gain deathlessness. So perhaps we should not be surprised that the Cross brings a burst of joy in the middle of the somber Fast, just as its feast on September 14 is a day of fasting n the midst of the year's longest gap b...

Along with the announcement of my new book translation, Not of This World  by St. Claude La Colombière, I'm also proud to announce a new article publication: "Christ Our Fellow-Pilgrim," published today at the Homiletic & Pastoral Review .  It is a reflection on a sermon by St. John of Ávila, whose full text can be found in my book of translations,  My Burden Is Light: Suffering and Consolation in the Christian Life .

My most recent book is now available for pre-order : Not of the World: 20 Lessons on Following Christ Without Compromise , by St. Claude La Colombière (1641-1682).  See the publisher's blurb below: "Discover the wisdom of St. Claude La Colombière (1641–1682), the Jesuit saint who served as confessor to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and ardently promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In Not of the World: 20 Lessons on Following Christ without Compromise , readers encounter a treasury of spiritual reflections drawn from his sermons, offering clarity, conviction, and pastoral depth for Christians seeking holiness amid a fallen culture. With charity and precision, St. Claude explains the sacrifice demanded by authentic love of Christ. He addresses the realities of Christian life in the world without surrendering to it, calling believers to humility, courage, and fidelity. Topics include love of neighbor, human respect, humility, the education of children, and the ...