Paraclete Press Blog

By Il Fratello What should I do with all this Christmas news that dawns like fire-light on ice that makes a change and says to change– will I allow the pitiful child, born in a cattle pen to steal upon … Continue reading →

By Sr. Fidelis We began Advent  with the “A” of Ad te levavi, in the introit for the first Sunday, and Aspiciens from the Night Office. Now in this time of Great Advent we look to the “Great Antiphons” or … Continue reading →

By Sr. Fidelis We began Advent  with the “A” of Ad te levavi, in the introit for the first Sunday, and Aspiciens from the Night Office. Now in this time of Great Advent we look to the “Great Antiphons” or … Continue reading →

In the fourth century, Christians were asked to mark December 17 as the beginning of a twenty-one-day period, ending at the Epiphany, in which they focused on the great mystery unfolding in the life of the church, the mystery of … Continue reading →

Jesus is coming as a thief in the night – “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven…” (Matthew 24:36) “But how the heck can you be ready for something you don’t know … Continue reading →

Fly down the hill That separates me  From you On horseback or wing  I am listed to be saved These stones  I’ve built up  Around me  Matter little  To a love  like yours   Regret  That old advisor  Must go … Continue reading →

By Sr. Spero One of the most hopeful verses I’ve ever read is in the Lauds Canticle on Sundays during Advent. It is from Deuteronomy 32: “In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste.” The … Continue reading →

By Sr. Fidelis One of the later gems of the Gregorian repertoire is the Advent prose, Rorate Caeli, most likely composed by the Paris Oratorian Pere Bourget in the early 1600’s. The text takes its inspiration from the Book of … Continue reading →

Paul gives us an astonishing understanding of waiting in the New Testament book of Romans, as rendered by Eugene Peterson, ” Waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. … Continue reading →