Paraclete Press Blog

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 →

Salvation to all that will is nigh; That All, which always is all everywhere, Which can not sin, and yet all sins must bear, Which can not die, yet cannot choose but die, Lo! faithful Virgin, yields Himself to lie … Continue reading →

By Sr. Fidelis The Advent hymn for Vespers is a wondrous combination of simplicity and depth. We do not know the author of the text, but it was most likely composed in the 9th century, or even earlier. The themes … Continue reading →

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The slowest of pilgrims, I have come to see how my own faith, fragile as it is, is assisted and sustained by the calendar, by the lectionary – by the seasons of the Church. I want to share my growing … Continue reading →