Saint Ephrem or Ephraim was a deacon in the early church, living in Turkey during the 4th century. His prayers were so beautiful that he was called "the harp of the Holy Spirit." Here is one of his prayers from the Psaltery of Saint Ephraim (95). Praise God in the morning, ye children of the [...]
Category: prayer
O Happy Fault, that earned … so glorious a Redeemer…
Christ on the Cross with Pope Pius II. c. 1475. German artist, unnamed. The verses around the picture are a hymn to Our Blessed Mother written by someone known as the Monk of Salzburg, who lived in the late 1300's. This monk wrote both sacred and secular music in German. More or less one hundred [...]
Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes
Hail, O Lady, unique gateway through whom the Lord alone has passed! Hail, O you who, through your maternity, have shattered the locks of Hades! Hail, divine access towards salvation for the saved, O you so perfectly worthy of our praise! From the Akathist hymn to Our Lady written by Saint Romanus in Constantinople around [...]
Notre Dame and a Marian procession
A Virgin of Paris statue replica is carried during a Marian candlelit procession through the streets of Paris Nov. 15, 2024, as the original, for security reasons, was transported on a truck back to Notre Dame Cathedral. The statue was kept at the Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois Church near the Louvre for five years since Notre Dame was [...]
Changing routines, quotes from Saint Augustine
I’m trying to change various parts of my life around: unimportant things like which day I go to the grocery store, and important parts like which days I visit my grandchildren. However, the first result of such changes is to confuse myself about what day it is. This is Friday. Blog post. Today I have [...]