Some people find their interior life transformed faster than the lifecycle of the sugar snap pea, over the course of a 9-day novena or 3-day retreat. Others after trudging through lent after lent before catching a glimpse of the joyous fruits God has in store
The Old Hispanic prayers during the sign of peace on Palm Sunday and Holy Thursday illuminate even further the really momentous thing that was happening during these liturgies.
Today, December 18th, the day of which Christmas is the Octave, the Visigoths celebrated dies Sancte Marie (for the day of Holy Mary), one of the most important feasts in the Old Hispanic liturgical calendar. While the scriptural references in the proper prayers primarily involve the Annunciation, this was the sole feast of the Blessed… Continue reading Benedictio in Diem Sancte Marie
Advent is only 3 weeks (+1 day) long this yearโthe shortest possible length of time for Advent under the current reckoning. In 2022, with 28 days (four full weeks!) the Church experienced the longest possible advent season. Last year it felt like it crept up too soon, surprising us like a thief in the night,… Continue reading Inspired by the Visigoths: Intensifying a Short Advent
We are going back to England! The dear husband is participating in the graduation ceremony from his MPhil and we are making it a grand old family trip to celebrate. Our year in Cambridge, delightful as it was, did not afford us quite so many opportunities to travel as we might have liked due to… Continue reading There and back again: a return to medieval England
I woke up this morning, poured through my coffee, signed and dated some paperwork and thoughtโwow, it's Candlemas already! Cue some sorrow over the Christmas season being officially "over" (we still have lights running up our bannister), terror at the fast-approaching season of Septuagesima and consequently Lent, and a kick in the pants to buy… Continue reading Candlemas (or lack thereof) and Marian feasts in Visigothic Spain
If you're a Catholic female on social media, it's pretty impossible to escape the term "liturgical living". Popular among homeschooling moms, moms of young children, and moms generally trying to reconnect their family rhythm with their Faith, the term generally refers to an incorporation of the liturgical year (Saints' feasts, Holy Days, penitential seasons, etc.)… Continue reading Paraliturgy and the “Liturgical Living” trend
During the past few weeks, I've made a few posts over at instagram about some of my favorite Medieval English Catholic devotions, traditions, and legends. Ironically I have been in the U.S. with family for most of the advent/Christmas season and hence while researching these reflections, but I almost felt more motivated because I missed… Continue reading Frumenty for the Soul: why I’m digging into my medieval English surroundings
Five minutes from our almost-medieval flat lies one of the extant features of Cambridge's medieval layout, the market square , where sundry stalls set up every day in a bustling panoply of sounds, smells, and shopping. I have never lived somewhere that is a short walking distance from a daily open-air market (with a few… Continue reading Things that surprised me at Cambridge Market: a listicle
Howdy! It's been a while. As if the last two years werenโt wild enough to satiate anyone's taste for adventure and uncertainty, as soon as I finished my year of grad school at the Zoom University of Toronto, I got married and moved to England. Yes, we moved overseas 3 weeks after getting married with… Continue reading Back on the blog and better than ever
Musings of a medievalist mama 