Pause for Prayer

When I first saw the patched habit of St. Francis of Assisi, displayed in
Assisi, I wasn’t impressed.  I’ve seen many, many people whose rags equalled those of Francis.  In fact his habit was in a pretty good condition.  I’ve seen considerably worse.  In the heat of an Italian summer, it might have been quite comfortable.  [...]

Ash Wednesday was the first day of Lent. All over the world Christians of whatever denomination think about doing something special as a way of coming closer to God during the coming weeks.  Thoughts turn to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus more than at any other time during the course of the year.  [...]

In case you didn’t know it, today was the feast of the Chair of St. Peter, an awful title that I really dislike, although its significance is an entirely different thing.  Perhaps it’s one of those titles that just translates badly into English. 
Basically, it simply means that today we celebrated the establishment of the [...]

Ash Wednesday.  It’s been quite a focus of activity at Vatican Radio today.  Four Masses were offered so that everyone could have a chance to attend. I’m sure that the chapel was pretty full on each of the three occasions that I wasn’t present.  It’s always that way for Ash Wednesday, right across the world. 
I [...]

As the walls of the Rocca Maggiore came closer, so was it possible to stand on the hillside and look down as the view of Assisi and its surroundings, a scene that can scarcely have changed in the 800 years since the days of Francis and Clare.  These were the hills that were familiar to [...]