Transformed into Christ
Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit
by Br Jerome Mary
3w ago
Today is the memorial of St Henry de Ossò. He was a Spanish priest who spent much time and energy in teaching others through catechesis. Inspired by St Teresa of Avila, he ended up founding a congregation of teaching sisters called “The Society of St Teresa”.  It struck me in his writings how passionate he was about the necessity of uniting to Christ. But not in a generic sense - an absolute conformity of our whole life to the life of Christ, so that we can be transformed into Christ via our imitation and conformity to him. So that learning to think think and behave as Jesus did ..read more
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Magi or Kings - Does it matter? The answer is yes!
Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit
by Br Jerome Mary
1M ago
The Feast of the Epiphany is also called the feast of the “Three Kings” in many parts of Europe.  In the traditional iconography and symbolism about Epiphany, you will often see the Magi of the Gospel of Matthew portrayed as 3 Kings. Why is this? Usually around this time of year you will hear “scholars” who will have all sorts of esoteric theories about the identity of the Magi and will make a point to discredit the traditional symbolism of the 3 Kings. They will claim that any details we have of them outside of the Gospel narrative is unscriptural and therefore incorrect. But I disagr ..read more
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Living the hope of Jesus in the Jubilee Year 2025
Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit
by Br Jerome Mary
1M ago
For the last few years, I have tried to spend some time reflecting on the year that has past and to pray for the Lord to give me a word for the upcoming year.  Last year I received Matthew 1:23 which I will admit, I received rather skeptically as it is very generic and also being so close to Christmas it was easy to dismiss as being something I would’ve recently heard. But it stuck with me, and so I reluctantly accepted it - but without appreciation or any gratitude.  But the other week as I was preparing myself to reflect on the year past and see where the word that the Lord gav ..read more
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The longing desire for God - expressed in the power of “Oh!”
Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit
by Br Jerome Mary
2M ago
As we enter into the final week of Advent, I wanted to remind you about the beautiful and powerful “O Antiphons” that the Liturgy gives to us during this time. These Antiphons are poetic scriptural prophecies about the Messiah and highlight important typological symbolism prophesied about Christ in the Old Testament.  Just as Jesus taught the disciples on the way to Emmaus about how all of the Prophets and Moses spoke about him before they could recognise him in the “breaking of the bread”(Luke 24:30-35) - so too does Jesus still reveal himself to us today through the Liturgy (Luke 2 ..read more
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The power of Christ’s Coming, still available now
Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit
by Br Jerome Mary
2M ago
Advent is now here, the annual Liturgical season where we focus on the Coming of the Lord - historically he came 2000 years ago in Bethlehem, and he will one day gloriously come again at the end of time. Both of these are part of the twofold Coming of Christ which is the essence of Advent.  In the lead up to Christmas with all the carols, advent calendars, nativity scenes, and gift buying we can easily fall into a form of indifferentism that forgets or fails to recognise the powerful cosmic significance of what the birth of Christ meant, and continues to mean. In the Office of Readings ..read more
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Christ the King… the feast of the laity?
Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit
by Br Jerome Mary
3M ago
The Solemnity of Christ the King was first instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical Quas Primas. He explains his rationale behind this feast, as a means to help restore peace in the common good of society by recognising the ultimate true source of peace - The Prince of Peace himself.  During the liturgical reforms of Pope St Paul VI in 1969, the feast was moved from the originally designated last Sunday of October - to the last Sunday of the Liturgical year … ie, the Sunday before Advent. It was also slightly renamed to Christ the King of the Universe, emphasising more ..read more
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The Carmelite twofold Vocation, and personal mission
Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit
by Br Jerome Mary
3M ago
St Thérèse of Lisieux said that her vocation was to be love in the heart of the Church, and she believed her mission in heaven will be to help souls to love God. She chose to be a Victim of Divine Love and a Little Flower on the Garden of God to bring souls to blossom in the garden they are planted  St Teresa of Avila felt called to support the Church through personal holiness and through her reforms to provide dedicated, devoted and loyal friends to Jesus who would intimately love him through prayer. Teaching others to spend time with God in prayer, as intimate friends on the Way of ..read more
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Sacred Heart of Jesus, synthesis of the Gospel
Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit
by Br Jerome Mary
4M ago
After receiving some negative tragic news last night in my family with my mum being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer -  I decided today to lift my spirits and read Pope Francis’ new encyclical on the Sacred Heart, called “Delixit nos”. I am so very glad I did!  It is an impressive systematic summary of the meaning, symbolism and spiritual development of devotion to the Sacred Heart. I have not finished it all yet, but I cannot recommend it highly enough.  https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/20241024-enciclica-dilexit-nos.html I have spent time all ..read more
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The deeper mystery of the Transfiguration
Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit
by Br Jerome Mary
7M ago
The Transfiguration of Our Lord on Mount Tabor is one of the more mysterious events of the Gospels that can easily be overlooked, brushed over, minimised or misunderstood. It is mentioned in all 3 of the synoptic Gospels (Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36), and also in the Letter of Peter (2 Peter 1:16-18). So it is an important and significant moment in scripture that we need to humbly and prayerfully meditate upon.  Usually there have been two interpretations of this event:  One takes the theophany approach similar to when Jesus was baptised in the Jordan - where the ..read more
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The spirit of criticism blinds you to the state of your soul
Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit
by Br Jerome Mary
8M ago
Today in the Office of Readings in the Divine Office, there is a very interesting (and relevant to us today) homily by St Augustine. He makes the connection between those people who always criticise others as being unable to conquer their own sins, so they focus on everyone else. In the modern day we call this “spiritual bypassing” where we ignore our personality flaws or issues and try to replace it with a facade of piety that makes you feel better about yourself but is not done out of love for God. This it is a form of false piety and not authentic spirituality.  St Augustine then disc ..read more
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