Welcome to the Second Year of Sanguis Christi

When I began this website a year ago, I could not have imagined the ways in which its original format would change as a result of the pandemic.  What began as a resource to prepare for the following Sunday’s liturgy became a virtual service for those unable to attend Mass.  And so it remains for the time being along with the occasional content that will appear from time to time.  My initial suggestions, however, are intact.  My hope is this web page will nourish those who use it throughout the week.  While some might consume its content in one sitting, it could prove more fruitful to parcel out the material beyond a given Sunday.  With that in mind, may I offer the following suggestions for using this resource either which individually or in a group, whether all at once or spread out over the course of a week.

Art

 In addition to the images on the main page, each entry has an icon or work of art that I hope is evocative enough to inspire a moment of visio divina – thoughts or feelings arising from contemplating the image, and engaging whatever has a particular resonance for you.

Collect

The opening prayer of the Sunday liturgy could continue to form part of your personal prayer during the week as a “starter” for whatever from that takes in your own devotional life.

Proper Chants and Hymns

The Introit and Communion Antiphon come from what are called “the proper chants” to be sung by way of preference in the Catholic liturgy.  After the reforms of the Second Vatican Council these have been for the most part supplanted by hymns.  They are, however, slowly making their reappearance in English translation.  I personally believe it’s a question of both-and rather than either-or when it comes to choosing sacred music for the liturgy and this is evident in the weekly selections taken from online sources. Over and beyond the Sunday service, they might enhance one’s prayer as a form of audio divina akin to contemplating the icon or work of art.

Readings

As we begin a new liturgical year -- "Year B" for Sundays and "Year 1" for weekdays -- the Gospel reading on Sunday will normally be taken from the Gospel of Mark.  The wealth of Scripture readings is worth mining over the course of a week and perhaps best approached in a prayerful and deliberative mode of engaging the text known as lectio divina.  Here the passage or passages are read in a slow, contemplative fashion until one lights upon a word or phrase that catches your attention as a “living Word” with particular meaning and relevance.

Reflection Questions

Three questions are provided to stimulate private or small group reflection on the several readings, normally one question for each reading.

Catena Nova

St. Thomas Aquinas compiled the classic Catena aurea (Golden Chain) of quotations from ancient sources as a commentary on the Gospel readings from the lectionary in use at the time.  I am providing seven passages, one for each day of the week, from authors past and present, in the hope of developing a Catena nova (New Chain) to inspire ongoing reflection on a liturgical or scriptural text from the Sunday liturgy. I strive to provide a wide range of voices.   

Homily

I am continuing to edit and update a three-cycle of Sunday homilies which I have preached over several decades in various places. While many of the homilies that appear on the website are newly-composed, I will be re-presenting others -- with appropriate and substantial modifications -- in light of current events in the church and world.

Spiritual Communion

It appears the pandemic will limit in-person participation in the liturgy until the promise of a vaccine will make such attendance safe again.  The traditional practice of a spiritual communion is an intentional desire to be in communion with the Lord and with the worshipping assembly when sacramental Communion is not possible.  I have endeavored to provide various prayer formulas from a variety of Christian traditions to facilitate this practice.