“Elizabeth Barrett, a young college dropout in Southern California, swallowed a pill the local abortion clinic had given her—and then, almost immediately after, changed her mind. An online search for advice on how to undo the chemical abortion led her to Heartbeat International, a Christian nonprofit that refers women to licensed doctors for treatment. It worked. Ms. Barrett is the mother of a healthy girl.”
Without downplaying the challenges of this post-Christian, neo-barbaric world, Hren’s work remains one of hope and inspiration. This little volume is a fine offering (conveniently stocking-stuffer-sized!) for the prayerful consideration of writers, readers, and all lovers of the exquisite richness of that which is truly real.
“A friend of mine is involved in a very exciting new initiative of Archbishop Cordileone’s Benedict XVI Institute: the Reverent Liturgy Project.”
Looking to Christ our King, let us renew Western civilization’ – this was the message Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco addressed in various ways to the faithful in Croatia during his recent multi-day visit to Zagreb.
During his speech, Cordileone stated that the Mass is not only the center of Christian life, but also the cultural and spiritual foundation of Western civilization.
“Archbishop of San Francisco Salvatore Cordileone posted on X asking for prayers for Lai.”
This Dec. 12, millions of Hispanics will celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe as part of their own origin story as Americans. The year 2031 will mark the 500th anniversary of her appearance, and to make more of us English-speaking Americans aware of the role of Our Lady of Guadalupe in our own history, I recently launched a new initiative, Project Guadalupe 2031.
Benedict XVI Institute executive director Maggie Gallagher loves a good Christmas and Advent hymn or carol, but she realized a few years ago that she hadn’t heard anything new in decades — not even secular songs. At the same time, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone wanted to honor the Blessed Mother and nurture Marian devotion during the most beloved and very blessed season of the year. That is how a Very Marian Advent Prayer Service got its start three years ago at San Francisco’s Star of the Sea Church. Modeled on a lessons and carols format, Very Marian Advent invites Catholics to “wait with Mary” in prayer and song during the final weeks before Christmas — which coincides with Mary’s “last difficult month of pregnancy,” said Gallagher, who leads the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship, founded in 2013 by Archbishop Cordileone.
“Oh, yes, definitely. It’s one of the things that inspired my vocation—the beauty of the Church’s ceremonies and how deeply rooted they are in tradition. I’ve always had a great love of tradition. And I realized I had the need to do something practical to enhance the quality of the way the Mass is celebrated in our parishes. That was really the original vision behind the founding of the Benedict XVI Institute. We have so many treasures that we’ve been ignoring for far too long. I think we need to retrieve those treasures and apply them in a way that can speak to people today to revive the beauty, the mystery, and the awe of how we should be worshiping.”
Our culture’s loss of the sense of the sacred is countered by the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship, which describes its mission as “opening the door of beauty to God.” The twofold strategy is: “providing practical resources for more beautiful and reverent liturgies” and “energizing a Catholic culture of the arts,” as stated on the website, through retreats, Masses, collaborative projects, and the Reverent Liturgy Project.
This summer, Archbishop Cordileone brought a children’s chant camp to St. Patrick’s Seminary through the Catholic Institute for Sacred Music, led by St. Patrick’s sacred music professor, Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka. Singers ages eight to seventeen came together to sing at daily Mass, learn vocal technique, and read chant notation to develop a deeper understanding of what the Mass is, and exercise opportunities for fellowship, personal prayer, and Confession.
I met Anli, who was born in Taiwan and lives in southern California, at a retreat this summer for “Artists and Art Lovers” hosted by the Benedict XVI Institute. Anli played for the attendees there, from every artistic discipline, and talked about the trajectory of her musical life. She relayed how the idea of doing a piano recital on the theme of bells to honor her father had been percolating for a while, but a hand injury had kept her from performing for over a year.
