by Peter James | Dec 19, 2024 | O Root of Jesse
When I was young, my Uncle John, the family genealogist, told me that Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Robin Roberts was my ninth cousin. As an avid baseball fan, I was over the moon about it. For the record, a ninth cousin means that Robin and I share an eighth...
by Peter James | Dec 18, 2024 | O Adonai
I introduced in yesterday’s Prayers from the Cloud the first of the seven Great Antiphons. These “O Antiphons,” as they are sometimes called, originated in the ninth century as titles for Jesus sung and recited during Advent as monks remembered...
by Peter James | Dec 17, 2024 | O Wisdom
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is a Christmas carol that originate from our great “cloud of witnesses.” The hymn dates to the ninth century or earlier when monks chanted the Great Antiphons or O Antiphons in evening vespers during Advent to prepare for Christ’s...
by Peter James | Dec 16, 2024 | Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli
He was born into a poor sharecropping family in a small Italian town. He was one of fourteen children who joined their parents in the fields to earn their keep. Angelo Guiseppe Roncalli (1881-1963) was never a rich man. At the time of his death, he left his personal...
by Peter James | Dec 15, 2024 | Soren Kierkegaard
Once upon a time, there was a king who loved a humble maiden. She had no royal pedigree; she lived in a hovel, the humble abode of a peasant. But the king fell in love with her the way kings sometimes do. This put the king in something of a bind. How does a king...
