The Ascension of the Lord
Throughout the season of Advent, the Church prepares for the birth of Jesus. Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit, and became…
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Behold the Truth of Christ’s Resurrection with the Eyes of the Heart
Whereas in his nativity Christ demonstrates the mystery of his own virgin birth, in the resurrection he gives a pattern to all who are to be…
Conquest of the Old Tyrant
Imagine that we are standing on the top of a cliff. We look down, and we don’t see the base of the cliff. The space below us is shrouded in mist.…
St. Catherine of Siena, A Patroness of Tears
One of the most striking aspects of the writings of St. Catherine of Siena is her attention to bodiliness. Her visual metaphors are often punctuated…
The Tomb is Empty
Mary was waiting for Him with joy Not as a mother waits for the return of her son from war But as one waits for a friend who never broke a…
Why does Jesus Keep His Wounds After Rising from the Dead?
Did you know? Everyone in heaven gets a trophy!
Why did Jesus die?
Why did Jesus die? The question of why Jesus had to die is one that has puzzled Christians for centuries. It is easy to point fingers and assign…
Arc of the Triduum
How to better experience the three Holy Days before Easter.
Food of Pilgrimage, Pledge of Glory
Feeling hopeless? There’s medicine for that … the medicine of immortality!
The Annunciation: Mary’s Fiat As Our Model of Humility
Of course you kvetch, you've overstretched! Let Mary show you a better way.
A Holy and Gentle Hatred of Sin
Want to be holy? Choose hatred!
Thinking Again about Repentance
Are you sure you have repented? Think again!
A Perfect Time to Sort Our Priorities
My younger sister is a fantastic skier. We have both skied since a very young age. However, once upon a time, she fell down and hurt her knee…
Cultivating a Healthy Sense of Shame
Can shame be healthy?
Religious Life: A Total Gift to God
How does a whole burnt offering point people to the meaning of human life?
Religious Life and the Life to Come
There is nothing unfortunate about the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience!
The Word Abides
The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple was a monumental moment in the history of salvation. How do Simeon's words in the Gospel of Luke show us the Word's fulfillment of the entire Old Testament?
St. Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual Guide and Follower of Christ
We often find the life of the mind placed in opposition to the spiritual life. However, is this a fair opposition? Aquinas can be our guide in resolving this tension.
The Holy Name of Jesus: The Power of His Name
What should the name of Jesus evoke within me?
The Holy Name of Jesus: Rescued by a Name
What is so special about a name?
What Does Epiphany Have to Do With the Cross?
During this Christmas season of joy, how can Christ manifest in our struggles and sorrows?
Christmas, the Strategy of Christ, and the Mystery of the Holy Family
The nativity of Jesus: a mystery of a personal victory that mobilized his friends and agitated his enemies.
The Incarnation: God's Story about God
An effusion of the Ineffable!
Advent Reflections: 4th Sunday of Advent
Do not be afraid to take Mary into your home (which always brings Christ) as we come to the end of Advent and prepare for His coming at Christmas.
The Incarnation: O Come, Divine Messiah!
How can we joyfully prepare for God Incarnate amidst a dark and sinful world?
Advent Reflections: 3rd Sunday of Advent
It's Gaudete Sunday and we are entering the third week of Advent with joyful anticipation for the commemoration of Christ's birth.
Immaculate Against the Idols
Mary the Immaculate Conception: Forbidding Myth or Grace-filled Maiden?
What you didn't know about St. Nicholas...
St. Nicholas is not only a giver of gifts but a giver of Truth!
Advent Reflections: 2nd Sunday of Advent
How can we better prepare for the coming of our Savior this Advent season?
Our Brothers Thank You
We're so grateful for your support of this year's Rosary Sunday: Dominican Student Appeal!
Friars in Print 2022
Browse the newest publications by Western Dominicans
The Incarnation: God's Face
To see God's face once meant death, but now we see true life in the face of God Incarnate.
The Afterlife: Hell
Can thinking on Hell increase our faith? Learn why hellish meditations should be included in our spiritual exercises.
Advent Reflections: 1st Sunday of Advent
How can we grow in the virtues of hope, patience, and joy?
The Afterlife: Heaven
Will we grow bored of worshipping God in heaven for "forever?" How will our heavenly unity with God affect our desires?
The Afterlife: Purgatory
What is the value of suffering - for us and for "holy souls" in Purgatory?
St. Martin de Porres - A Humble Saint
What is true humility? The foundation of humility lies not in ourselves, but in God.
St. Jude, Intercession, and Sharing in God's Goodness
St. Jude and the Birthday Cake - is the oft-forgotten apostle a baker?
The Rosary as a School of Prayer
Climb the mountain - a pilgrimage of our mind and heart!
Mary, Queen and Mother
Worthy of love or worthy of honor: how do we properly approach Our Lady?
The Perfect Prayer
How do I pray well, even perfectly? Br. Anthony Maria Akerman, O.P. offers a reply to this perennial question.
Why Should We Pray Daily to St. Michael the Archangel?
How is St. Michael the Archangel a powerful defender in all battles? Learn from Fr. Michael Hurley, O.P., on how this powerful saint helps us flex our spiritual muscles!
St. Michael the Archangel vs. The 6th Century Plague
If St. Michael the Archangel can save Rome from the plague, how can he help us in modern times? Br. Scott Norgaard, O.P., helps us understand how angels are instrumental in executing God's mercy.
Was the Big Bang the Moment of Creation?
The Big Bang was the moment of creation...or was it? Br. Pascal Strader, O.P. helps unfold the cosmological and theological considerations in this claim.
Incomprehensible Mercy
How should we treat those who have seriously hurt or wronged us? Br. Anselm shares the difficult, but life-giving answer in honor of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross.
Summer Reflection: Studying German in Berlin
This past July, I was in Berlin taking an intensive course in German. Over the past five years studying at the Dominican School of Philosophy…
Summer Reflection: Studying Spanish in Mexico
This summer, I spent several weeks learning Spanish in Mexico along with four other Dominican student brothers -- Br. Nathaniel Maria Mayne,…
Summer Reflection: Fraternity with Polish Brothers
The Dominican Friars of the Western Province have had a special relationship of mutual support and collaboration with the Polish Province for…
Summer Reflection: Studying Arabic in Cairo
When I disclose the fact that I am learning Arabic to family, friends, and acquaintances here in the Western United States, I receive similar…
Celebrating our Jubilarians
Dominicans offer their lives to preach the Gospel and dedicate their lives in service to God and the Church. The vast majority of Dominican friars…
Totus Tuus
Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt. Accipio te in mea omnia. I am all yours, and everything that I have is yours. I take you for my all.…
The Beauty of Our Mother
The Church dedicates this month of May to Our Lady. Therefore, this is a very convenient time for us, her children, to contemplate the beauty…
Mary, Mother of God and Mother of All Believers
The history of salvation is not the history of the One Creator God acting alone in human history. Rather, it involves an intimate dialogue between…
Out of His Fullness, We Have All Received
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can…
Jesus, Our Companion and Our Hope
“Christ is Risen! - Truly, He is Risen!” This Paschal greeting that we are so accustomed to hearing on Easter morning represents the overwhelming…
Spy Wednesday
Have you ever been betrayed by a friend? If so, you know how terrible it feels when a friend turns against you. Our attention is drawn to the…
The Highest Conceivable Gift
Few words are so ubiquitous in Christian circles (and even outside them), as the word “grace.” Just from the amount we talk about it, grace seems…
Affixing your Lenten Practices to Love
“If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy…
Behold Man!
“You who have been raised with Christ, set your heart on higher things where Christ reigns at the right hand of God the Father.” (Col. 3:1)...
Mary – Mother and Model of Disciples
Jesus, the material incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity, asks of us what God demanded of His Chosen People in the Shema prayed each morning and evening by the pious Jew...
A Painter and a Sinner
I am always deeply moved by Caravaggio’s “The Calling of St Matthew.” If there was anything Caravaggio was good at, it was painting and being…
St. Joseph Patron of the Universal Church
To learn more about St. Joseph, his life, and patronage over the Church, read Fr. Mullady's article on our Rosary Center website here: St. Joseph,…
Mary, Undoer of Knots
If you look around you might get the impression that the world is upside down and we with it. We are confronted with conflicts which are far…
We Miserable Sinners, God’s Wonderful Mercy
I recently went on my annual retreat at Holy Transfiguration Monastery, a community of monks in Redwood Valley, CA who are affiliated with the…
What is the Purpose of your Lenten Penance?
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving for many Christians around the world. Why do we…
How Does Marriage Differ from Buying a Car?
Is marriage at all different from buying a car? In this day and age, it would seem that it isn’t necessarily... Looking at the way we live…
Return to Nazareth
One of the results of our individualistic society is that families have become increasingly isolated. This isolation is sometimes justified by…
The Two Trinities
“…Sitting on the shore, and his eyes were never dry of tears, and his sweet life was ebbing away, as he longed mournfully for his return.” Such…
Getting to Know Simeon
Happy feast of the Presentation of the Lord! St. Thomas once said that the whole of theology is contained in the psalms and when I look at the…
Christ, the High Priest
What is a priest? He is more than just a man that dresses strangely and performs some arcane religious ritual. No, a priest is a man set apart…
Why did Jesus call Himself the Son of Man?
Throughout the Gospel tradition, Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man; 81 times, to be precise. When Jesus healed and forgave the paralytic…
The Mystery of the Incarnation
Christology, the study of Christ and the Incarnation, gets very little serious attention these days among mainstream Christians. I suspect one…
The Incarnation: Who is Jesus?
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God…
Glory Revealed
Walk into many if not most Catholic churches, and in the center of the sanctuary you’ll see a tabernacle. This locked box, often covered in gold…
Carrying Christ to Others through Art
“And how does this happen to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:43). This past Sunday, we heard these magnificent words…
Advent and Sacred Art
Our Dominican Order is noted for its intellectual tradition, especially luminaries such as St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Albert the Great. These…
Why the Immaculate Conception is Necessary
What we believe about Mary can make a huge difference in what we believe about Jesus and about our own salvation. That’s why certain truths about…
Drifting Towards Hell
“Before a man are life and death, and whichever he chooses will be given to him.” -Sir 15:17 We find ourselves on a river in a strange land.…
Heaven: Homesick for Jerusalem
We can think of Psalm 137 as a “homesickness” psalm. After being conquered by the Babylonians, the Israelites are brought into a foreign land.…
Judgement and Gregory the Great
According to Gregory the Great, final judgment is the pinnacle manifestation of Christ’s victory over his enemies and the fiery purification…
How Do You Want To Live Your Last Hour?
“What are the four last things of man? Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell. What is Death? Death is the separation of man’s mortal body and immortal…
St. Martin And The Variety Of Vocations
On November 3rd, we celebrate the Feast of St. Martin de Porres, the patron of cooperator brothers (and of barbers, innkeepers, public health…
The Rosary: Delving Into The Details Of The Mysteries
“Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.” – Ernest…
The Rosary: Enter Into The Mysteries Of The Incarnation
As the Gospel of John tells us, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). And how wonderful it is that God chose to make his home…
The Rosary: Role Models And Stories
There was a period of time during my childhood when my mother particularly emphasized role models: that my brothers and I choose wisely those…
The Eucharist: Sacrament of Unity
Our nation—our world—is divided. You may have noticed. The Church is the source of unity for all peoples, but when division threatens the Church…
The Archangels
As human beings, we have some frame of reference for understanding Mary and the Saints. We even have some insight into Jesus insofar as he was…
The Eucharist, Grounds for HOPE
A certain desperation seems to be spreading through the world these days. Technological innovation has made our lives easier, yet seems to be…
Mater Dolorosa vs. the Prosperity Gospel
What kind of title of honor is “Our Lady of Sorrows”? How does the Church expect us to be excited about our call to sanctity if the image of…
Three words to help with confession
That, how, why.Years ago, a wise Dominican taught me these three words as a framework for thinking about confession, and they have stuck with…
Now is the Day of Resurrection
Our faith juggles two seemingly opposed ideas. On the one hand, we are pilgrims in a foreign land, and we await the fulfillment of God's promises.…
Would Pope Jesus be better than Ascending Jesus?
Tomorrow is Ascension Thursday, reminding us that we have ten final days of the Easter season to enjoy before Pentecost Sunday. On Ascension…
Lord, to Whom Shall We Go?
“Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and have known, that thou art…
Who is St. Joseph the Worker?
We think of St. Joseph working as a carpenter. Still, what did it really mean? To understand, we need to briefly go back to where it all beganIn…
The Peace of Eastertide
At 21 years old, I sat in a train car on a warm August afternoon that was winding its way through the mountainous French countryside on my way…
What is Freedom?
In some ways, the question seems to have such an obvious answer that it may seem strange to even ask. What more is there to say except that freedom…
Spiritual Joy
Now that we have completed our Lenten journey (hopefully a challenging one), we can relax and enjoy the delights of the Easter season. Chocolate…
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia! Alleluia!We are in the midst of the Octave of Easter. Like Christmas, Easter Sunday does not last…
The Greatest Show on Earth
“It’s like theatre!” my mom once exclaimed when explaining what she loves so much about the liturgies of Holy Week. When a worshipping community…
Thwarting the Devil
Tomorrow the Church celebrates the moment of the Incarnation, wrought in God’s infinite love from eternity and brought to time by the simple…