InPrincipio Podcast

A meditation for the Feast of St. Edward the Confessor, last Anglo-Saxon king of England, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume V of the Time after Pentecost. St. Edward the Confessor (c. 1003–1066), King of England, was renowned for his deep piety, humility, charity toward the poor, and devotion to the Church. The son of King Ethelred II, he spent many years in exile in Normandy duri...

A meditation for the Feast of St. Francis Borgia, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume V of the Time after Pentecost. Saint Francis Borgia (1510–1572) was a Spanish nobleman who renounced the honors and privileges of worldly life to devote himself entirely to God and the salvation of souls. A great-grandson of Pope Alexander VI, he served as Duke of Gandía and held a prominent positi...

A meditation for the Feast of St. Denis, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume V of the Time after Pentecost. St. Denis, also known as St. Dionysius the Areopagite, was a first-century Athenian who was converted by the preaching of St. Paul and traditionally became the first bishop of Athens. Renowned for his profound understanding of divine things, he was traditionally regarded as th...

A meditation for the Feast of St. Bridget of Sweden, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume V of the Time after Pentecost. St. Bridget of Sweden (c. 1303–1373), mystic, mother, and foundress of the Order of the Most Holy Savior, was one of the most remarkable women of medieval Christendom. Born into a noble Swedish family, she married Ulf Gudmarsson and became the mother of eight child...

A meditation for the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume V of the Time after Pentecost. The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, celebrated on October 7, honors the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title as Queen of the Most Holy Rosary and commemorates the powerful intercession of the Rosary in the defense of Christendom. Its origins are especially associa...

A meditation for the Feast of Saint Bruno, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume V of the Time after Pentecost. St. Bruno (c. 1030–1101), priest and founder of the Carthusian Order, was born at Cologne and became renowned for his learning, holiness, and devotion to a life of solitude and contemplation. After serving as a professor and chancellor of the cathedral school at Reims, he wi...

A meditation for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume II of the Time after Pentecost. Please note that Servant of God Dom Prosper Guéranger went to his eternal reward in 1875; at this point, Volumes I-IX (Advent to Pentecost Saturday) had been completed, but Volumes X-XV (Trinity Sunday to Advent) had not yet been completed. Thus, the remaining...

A meditation for the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume V of the Time after Pentecost. St. Francis of Assisi (1181/1182–1226), founder of the Order of Friars Minor, was one of the most beloved saints of the Catholic Church and a great imitator of Christ in poverty, humility, charity, and devotion to the Cross. Born into a wealthy merchant family in...

A meditation for the Feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume V of the Time after Pentecost. St. Thérèse of Lisieux, also known as St. Teresa of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face, was born in Alençon, France, in 1873 and entered the Carmelite convent at Lisieux at the age of fifteen. Though she lived a hidden and relatively brief life, she attained gre...

A meditation for the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume V of the Time after Pentecost. The Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, celebrated on October 2, honors the angels whom God appoints to watch over and protect each of the faithful throughout the course of earthly life. From the earliest moments of existence, these blessed spirits assist their c...

A meditation for the Feast of St. Remigius, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume V of the Time after Pentecost. Saint Remigius (c. 437–533), Bishop of Rheims, was one of the great apostles of the Franks and a principal instrument in the conversion of their king, Clovis I, to the Catholic Faith. According to tradition, Remigius baptized Clovis at Rheims on Christmas Day, around the ye...

A meditation for the Feast of St. Jerome, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume V of the Time after Pentecost. St. Jerome (c. 347–420), priest, monk, scholar, and Doctor of the Church, was one of the greatest biblical scholars of the early Church. Born in Stridon in Dalmatia, he devoted himself to study and the ascetic life, spending years as a hermit in the Syrian desert before being...

A meditation for Michaelmas, the Feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume V of the Time after Pentecost. Michaelmas, traditionally celebrated on September 29, is the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, one of the principal feasts honoring the holy angels. Saint Michael, whose name means “Who is like God?”, is especially honored as the defender of t...

A meditation for the Feast of Saint Wenceslaus, Duke of Bohemia, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume V of the Time after Pentecost. Saint Wenceslaus, Duke and Martyr, was born around the year 907 in Bohemia and was raised in the Catholic faith by his grandmother, Saint Ludmila. As ruler of Bohemia, he sought to govern with justice and Christian charity, promoting the spread of the F...

A meditation for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume II of the Time after Pentecost. Please note that Servant of God Dom Prosper Guéranger went to his eternal reward in 1875; at this point, Volumes I-IX (Advent to Pentecost Saturday) had been completed, but Volumes X-XV (Trinity Sunday to Advent) had not yet been completed. Thus, the remaining...

A meditation for the Feast of Saints Cyprian and Justina, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume V of the Time after Pentecost. Saint Cyprian and Saint Justina were Christian martyrs traditionally associated with Antioch in Syria and are commemorated together on September 26. According to their ancient hagiographical tradition, Cyprian was a pagan magician who, after attempting through...

Chapter 9 of ‘The Explanation of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass’ by Fr. Martin von Cochem: "In the Holy Mass the Death of Christ is Renewed"'Explanation of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass' by Fr. Martin von Cochem is a classic 17th-century Catholic devotional work that passionately and engagingly explains the immense spiritual value, mystery, and supernatural power of the Holy Sac...

A meditation for the Feast of Our Lady of Ransom, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume V of the Time after Pentecost. The Feast of Our Lady of Ransom, celebrated on September 24, honors the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title associated with the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, or Mercedarians, founded by St. Peter Nolasco in the thirteenth century. The order was establishe...

A meditation for the Ember Days of September, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume II of the Time after Pentecost. The September Ember Days, or Ember Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, are a traditional time of prayer, fasting, and thanksgiving within the liturgical year. Falling near the beginning of autumn, they are associated espec...

A meditation for the Feast of St. Thomas of Villanova, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume V of the Time after Pentecost. St. Thomas of Villanova (1488–1555) was a Spanish Augustinian friar and Archbishop of Valencia, renowned for his profound charity toward the poor and his zeal for the reform of the clergy and religious life. Born in Fuentellana, Spain, he entered the Order of St....

A meditation for the Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume V of the Time after Pentecost. Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, was a tax collector at Capharnaum when Our Lord called him to leave his profession and follow Him. Known also as Levi, Matthew responded immediately, and afterward he gave a great feast at his house, inviting O...

Chapter 8 of the Explanation of the Holy Mass by Fr. Martin von Cochem: In the Holy Mass Christ Renews His Passion'Explanation of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass' by Fr. Martin von Cochem is a classic 17th-century Catholic devotional work that passionately and engagingly explains the immense spiritual value, mystery, and supernatural power of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Drawing on Scrip...

A meditation for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume II of the Time after Pentecost. Please note that Servant of God Dom Prosper Guéranger went to his eternal reward in 1875; at this point, Volumes I-IX (Advent to Pentecost Saturday) had been completed, but Volumes X-XV (Trinity Sunday to Advent) had not yet been completed. Thus, the remaining...

A meditation for the Feast of St. Januarius, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume V of the Time after Pentecost. Saint Januarius, or San Gennaro, was Bishop of Benevento and a zealous pastor who suffered martyrdom during the persecution of the Emperor Diocletian in the early fourth century. According to ancient tradition, he was arrested together with several companions and condemned...

A meditation for the Feast of the St. Joseph of Cupertino, from Dom Guéranger’s “The Liturgical Year”, Volume V of the Time after Pentecost. St. Joseph of Cupertino was an Italian Franciscan friar renowned for his profound humility, simplicity, and extraordinary mystical graces. Born in Cupertino in 1603, he endured poverty and difficulties in his youth before eventually being received into the Co...