'....and around you thousands will be saved'

St Seraphim of Sarov

According to St Seraphim of Sarov, a Saint of the Russian Orthodox Church (1754-1833):

‘Acquire a peaceful spirit, and around you thousands will be saved’.

In his monastic life he touched the lives of many though he lived much of his life as a hermit. He lived in communion with the Church and by all accounts the gifts of Holy Spirit were showered on him in abundance.  Seventy years after his death he was canonised by the Russian Orthodox Church. His relics were confiscated by the Bolsheviks after the 1917 revolution but rediscovered in 1991 having been hidden in an anti-religious museum during the Soviet era.

Let the sanctuary speak

Church of the Holy Spirit, Ballyroan, Dublin

The sanctuary is the focal point of any Roman Catholic or Orthodox church. It is the area where the altar (or Holy Table in the Orthodox tradition) is located, together with the ambo for the proclamation of God's Word and the chair of the presiding priest. The reserved Eucharist is normally given a place of special honour, often within the sanctuary or in a prominent chapel associated with it.

Why can only priests say Mass?

Question: Why can only priests say Mass

Answer:  Catholics believe that the Mass links back, directly, to the Last Supper. At the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the Eucharist and, commissioned the apostles to continue the commemoration of his Passover in the breaking of bread.  The Letters of St Paul and the Acts of the Apostles testify to the key importance of the Eucharist in the life of the early Church. Over time, practices became more ritualised and the person presiding at the breaking of bread was recognised as someone who had received authority through the apostles to preside on behalf of the Church.

A God of second chances

Sunday 19 July 2026

Lectio Divina:*

Wisdom 12:13-19 Psalm 86(85)

Romans 8:26-27 Matthew 13:24-43 The Last Judgement – fresco paining by Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337). Source is here.

Meditatio:

‘Let anyone with ears listen!’  (Matthew 13:43)

Commentary:

In today’s first reading from the Book of Wisdom - one of the books included in the Catholic and Orthodox biblical canon - we encounter a God who offers second chances to those who stray. He is a God who never ceases to seek out people and invite them into his Kingdom. As the reading tells us about God, ‘you judge with mildness’ (Wisdom 12:18). Some translations render this phrase as, ‘you govern us with great lenience’.

What do you feel at Holy Communion?

Question: Do you have particular feelings or insights when you receive Holy Communion?  Have you ever had a mystical experience at Mass or Holy Communion?

Answer: No.

Typically, I do not recall particular unusual or ‘other worldly’ experiences at Mass or Holy Communion.  Two or three, at least, in 1981/82 I recall a moment of what I might call lucidity or raised awareness of a higher power or love looking over a group of people. That lucidity was a moment of quiet peace and joy that is hard to put in words. However, this was not in the context of a celebration of Mass. Rather, it was during a meeting of Christians gathered in the name of Jesus – on one occasion to sing the Divine Liturgy of Vespers or Compline and the other during a meet of people to share experiences. Frankly, I am not what one might call a particularly outward person given to strong emotional expressions or someone who has had special ‘mystical’ experiences however that might be defined.

Since embracing or re-embracing Catholicism more than one in my adult life I have adhered to a very ordinary and unremarkable practice of participation. Speaking in tongues, having visions, being slain by the Holy Spirit and bursting into tears of joy or compunction is not my way. In no way, do I disparage or dismiss those who follow a different way of expression.

Of course, there have been times of particular consolation or even excitement such as when receiving during the Covid-19 period after being ‘locked in’ for a while.

All that said, I will confide that at least one of the seven sacraments has been the occasion, at times, of strong feeling and insight into God’s mercy – the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Penance. Therein, lies a jewel in Catholic practice and life and one that I have never let go of since 1981.

‘We knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth’

Saint Vladimir of Kiev (963–1015) is commemorated today by the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches as a saint of the undivided, pre-schism Church.

He ruled the lands of Kievan Rus, centred on Kiev and encompassing territories that today form parts of Ukraine, Belarus and western Russia. The Christianisation of these lands came relatively late. Under Vladimir's rule, Christianity gradually supplanted the pagan deities and religious practices that had long held sway among the peoples of Rus.

Saint Vladimir used princely authority to promote the Christianisation of his realm. This process almost certainly involved varying degrees of coercion and compulsion, though historians continue to debate the extent to which conversions were forced.

Strengthened by Heavenly Food

Of the three ‘sacraments of initiation’ (Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist), the Eucharist is the only sacrament that can be repeated over and over again.  This is so because we need the heavenly bread for our journey and this is echoed or prefigured in the story of Elijah in the first Book of Kings (19:4-8):