The Biblical themes of Sexagesima Sunday teach us lessons that are ever relevant.

Fr. Scott Haynes THE PRAYERS These prayers are offered on February 2 for the blessing of candles on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Let us pray. O Holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God, who hast created all things out of nothing, and by Thy command hast caused this liquid to become perfect wax by the labor of bees: and who, on this day didst fulfill the petition of the righteous man Simeon: we humbly entreat Thee, that by the invocation of Thy most holy Name

On the 40th day of Christmas, we celebrate the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple. An ancient tradition of blessing candles is kept.

Some workers worked from dawn, others since noon, and still others from mid-afternoon. Some started at the 11th hour and got the same pay,

Fr. Scott Haynes A Meditation for the 3rd Sunday after Epiphany   Brethren:  Be not wise in your own conceits. To no man render evil for evil, but provide good things not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of all men… Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good. (Romans 12:16–21) Today’s Epistle confronts us with a subject that touches every human heart: revenge. Whenever we feel wronged, insulted, or violated, something rises up within us that cries out

Fr. Scott Haynes A Meditation on 1 Samuel 8:4–7, 10–22 The elders of Israel come to Samuel with a request that seems reasonable on the surface: “Give us a king to govern us, like all the nations.”  Samuel is troubled, and the Lord reveals why. “They have not rejected you; they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.” Here is the heart of the passage. Israel does not merely ask for a new political structure. They ask for a replacement of trust. God had been their

Israel goes out to battle confident. The banners are raised. The elders speak with certainty. When defeat comes, they do not ask why their hearts are far from God. Instead, they ask what they can bring to force His hand. And so they send for the Ark.

“Tolerance will reach such a level that intelligent people will be banned from thinking so as not to offend the imbeciles.”

The jugs Jesus filled with water were used for Jewish ritual purification and washing at the wedding ceremonies.

We honor the Infant of Prague on the annual feast kept on January 14.

Contemplate the finding of the Christ Child in the Temple on this Feast of the Holy Family. Our Lord is waiting for you there.

Learn the amazing connections in the Bible between Noah's Ark which saved a remnant of mankind from death, and Christ's Baptism by John.

Learn how the bells of Christmas Mass saved men sentenced to death

Fr. Scott Haynes A Meditation for the Month of the Holy Name January Church bells are among the most enduring voices of Christian civilization. For centuries, their sound has shaped daily life, calling the faithful to prayer, marking sacred time, and summoning entire communities to moments of danger, sorrow, or thanksgiving. Yet bells were never meant to be neutral instruments. Once blessed, they were understood to be active participants in the life of the Church, sanctifying

For almost a millennium, pilgrims have traveled to Cologne Cathedral in Germany to venerate the relics of the three wise men.

The Church gives us the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus as a quiet jewel after Christmas. The Child has been born. He has been circumcised according to the Law. His Name has been spoken aloud. And now the faithful are invited to linger over it, not as a title, but as a presence. The hymn, "Jesu dulcis," is the beautiful hymn of the Holy Name.

On New Year's Day we celebrate the Octave of the Nativity of Our Lord and Jesus' Circumcision, tied to the Jewish history of the Old Covenant.

Fr. Scott Haynes Meditation for the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas “When a profound stillness compassed everything, and the night in its swift course was half spent, Your all-powerful Word, O Lord, bounded from heaven’s royal throne.” (Introit, Sunday within the Octave of Christmas) Holy Church places these words upon our lips during the sacred hush of the Christmas octave, inviting us to contemplate not noise, but silence; not haste, but divine initiative; not human e

Learn about the types of martyrs kept in the Church's calendar during the Christmas octave.

We remember the slaughter of the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem annually on December 28th.