Thomas Kocik

Nov 12, 2024 | adoremus.org | Thomas Kocik |Jeremy J. Priest |Christopher Carstens |Joseph O'Brien

For a long time after gaining independence from the Dutch in 1830, Belgium was one of the world’s most ardently Catholic countries, producing such luminaries as St. Damien of Molokai (1840-89), the missionary priest who died ministering to lepers, and Father Georges Lemaître (1894-1966), the priest and physicist who proposed the Big Bang theory.

Sep 10, 2024 | adoremus.org | Robert Mixa |Thomas Kocik |Joseph O'Brien

September 15 is usually observed as Our Lady of Sorrows. The memorial is immediately adjacent to the Exaltation of the Cross, underscoring the linkage between Jesus’ Passion and Mary’s own sufferings. Only because September 15 is a Sunday in 2024 is the memorial preempted. Just in time for the occasion is a new book on “contemplating the Seven Sorrows” of Our Lady. The authors have assembled a formidable set of spiritual resources.

Aug 24, 2024 | adoremus.org | Jean Corbon |Thomas Kocik

Those of us old enough to remember the introduction of the Novus Ordo Missae (NOM) also remember some of the things that immediately stood out as different about the “new Mass.” One was the procession and presentation of the gifts. Suddenly, some of the sacred vessels—ciborium or cruets—were on a table in the back of the church rather than around the altar in the sanctuary. And lay persons would even touch them.

Jul 29, 2024 | adoremus.org | Carol Jones |Thomas Kocik |Aaron Sanders |Jean Corbon

To reasonably engage the “mare magnum” of liturgical books: this is the goal that Benedictine Father Cassian Folsom sets out to accomplish in his latest offering, The Liturgical Books of the Roman Rite: A Guide to the Study of their Typology and History. I opine that the learned Benedictine and well-regarded liturgical theologian succeeds in his task.

Jun 24, 2024 | adoremus.org | Christopher Carstens |Thomas Kocik |Jean Corbon

St. Peter and St. Paul were the master builders who executed the plans of the divine architect, Christ. Yet, the two could not have been more different. St. Peter was a hardscrabble fisherman with his brother, Andrew. Despite his human limitations and failures, he became the rock that supports the Church, shedding his blood by crucifixion in Rome. On the other hand, St. Paul came from Tarsus in modern-day Turkey, where his family were tent-makers.