Melanie Rigney's Blog, page 90

Wednesday’s Woman: Blessed Ursulina of Parma

The Basics:Born May 14, 1375, in Parma, Italy; died in 1408 in Verona, Italy; beatified February 11, 1786, by Pope Pius VI; feast day, April 7. Mystic.

The Story:Ursulina’s story has some of the same elements as Catherine of Siena’s, though Ursulina is much less remembered. Her mystical relationship with the Lord began very early, and by the time she was nine, she asked a priest to serve as the first of what would prove to be seven transcribers of the visions she received. Ursulina was only f...

“To My God and Your God”

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod , owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

The inclusive language may not have struck Mary Magdalene and Jesus’s other followers, not at first.

But in today’s Gospel reading from John 20, after Mary finds him alive and well outside the tomb, he talks not only of going to His Father and His God… but also to “your Father… and your God.”

For while Jesus’s relationship with the Father, seated at His right han...

Returning Catholics FAQs: About Communion and Other Faiths

O n Mondays, I answer questions frequently asked by those considering a return to the Catholic Church. How do I know this stuff? I was away for more than 30 years myself, and am the co-author of When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics , a book for pastors and parish leaders interested in this ministry.

Why are non-Catholics excluded from taking communion at our Church?Should I take communion if I’m attending a wedding or other service at a Protestant church?

As Catholics, we be...

While Your Temple Still Survives…

Note: A longer version of the post below appears at Your Daily Tripod , owned by my friend TonyD.

Estimates are that around 50,000 people lived in Jerusalem in Jesus’ time. But the number in town swelled by more than double, perhaps by five times, for holidays such as Passover. One might imagine the city fairly bursting at the seams, with visiting relatives and other pilgrims.

Imagine how the average resident or visitor have reacted to the crucifixion of three men, one of them whom some said wa...

Wednesday’s Women: Sts. Irene, Agape, and Chionia

The Basics:Birthdates unknown, in Greece; died 304, in Greece; canonized pre-congregation; feast day, April 3. Martyrs.

The Story:Irene’s older sisters, Agape and Chionia, had been burned alive. Their “crimes” had included possessing holy scriptures and refusing to eat meat sacrificed to the gods. Irene remained steadfast in refusing to participate in the sacrifice, and was sent naked to a brothel. When she emerged unmolested, she too was killed, either by fire or by an arrow in her throat.

I...

On the Nightstand: April 2015

I don’t read as much fiction as I once did, which makes me sad sometimes. But that sort of reading seems to get crowded out by the daily readings, devotions, and writings by or about the saints.

Not this month! I met Bill Peak, the author of The Oblate’s Confession,at a writers’ conference in February, and he was kind enough to give me a copy of his new novel. It’s the story of a 7th century boy in England who is in essence given to a monastery. I’m about twenty pages in, and Bill’s storytell...

Being Christ in Our Lives: Mary Ann Rozum

St. Frances Cabrini once said, “Give me a heart as big as the universe.” I don’t know if my friend Mary Ann Rozum here in northern Virginia ever prays that prayer, but she lives it every day. Mary Ann’s heart is almost as huge as her faith.

Now retired, her federal career took her to every state and many countries. She always dove in and reflected Christ in the communities she found during those assignments.Mary Ann also is devoted to her family, her friends, and those in need, as evidenced b...

Returning Catholics FAQs: About the True Presence

O n Mondays, I answer questions frequently asked by those considering a return to the Catholic Church. How do I know this stuff? I was away for more than 30 years myself, and am the co-author of When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics , a book for pastors and parish leaders interested in this ministry.

I was raised Catholic. I didn’t understand the whole “true presence” thing at communion then, and I’m still not sure what it means.

Catholics believe that we are spiritually nour...

Wednesday’s Woman: St. Osburga of Coventry

The Basics:Birthdate and place unknown; died circa 1018 in England; canonized pre-congregation; feast day, March 30. Abbess.

The Story:We know little of Osburga’s time on earth, beyond that she was an abbess who was buried at what was then Coventry Cathedral. It proved to be a less than peaceful place; it was destroyed in a Viking raid and was rebuilt by Lady Godiva and her husband. Osburga’s influence continued, however; so many miracles were reported at her gravesite that a request by the t...

Of Faith, Endurance, and Vacations

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod , owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

There is a chapter in Little Women, that gorgeous family classic and allegory of spiritual journey a la Pilgrim’s Progress, in which the sisters take a break from their responsibilities for a week and their mother leaves them to their own devices.

Meg, the oldest, freed of her governess duties, sleeps in and shops and ruins some of the clothes she has by trying t...