The Fellowship of St. Columbanus

By: Evan Underbrink Rublev's ikon of the three angels I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds fro...

Acts 2:1-11 Psalm 104 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13/Galatians 5:16-25 I am eight months pregnant. This is obviously not something very unique, as millions of millions of women through time have at one point been in the same position. But I've been struggling with the waiting, trying to find ways to keep my mind and body busy with things that seem mostly quite trivial to me, while swinging from moments of energy to long bouts of lethargy. But at mass yesterday I was convicted of my impatience and self-pity, and prayed that the Spirit would give me strength to follow his lead in the things that I am called to, to be a good steward of the skills that he's given me for the growth of the Kingdom. I didn't at that point realize that today was Pentecost, and how appropriate my prayer was. Pentecost Jean Restout (1732) In our first reading in Acts, the drama of the scene and the speed of the action hits you in the face. The Spirit comes down with the sound of a strong driv...

St. John 17:11-19 I recognize that most of our readers are in the United States, where most dioceses transfer the Feast of the Ascension to today. However, because the Fellowship is currently working out of Europe, and here in the UK, Ascension is still celebrated on Thursday, we are going to be following local law and custom. Adoration of the Holy Trinity Albrecht Durer Before I became a Catholic, as a young Anglican studying for a master's in Religion, I stumbled upon an excerpt from St. Augustine's Psalmus Contra Partem Donati , or Psalm against the Sect of the Donatists . Being a student of Old Testament, these lines struck me: Undoubtedly in days gone by there were holy men as Scripture tells, For God state that he left behind seven thousand men in safety, And there are many priests and kings who are righteous under the law, There you find so many of the prophets, and many of the people too. Tell me which of the righteous of that time claimed an altar for h...

Triptych of the Ascension Fra Angelico The Incarnate Lord is enthroned over all Creation today! Human scars have been hallowed in Heaven! The King whose coronation was with thorns now sits On High and judges all hearts, all nations, and all the reaches of the Cosmos! God made flesh reigns in the spiritual realm and judges righteously. Proclaim the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord! Let messengers go forth. Tell it to the furthest reaches of his dominion that our God reigns! "Enough! The Resurrection, A heart's-clarion! Away grief's gasping, joyless days, dejection. Across my foundering deck shone A beacon, an eternal beam. Flesh fade, and mortal trash Fall to the residuary worm; world's wildfire, leave but ash: In a flash, at a trumpet crash, I am all at once what Christ is, since He was what I am, and This Jack, joke, poor potsherd, patch, matchwood, immortal diamond, Is immortal diamond." - Gerard Manley Hopkins

Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48 I Jhn 4:7-10 St. Jhn 15:9-17 The Baptism of Cornelius Trevisani, 1709. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. (John 15: 9-10) We see here in the Gospel of St. John the interconnection of love, and command. This chain of interaction is integral to understanding the atoning work of Christ for us. Through Christ, we are connected to the love of God, because Christ loves us, and God loves Christ. We know that God loves Christ, because Christ has kept his Father’s commandments. However, to remain in Christ’s love, we must keep his commandments. Remaining in Christ is not seen as an utter certainty, as Christ commands, cajoles, perhaps even pleads with us to remain in his love.  ...

Acts 9:26-31 Psalm 22 St. John 15:1-8 Today's psalm has two themes which tie together the lesson from Acts and the Gospel. The first is "be not far from me," which appears in verses 1, 11, and 19. It includes what I consider the most moving verse in the entire Psalter, "Be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help." This is coupled with a different refrain in the second half of the psalm, verses 17, 22, and 30, "I will tell." In verse 17 it is "I can tell (count) all my ribs," but in 22 it is transformed, "I will tell your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise You." And it ends with "It will be told concerning the Lord for a generation." Christ the True Vine 16th Century In our Gospel, Christ tells the Apostles that unless they abide in him, and he in them, they cannot bear fruit (St. Jn 15:5). Just as the Psalmist declares himself close to death if our Lord ...

Coptic painting of St. Mark Greetings in the name of Christ our Lord on the feast of St. Mark the Evangelist! "The Confucian Great Digest says that 'the chief way for the production of wealth' (and it is talking about real goods, not money) is 'that the producers be many and that the mere consumers be few...'. But even in the much-publicized rebellion of the young against the materialism of the affluent society, the consumer mentality is too often still intact: the standards of behavior are still those of kind and quantity, the security sought is still the security of numbers, and the chief motive is still the consumer's anxiety that he is missing out on what is 'in.' In this state of total consumerism--which is to say a state of helpless dependence on things and services and ideas and motives that we have forgotten how to provide ourselves--all meaningful contact between ourselves and the earth is broken. We do not understand the earth in terms ...