Our Lady's Chapel

Our Lady's Chapel at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis is always a favorite. I took this photo after Our Mother of Perpetual Help devotion here.

This particular image is quite large - 3 feet by 2 feet at full resolution. If you click the image, you can see it at full size.

"What manner of man ought to come to rule"

That man, therefore, ought by all means to be drawn with cords to be an example of good living who already lives spiritually, dying to all passions of the flesh; who disregards worldly prosperity; who is afraid of no adversity; who desires only inward wealth; whose intention the body, in good accord with it, thwarts not at all by its frailness, nor the spirit greatly by its disdain: one who is not led to covet the things of others, but gives freely of his own; who through the bowels of compassion is quickly moved to pardon, yet is never bent down from the fortress of rectitude by pardoning more than is meet; who perpetrates no unlawful deeds, yet deplores those perpetrated by others as though they were his own; who out of affection of heart sympathizes with another's infirmity, and so rejoices in the good of his neighbour as though it were his own advantage; who so insinuates himself as an example to others in all he does that among them he has nothing, at any rate of his own past deeds, to blush for; who studies so to live that he may be able to water even dry hearts with the streams of doctrine; who has already learned by the use and trial of prayer that he can obtain what he has requested from the Lord, having had already said to him, as it were, through the voice of experience, While you are yet speaking, I will say, Here am I (Isaiah 58:9).

— Pastoral Rule, Saint Gregory the Great (ca. 540 — 12 March 604)

Today is the Feast of Pope Saint Gregory I, the Great, in the new Roman liturgical calendar. His feast day is held on March 12^th in the old General Roman Calendar, as well as on the calendars of the Eastern Churches, Catholic and Orthodox, where he is often called Gregory Dialogus.

Saint Stephen of Hungary

Saint Stephen, King of Hungary, places his symbols of power at Our Lady's feet. At Saint Mary of Victories Church, in Saint Louis.

"How to read a church"

From the Cathedral of Saint Peter, in Belleville, Illinois:

Adult Faith Formation

at the Cathedral of St. Peter, Belleville

"HOW TO READ A CHURCH"

Three Thursday evenings in September at 7:00 PM

The great churches and cathedrals were originally built to be "read". They are alive with images and symbolism -- great and small -- all of which are packed with meaning. But today few people, from parishioners to pilgrims, truly understand the wealth of meaning in what they find there.

How to Read a Church is for those who want to know more about what they see in a church or cathedral : the significance of church layout ... the importance of the altar, the ambo, the font, the bishop's cathedra ...such details as the use of colors or patterns, the identity and significance of people and scenes, the symbolism of animals, plants, numbers, and letters ... the meaning of it all for us here and now ... and in the life of the world to come.

Presented by Father John Myler and Father Steven Beatty:

Thursday evening, September 10

"The Church Building and the Cross of Christ"

Thursday evening, September 17

"The Church Building and the People of God"

Thursday evening, September 24

"The Church Building and the New Jerusalem"

Adults, families, groups welcome to join us! Call 618-234-1166 for information.

Kenrick-Glennon Seminary

A photo of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, in Shrewsbury, Missouri. The tower of the seminary is a familiar sight to those who travel along Watson Road near the Saint Louis city limits.