The Catholic Church has always been a glorious melting pot of different charisms, spiritualities, and worship styles. It’s what makes her attractive, triumphant, and true. We often hear of charisms and spirituality in reference to religious orders and the saints, but have…

Later this week a young Melbourne priest, who belongs to a congregation in Chartres in France, will be presenting a talk at the Ballarat Cathedral on pilgrimage.  Each year at Pentecost, Fr Murphy is one of the chaplains to some ten thousand pilgrims as …

As well as being known for their academic prowess and excellence in preaching, the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans) count amongst themselves a number of famous artists.  Arguably the most well-known of these is Fra Angelico whose beautiful frescos …

“Come, Holy Spirit, come!”  So begins the Sequence we hear at Mass on Pentecost Sunday invoking the Spirit to come upon us and refresh our weary hearts. A Sequence is a rare occurrence in the liturgy.  It is sung routinely only twice a year, on Easter Sunday and…

Ask people what their favourite liturgy of the year is and few will answer as I do.  I can understand that it’s hard to go past the joyful carols of the Christmas Masses, or the beauty of a flower filled church for Easter.  For me though, it’s the liturgy of Holy Thursday …

This has been a great week of celebration for us Catholics with the feast days of two doctors of the Church—St Francis de Sales and St Thomas Aquinas—and the feast of the Conversion of St Paul.  All three of these saints have had a profound impact on me over the …

The beginning of a new year signals an opportunity of renewal and the commitment to forming good habits. As often as not these fall away as the pressures of the year mount, but our commitment to renewal each new year indicates the genuineness of our hearts …