Terrific FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT:  Canonization of Saint Junipero Serra

Terrific FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT: Canonization of Saint Junipero Serra

(originally posted Oct 13, 2015)—Well, as my T-shirt proclaims, “Pope Francis in America…. I WAS THERE.”  I was specifically there for the canonization of Fr. Serra, an old family friend so to speak.  Serra and I go way back–I knew him even before he was venerable.  One of the happy sources of this connection was…

Week 6:  In the words of the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah …

Week 6: In the words of the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah …

The Lord GOD has given mea well-trained tongue, That I might know how to speak to the wearya word that will rouse them. Morning after morninghe opens my ear that I may hear; And I have not rebelled,have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me,my cheeks to those who plucked…

Christ, the Morning Star

Christ, the Morning Star

Of the many scientific contributions made by priests, including Father Copernicus’s heliocentrism and Father Lemaître’s “Big Bang” theory, some would rank higher the invention of champagne by Dom Pérignon.    Something close to champagne had already been invented by monks near Carcassonne in the Abbey of Saint Hilaire in 1531. They were Benedictines like Pérignon,…