From Season to Season

There is one Christ the Lord and His Church, a holy possession, is throughout the world.    — Saint Leander of Seville The anniversary of the dedication of the Roman Basilica of St. John Lateran, which was built by the Emperor Constantine in the year 324, has been observed on this day since the 12 th century. Although this feast, which celebrates that church which Pope Clement XII called “the Mother and Head of all the churches in the City and the world,” was once limited to the city of Rome, the celebration was extended to the whole Latin Rite Church in 1565.     The interior of the Basilica of St. John Lateran. The baldacchino (canopy) over the central papal altar contains relics of Ss. Peter and Paul. The papal altar, itself, incorporates the remains of a wooden table on which, according to tradition, St. Peter celebrated the Eucharist in the home of St. Pudens . To take a virtual tour of the Basilica, click here . ...

When I made my first vows as a Benedictine monk in 2004, I was very excited about the prospect of receiving a new (religious) name. The custom of the community of which I was a member is that the soon-to-be professed monk submits three preferred names to the abbot. The abbot, as head of the community, would then either pick one of the three names or select one of his own choosing. I spent weeks researching names. The only real considerations were that it had to be the name of a saint or beati and that there couldn’t be anyone else in the community with that name. In a community of more than 100 members, options were limited pretty quickly. But, I know a lot of saints and wasn’t put off by the prospect of having a name that was a bit out of the ordinary.    And so, I settled on my three choices: Leander , Silas, and Nicholas . Although the community had had Leanders and Nicholases in the past, Silas would be a first. And, after a few days of waiting, Silas was ...