Universalis: Mass & Liturgy of the Hours

The time after the Resurrection comes to the end: the Ascension approaches. Feet or sandals? Theo-drama, and the Ascension as drama. The Liturgy of the Hours continued: Vespers. Episode notes.

Fish shops and the Letter to Diognetus. The origins of the Liturgy of the Hours. A detailed walk through Lauds (Morning Prayer). Episode notes.

The first mention of Christians. The disciple Jesus loved and why his Gospel is different. How the Apocalypse nearly didn’t make it into the Bible, and why we should be glad it did. The importance of Saint Joseph the Worker. Episode notes.

The saints are back again! Mark; Justin (165); Ephraem, Marcellinus, Vincent, Domninus (4th century); Erkenwald and Egbert (7th century); Adalbert (10th century); Anselm (11th century); then back to George. ANZAC day and the secrets of the warriors. Episode notes.

Back to normal, but keeping up the Easter joy. The hands and the side: nothing abolished but everything healed. The same thing in our own lives. Dante, Lethe and Eunoë. What Thomas needed to know. Faith and reason are not opposites: a mathematical example. The first steps of the baby Church. The Easter Alleluias in Universalis. Episode notes.

Without hindsight, the desolation of the Apostles and how we share in it. The Easter Vigil and the ultimate surprise of the Resurrection. What Jesus’ resurrection can tell us about our own resurrected life. Episode notes.

Original sin: a chemical parable. The Atonement or At-one-ment: a tale from school. Love as a blank cheque: ‘Whatever happens – shall happen’. The days of Holy Week. Episode notes.

The Sun and Moon as timekeepers; the rivers proclaiming our place in Lent. Science as a love letter from God. The final miracle: the raising of Lazarus. Being together in desolation. The strong women of salvation history.

St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland: his life and his breastplate. Sin: what makes a sin a sin? The Seven Deadly Sins and the Divine Comedy. The other story of the healing of a blind man. Episode notes.

The Samaritan Woman at the well. Sin: responsibility and healing: ‘I did it’ and ‘I didn’t do it.’ The readings of the week. St Etheldreda’s and the tax-collectors. Episode notes.

The Transfiguration and Duccio’s Maestà: a Lenten puzzle for art history and for theology. The command not to pass judgement, and the duty to judge. Episode notes.

Lent: self-love and self-discipline. From passive to active. Learning to do. Julian of Norwich and ‘Revelations of Divine Love’. Episode notes.

The liturgy of the Vietnamese New Year and its lessons for us all. Ash Wednesday. Prayer, almsgiving and fasting as forms of agency. Episode notes.

Saint Scholastica; the Shipwreck of St Paul; Our Lady of Lourdes; Saints Cyril and Methodius, and the Basilica of San Clemente. Episode notes.

Candlemas, the feast of the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of the Lord. Purification. The celebration and sanctification of transitions. The hundredth episode!! Episode notes.

Sunday of the Word of God. Reading; listening; commentaries. Lectio Divina. Saint Thomas Aquinas. Another Creed in Slow Motion interview. Episode notes.

What! No wedding feasts?? Universalis to the rescue. Plus a constellation of saints across the centuries and across the world: Publius, Marianne, Wulfstan, Henry, Henry, Cyprian, (Agnes, Fabian, Sebastian), Francis, and the Holy Child. Episode notes.

The Three Kings, the crib, and the reality of Christianity. The meaning of our past. Baptism of the Lord. Baptism. Commemorating our own baptism. The uncanonised Henry Edward Manning. Episode notes.

The Epiphany. Melchizedek and the Magi. Episode notes.

The Christmas feasts. The Holy Family. The Finding in the Temple. St Thomas Becket. The Mother of God. Episode notes.

The O Antiphons concluded. Ahaz: prayer vs. bothering God. Christmas starts the night before. Which is more important, Christmas or Easter? Incarnation, rescue and love. Stephen (and Paul). John. Episode notes.

The rose vestments on the 3rd Sunday of Advent. The beginning of the final countdown to Christmas. The ancient O Antiphons. The Latin hymns, and our project to record them. Episode notes.

More Isaiah. Rejoicing. Joy and pleasure and the true meaning of Christmas. Church liturgy and family liturgy. The story of the flaming Christmas pudding. How the Gospels this week explain Isaiah. The Immaculate Conception. Our Lady of Guadalupe and Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin. Episode notes.

Looking forward to the unknown Chr–––––s which is coming, just as the Jews looked forward to the unsuspected glory of the Nativity. Isaiah teaches us by looking beyond the turbulent history of his time. His daily prophecies, day by day. Subscribing to Universalis and giving it as a gift. Saint Francis Xavier; Saint Nicholas. Episode notes.

Preparation for Death (continued): Confession, The Sacrament of the Sick, Prayer.Conclusion. Episode notes.

Preparation for Death: Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist. Episode notes.

Christ the King and ourselves as kings. “A king, not a thing”. How to live our kingship and respect the kingship of others. The Vietnamese martyrs, St Niels Steensen, the Holy Crucifix at Goa. Episode notes.

The Moment of Choice (continued): the Resurrection of the Body; Heaven. Episode notes.

The Moment of Choice: Judgement; Purgatory; Hell. Episode notes.

“Resurrection Is Now” and the power of reading aloud. “We are delighted to report the death of…” and gold vestments at funerals. The date of the end of the world: a thought-experiment. Wine; work; liturgy; and fulfilment for those who struggle after losing everything. The new colour selection feature in Universalis. Episode notes.

“By a man came death.”“By a man came resurrection from the dead.” Episode notes.

Death as the Beginning: Natural Resurrection, The Death of Isolation. Episode notes.

I am getting over a cold, so have no voice to record with this week. Sorry about that. As a substitute, here is the podcast from this time last year (from 10 to 16 November 2024). The days of the week will be out of step, so that when the podcast says “Monday”, please hear “Tuesday”. Normal service will be resumed next week! Saints Martin of Tours, Margaret of Scotland, Elizabeth of Hungary and Albert the Great. Friar Julian, the lost Hungarians and the Mongols. More of the gift of death. Episode notes.

Death as the End (continued): The Death of the World The Death of Others Our Own Death Episode notes.

Foreword; Prologue; Death as the End: The Death of Experience, The Death of Love.Dom Aelred Watkin (1918-1997) was a wise and respected Head Master of Downside from 1962 to 1975."Resurrection is Now" is a rare opportunity to benefit from his understanding. This book covers death in all its aspects, both as an end and as a beginning, and looks at life from the perspective of a preparation for death. It combines intellectual rigour with a poetic delight in the wonder of being in all its aspects.You can listen to the book here, or you can read it as a Daily Book in Universalis: the Episode Notes have instructions. Episode notes.

All Souls' Day. Why we pray for the dead. Bereavement as the next step in a relationship. Keeping track of deceased friends with the Remembrance Cards feature. Dom Aelred Watkin and his book “Resurrection is Now" - as a Daily Book in Universalis and now also read aloud for you to listen to. Episode notes.

Simon and Jude, the unknown Apostles. Saint Alfonso Rodríguez. All Saints means ALL the saints. An exercise for All Saints’ Day. Episode notes.

Pope St John Paul II. The Ugandan martyrs. St John Capistrano and the minaret on St Paul's. St Anthony Mary Claret: assassinations and books. Episode notes.

Two kinds of outsiders: lepers, and gentiles. The God-fearers. Blessed John Beyzym and the lepers of Madagascar. This Sunday in Brazil: Our Lady of Aparecida and the unexpected people whose patron she is. Devotions to “Our Lady Of” worldwide: incarnation implies location. Keeping popular piety under control. Irish missionaries, Saint Gall and the bear. Saint Teresa turning the Carmelites into Carmelites. Dr Saint Luke being polite about doctors. Episode notes.

The prophet Jonah. Saint Abraham. Saint John Henry Newman. Episode notes.

The week of the angels and the crack in the clouds. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, and the Guardian Angels. St Jerome; the Brazilian Martyrs of Natal. St Thérèse of Lisieux and St Francis of Assisi. A report on the Southwark Day for Catechists. Episode notes.

Saint Matthew and his Gospel. Why have Gospels? Why have three synoptic Gospels? The madness of Q. Can investment bankers be saved? Episode notes.

Faith: more than a theological virtue. Hope: a hard virtue. The civilised martyrdom of St Cyprian. The Korean martyrs: "I am".

Saints, Blesseds, and canonisation. Our relationship with the saints. Blessed (soon to be Saint) Pier Giorgio Frassati and Blessed (soon to be Saint) Carlo Acutis. Saint Peter Claver. Episode notes.

Confirmation, catechesis and the Creed. "I" and "we" revisited. Saint Gregory the Great; bishops as icebergs. Mother Teresa and why people hate her. More saints to hate! Differing views of judgement. The Litany of Loreto. Episode notes.

The end of the world and the Day of the Lord. Zephaniah and how to read a prophet. ‘Whom the Lord loveth, he chastiseth.’ Saint Louis. St John Chrysostom. Saints Monica and Augustine. Our Lady of Częstochowa (and Hilaire Belloc). Episode notes.

Our Lady, Mother and Queen. The Rosary, Scripture verses, Danish and Latin. Southwark Cathedral and its catechists. We are all catechists of a kind: here's how Universalis and The Creed in Slow Motion can help. Episode notes.

The Assumption: what exactly it means. The birth of a doctrine and its development. The Old Testament roots of Marian belief. Episode notes.

Abraham's Auction revisited. Why we need so many saints. The Curé of Ars. Saint Cajetan. How can bankers be saved? Episode notes.

An “ordinary spirituality” for the slow river of Ordinary Time. Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus. “Too many saints!” Saint Olaf Haraldson, King of Norway. India, and Saint Alphonsa Muttathupadathu. Blessed Justin de Jacobis in Abyssinia. Episode notes.