Posts by Fr Jay Scott Newman

Dear Friends in Christ, The popular Advent Hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” took shape in France in the 17th century and was translated into English and set to the hauntingly beautiful plainchant melody we know in the 19th century. But the text of the hymn dates from the 9th century and earlier and is…

Dear Friends in Christ, On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I arrived on campus in mid-afternoon to set up for Confessions and Mass, and I met a couple in Miller Square who were taking pictures of the church and columbarium. I welcomed them to St. Mary’s and invited them to stay for Mass, and they explained…

Dear Friends in Christ, Though not observed this year because it falls on a Sunday, December 7th is the feast of Saint Ambrose of Milan, one of the most remarkable bishops of the early Church. Aurelius Ambrosius was born around the year 340 in the city of Trier, now in Germany but then in the…

Dear Friends in Christ, “It was December, and another Christmas was at our throats.” The English humorist P.G. Wodehouse thus described the unholy frenzy that too often accompanies the approach of December 25th, and it is a sentiment most of us can readily understand. To avoid succumbing to that feeling, we need to see what…

Dear Friends in Christ, Today, in every nation on earth, the Church rejoices that in Jesus Christ and by his victory over sin and death the Kingdom of God has come among us: a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace. “Worthy is the…

Dear Friends in Christ, Next week is the last Sunday of this Liturgical Year, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, and we will keep the feast with especially glorious music at the 9 and 11 am Masses. Then on Sunday evening at 7 pm, the choral ensemble Concordiae will perform…