'O Come, O Come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel...that mourns in lonely exile here...until the Son of God appear.' These words of the beautiful Advent Carol struck me deeply this week and I carried them with me and deeply pondered them. By Walter Langley They got me thinking about the word 'mournful'. I often find … Continue reading How Long O Lord
We thought we would do something a little different today. The feast of St Nicholas is tomorrow and it is traditionally to bake some form of gingerbread for this great feast for children. Anne Maree Quinn in the video below tells us about St Nicholas as well as shows us how she is baking her … Continue reading Baking with St Nicholas
"Mother of Life" By Nellie Edwards In 2017 when we first started looking at what Anima was called to do we put together something of an "online retreat" for Advent especially for those who find getting to a physical place hard. It feels a little ironic in 2020 to say that! As I was going … Continue reading Advent in 2020
When the Vatican recently declared changes to the plenary indulgences available during November I got quite excited. In light of the challenges the world is facing, Pope Francis has extended the timeframe for the indulgence associated with visiting a burial ground and offering prayers for the dead. This year you may now receive the indulgence … Continue reading To Wander in Charity – Graveyards and the Holy Souls
One of the many Churches I visited during my time living in Europe was the Capuchin Church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccin in Rome. What is remarkable about this Church is that the crypt contains the skeletal remains of 3,700 bodies of Capuchin Friars. When I brought my parents on a visit there, my enthusiasm … Continue reading Why the obsession with bones? – All Hallows Eve
In these unfamiliar days of the sacred three days (The Triduum of the Paschal Mysteries) each of us is confined physically to our domestic spaces- which Anima hope can become tiny – domestic Churches in which we walk in the saving footsteps of the Lord. We have collected a couple of resources for you to … Continue reading Good Friday Reflections For Your Domestic Church
We here at Anima Women's Network wish you a most holy, a blessed Easter. Let us pray that we can have the faith and the joy of our patronesses, holy myrrh bearers who found that Christ had indeed risen. An Easter Sermon from St. John Chrysostom Is there anyone who is a devout lover of … Continue reading To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!
Thank you to Fr Anthony Denton for this homily on the Gospel for this Sunday John 12:20-33 During the week it emerged that Rex Tillerson, the Secretary of State (or Foreign Minister) of the most powerful country in the world learnt of his sacking by President Trump via a “tweet” on the social network Twitter. … Continue reading We should like to See Jesus
The following is a beautiful reflection on this Sunday's Gospel, Mark 1:12-15 from Aid to the Church in Need. St Gregory of Nyssa wrote in De Spiritu Sancto (On the Holy Spirit) that “we are not to think of the Father as ever parted from the Son, nor to look for the Son as separate … Continue reading The Three Pillars of our Lenten Journey – The Kingdom of God is at Hand.
Thank you to Fr Robert Krishna OP for this homily on the Gospel reading of today. It is such a difficult Gospel to unpack and he has done it so beautifully and given us much food for thought as we look to what we wish to accomplish in our spiritual lives this Lent. Jesus’ behaviour in today’s … Continue reading Jesus heals the Leper – Encapsulating Christ’s Mission
