Author Archives: Br. Dominic Sternhagen

  I recently had the grace to spend some days of retreat in Cheshire. Ten years ago I walked those halls as a first year novice, and the memories that flooded my thoughts and prayers these days were innumerable, both … Continue reading →

My favorite moment of Pope Francis’s installation mass was actually before he came out of St Peter’s. Some brothers and I had managed, thanks to a combination of factors (nice guards, neat cassocks and empty seats), to get into the … Continue reading →

Everyone has their own story, and most of the ones coming out of the seminary here are adventurous, desperate tales of mad sprints in cassock, leather dress shoes disintegrating under the strain, through the driving rain, dodging nuns and Roman … Continue reading →

Today is a cold grey day, one of those days where the sun is just a patch of lighter grey in the steely sky. From my office I can just make out Castel Gandolfo, perched on the rim of ancient … Continue reading →

The feast of the Chair of St Peter. A week from today that chair will be empty. But Benedict has been the Pope of my vocation, and I think it is fitting on this day to pay him tribute for … Continue reading →

Habemus papam? Yes! At the beginning of the Holy Father´s last Homily, given on Ash Wednesday, I was struck by the words: “Tonight we are gathered around the tomb of the Apostle Peter, to request his intercession for the Church’s … Continue reading →

Seated at last in St. Peter’s Basilica, waiting for mass to begin, I had a few moments to reflect on this unique moment that we are living. There had been the usual rush from the house to catch the train, … Continue reading →

Gorse is a spiny shrub common across Western Europe, but particularly prevalent in Ireland and England. I knew of it from almost as far back as I can remember, listening to my mother read to us from Winnie the Pooh, … Continue reading →

Material things come and go, but Thornwood came and went perhaps quicker than most.  I was deeply saddened when I heard the news – who would not be, who had found there a home. And yet we have no lasting … Continue reading →