Opening Prayer from the Mass of Blessed Timothy Giaccardo
God our Father, you sustained the life and apostolic work of Blessed Timothy, priest, with your radiant Word and strength-giving Eucharist. By the help of his prayers, may the instruments of social communication be used rightfully in promoting the good in the Church and in the world and help effectively in spreading the Gospel everywhere. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Our Father Saint Bruno
“Our Father Saint Bruno: this title does not raise thoughts in our minds of lengthy doctrine nor of elaborate teaching but rather the existence of a mature master who allowed himself to be seduced by the goodness of God and gave everything up for its sake. He has little else to tell us except his life in the desert where, in silent vigil, the pure gaze of love wounds the beloved’s heart.” ~Father General of the Carthusian Order. From a sermon about St. Bruno given by the Father General of the Carthusian Order at their General Chapter in 1983. It was given in conjunction in with the celebration of the n

Sign of the Cross
The reverent forming of the Sign of the Cross in the Carthusian manner. One of the first things a Postulant learns in the Charterhouse is the Carthusian Sign of the Cross: following the most ancient custom of the Church, the little finger and ring finger of the right hand are joined together and bent down to touch the thumb, leaving the index finger and the pointer finger joined together in an outstretched upright position. (This forms the ancient Christogram IX XC with the fingers: the little “pinkie” finger being the I, the ring finger and thumb being the C, and the index and pointer fingers forming the X.) When tracing the cross on the body, the hand in this

Carthusian Prostration
The Carthusian Prostration happens during Mass from the beginning of the canon to the end of the canon, and during the thanksgiving after Mass. One gets down on the floor, laying on the right side, and supports oneself up on the right elbow, slightly twisting the upper body to the left so that the left hand can be joined with the right hand folded in front of the body, and the head tilting down slightly over the hands. It is easier to do on a step or on a kneeler than on a flat surface, although it is done in the Charterhouse on the floors of the choir stalls on either side of the Church. (All Charterhouse Churches are solemnly consecrated by a Bishop, as are all the private mass chapel

A Deeper Longing: The Liberation of Desire in the Dark Night
“Drawing from a number of contemporary philosophical and psychological sources, she [Constance Fitzgerald OCD] described the dark night as ‘a purification of the spirit,’ and not as a direct experience of God, but rather an experience of our inability to grasp God’s presence. She noted that our attempts at experiencing God are burdened by negative memories and patterns of expectation of both God and prayer. Our memories are ‘obsessed with the past.’ Because these memories can color our meaning of the present and future, what is needed to free and purify our desire is an experience of an emptying or an annihilation of memory. This process r