St Philip the Apostle
"Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us. Whoever has seen me, Philip, has seen the Father also, alleluia." – John 14:8-9. 6th-century mosaic from San Vitale in Ravenna.
Source: Lawrence OP on Flickr

Make Your Home in Me
"Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that bears no fruit he cuts away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes to make it bear even more. You are pruned already, by means of the word that I have spoken to you. Make your home in me, as I make mine in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself, but must remain part of the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is like a branch that has been thrown away – he withers; these branches are collected and thrown on the fire, and they are burnt. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask what you will and you shall get it. It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit, and then you will be my disciples.’" – John 15:1-8, which is the …More

Saint Joseph the Worker
"O God, who in your inexpressible providence were pleased to choose Saint Joseph as spouse of the most holy Mother of your Son, grant, we pray, that we, who revere him as our protector on earth, may be worthy of his heavenly intercession. Through Christ our Lord. Amen." Today, 1 May, is the feast of St Joseph the Worker. May he pray for us and especially for all who labour for God's glory. This painting is from Salamanca Cathedral. My homily for today's feast can be read here.
Source: Lawrence OP on Flickr

Pope Saint Pius V
This photo is of the relics of the Dominican Saint and Pope Pius V, who is enshrined in the basilica of St Mary Major in Rome. Below is part of my exhortation given at the 8pm Live-streamed Rosary: "Today is also the feast of the great Pope of the Rosary, Saint Pius V, who in 1571 asked the Rosary Confraternity to pray for victory at Lepanto. 450 years ago that victory was won by the intercession of Our Lady, and through the praying of the Rosary by countless faithful Christians. Consequently Pope St Pius V instituted the feast of Our Lady of Victory which we now remember as the Feast of the Holy Rosary in October. He also greatly encouraged Catholics to join the Rosary Confraternity, a spiritual network of Christians who are bound simply by the commitment to pray fifteen decades of the Rosary every week, and who are thus enrolled in the Rosary Confraternity run by the Dominicans. Especially as our Holy Father Pope Francis has called on the whole Catholic world to pray …More

St Catherine of Siena stained glass
"Catherine blessed the Creator of all things, who shows the path of blessedness to mortal men." – Benedictus antiphon for the feast of St Catherine of Siena. Stained glass from the chapel of St Dominic's Sixth Form College in Harrow.
Source: Lawrence OP on Flickr

Saint Catherine of Siena fresco
"O most worthy spouse of Christ, the light of prophecy illumined you, apostolic zeal inflamed you, the laurel of virgins crowned you, and the fire of divine love consumed you, alleluia." – Magnificat antiphon for the feast of St Catherine of Siena. Fresco in the Museum of San Marco in Florence.
Source: Lawrence OP on Flickr

Lumen Christi
"I, the light, have come into the world, so that whoever believes in me need not stay in the dark any more. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them faithfully, it is not I who shall condemn him, since I have come not to condemn the world, but to save the world." – John 12:46-47, which is part of today's Gospel at Mass. My homily for today's feast of St Louis Marie de Montfort is online here. This photo shows the Paschal candle burning in the Rosary Shrine in London.
Source: Lawrence OP on Flickr

Our Lady of Montserrat
"I praise, bless and honor Thee sovereign Queen of Montserrat to be the Mother of God, because by the grace of the Holy Spirit the Divine Word became incarnate in your pure womb. I ask for my soul, faithfulness and perseverance in serving my God and Lord Jesus Christ." Amen. Today, 27 April, is the feast of Our Lady of Montserrat. Today is also the 53rd anniversary of the Abortion Act in the UK. We ask Our Lady to have mercy and take home to God all the aborted, to convert and console all the victims of abortion, and to help those who fight for a more just and pro-Life society. Stained glass window from the church of Our Lady of Covadonga in Mexico City.
Source: Lawrence OP on Flickr

I am the gate of the sheepfold
"Jesus said: ‘I tell you most solemnly, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but gets in some other way is a thief and a brigand. The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock; the gatekeeper lets him in, the sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out. When he has brought out his flock, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow because they know his voice. They never follow a stranger but run away from him: they do not recognise the voice of strangers.’ Jesus told them this parable but they failed to understand what he meant by telling it to them. So Jesus spoke to them again: ‘I tell you most solemnly, I am the gate of the sheepfold. All others who have come are thieves and brigands; but the sheep took no notice of them. I am the gate. Anyone who enters through me will be safe: he will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and …More

The Good Shepherd
"Jesus said: ‘I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep. The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and the sheep do not belong to him, abandons the sheep and runs away as soon as he sees a wolf coming, and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep; this is because he is only a hired man and has no concern for the sheep." – John 10:11-13, which is part of today's Gospel at Mass (4th Sun of Easter). Floor tiles from the convent chapel of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration of Our Lady of Solitude Monastery in Tonopah, AZ.
Source: Lawrence OP on Flickr

St Erkonwald
"Lord God, you counted Saints Mellitus and Erkenwald among your holy pastors renowned for faith and love which overcame darkness in this world. By the help of their prayers keep us strong in faith and love and let us come to share in their glory. Through Christ our Lord. Amen." – Collect for the feast of SS Mellitus and Erkenwald, bishops of London. My Homily for today's feast can be read here. Stained glass from St Dominic's Priory church in London.
Source: Lawrence OP on Flickr

Saint George
"O God, the merits and prayers of Your blessed martyr George are a source of happiness for us. Grant us as a gift of grace the blessings we seek through him." Amen. Stained glass window from Norwich Cathedral.
Source: Lawrence OP on Flickr

St Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
"The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, ‘Be ready to set out at noon along the road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza, the desert road.’ So he set off on his journey. Now it happened that an Ethiopian had been on pilgrimage to Jerusalem; he was a eunuch and an officer at the court of the kandake, or queen, of Ethiopia, and was in fact her chief treasurer. He was now on his way home; and as he sat in his chariot he was reading the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and meet that chariot.’ When Philip ran up, he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ ‘How can I’ he replied ‘unless I have someone to guide me?’ So he invited Philip to get in and sit by his side. Now the passage of scripture he was reading was this: Like a sheep that is led to the slaughter-house, like a lamb that is dumb in front of its shearers, like these he never opens his mouth. He has been humiliated and has …More

Saint Anselm of Canterbury
“For we affirm that the Divine nature is beyond doubt impassible, and that God cannot at all be brought down from his exaltation, nor toil in anything which he wishes to effect. But we say that the Lord Jesus Christ is very God and very man, one person in two natures, and two natures in one person. When, therefore, we speak of God as enduring any humiliation or infirmity, we do not refer to the majesty of that nature, which cannot suffer; but to the feebleness of the human constitution which he assumed. And so there remains no ground of objection against our faith. For in this way we intend no debasement of the Divine nature, but we teach that one person is both Divine and human. In the incarnation of God there is no lowering of the Deity; but the nature of man we believe to be exalted.” ― Anselm of Canterbury, in 'Cur Deus Homo'. Today, 21 April, is the feast of St Anselm, Doctor of the Church, and this statue of him is in the monastic church of San Anselmo …More

St Agnes of Montepulciano
St Agnes was born at Gracciano, Italy, of a rich family in the year 1268. At the age of nine she entered the monastery of Montepulciano and at the age of fifteen by indult of the Supreme Pontiff made profession at the monastery of Viterbo, whose foundation she had actively promoted. After twenty-two years, at the entreaties of the people of Montepulciano, she returned there in 1306 to found a new monastery under the Rule of St Augustine. After a few years she placed this monastery under the direction of the Order of Preachers, being eager to seek evangelical perfection under the Dominican rule. Full of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Agnes was devoted to the Infant Jesus and the Virgin Mary, and she was a shining example of prayer and charity. Many miracle attended her, and manna fell about her during prayer. It was reported that she would sometimes be consumed in rapturous prayer, and a white, frosty-looking manna would appear on her cloak and in the place where …More

Raised from the Dead
"Peter said to the people: ‘You are Israelites, and it is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, who has glorified his servant Jesus, the same Jesus you handed over and then disowned in the presence of Pilate after Pilate had decided to release him. It was you who accused the Holy One, the Just One, you who demanded the reprieve of a murderer while you killed the prince of life. God, however, raised him from the dead, and to that fact we are the witnesses. ‘Now I know, brothers, that neither you nor your leaders had any idea what you were really doing; this was the way God carried out what he had foretold, when he said through all his prophets that his Christ would suffer. Now you must repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out.’" – Acts 3:13-15,17-19, which is today's 1st reading at Mass. Detail from a silver retable of the Resurrection of Christ, from the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
Source: Lawrence OP on Flickr

The Word of God spreads
"The word of the Lord continued to spread: the number of disciples in Jerusalem was greatly increased, and a large group of priests made their submission to the faith." – Acts 6:7, which is part of today's 1st reading at Mass. Detail from a window in Holy Trinity church, Sloane Square, London.
Source: Lawrence OP on Flickr

St Bernadette Soubirous
"O Saint Bernadette, who, as a meek and pure child, did eighteen times at Lourdes contemplate the beauty of the Immaculate Mother of God and received her messages, and who afterwards wished to hide yourself from the world in the convent of Nevers, and to offer thyself there as a victim for the conversion of sinners, obtain for us the grace of purity, simplicity and mortification that we also may attain to the vision of God and of Mary in Heaven. Amen." Ivory sculpture of St Bernadette from a reliquary shrine in Lourdes.
Source: Lawrence OP on Flickr

Obedience to God
"‘Obedience to God comes before obedience to men; it was the God of our ancestors who raised up Jesus, but it was you who had him executed by hanging on a tree. By his own right hand God has now raised him up to be leader and saviour, to give repentance and forgiveness of sins through him to Israel. We are witnesses to all this, we and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.’" – Acts 5:29-32, which is part of today's 1st reading at Mass. Photo of the Altar Cross in St Dominic's Priory church, London.
Source: Lawrence OP on Flickr

The one who lives by the Truth comes out into the Light
"Jesus said to Nicodemus: ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved. No one who believes in him will be condemned; but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already, because he has refused to believe in the name of God’s only Son. On these grounds is sentence pronounced: that though the light has come into the world men have shown they prefer darkness to the light because their deeds were evil. And indeed, everybody who does wrong hates the light and avoids it, for fear his actions should be exposed; but the man who lives by the truth comes out into the light, so that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done in God.’" – John 3:16-21, which is today's Gospel. Photo from St Dominic's church in San Francisco, CA.
Source: …More