Today’s proper preface for the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is a synthesis of this mystery:

For you preserved the most Blessed Virgin Mary

She, the most pure Virgin, was to bring forth a Son,

And so, in company with the choirs of Angels,

A meditation on trust in God, preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Lyncroft Centre, Toronto, on the eve of the solemnity of the Immaculate conception.

Thumbnail: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Immaculate Conception, 1767, Prado, Madrid. 

St. Matthew 17:9a, 10-13 in which the disciples asked Jesus if he was Elijah.

I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

John the Baptist came to prepare the way for the Lord. It meant to create a favourable environment, a place that made easy to operate your life. Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches at Lyncroft Centre in Toronto on December 3, 2022.

Music: Amores de Estudiante by Carlos Gardel, arranged for guitar by Bert Alink 2018 Public domain in Canada

Thumbnail: Interior panels of the Braque Triptych. c. 1452, Louvre.

Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches on the feast of St. Andrew, Apostle, in Lyncroft Centre, Toronto. Saint Andrew is said to have preached the Gospel in Greece. There, in the city of Patras, he was martyred; he died nailed to a cross, like his divine Master. The priests of Achaia who witnessed his death write that his desire to be identified with Christ was so great that when he was being led toward the place of his martyrdom and saw the cross in the distance, he began to cry out what became a famous prayer; O bona crux, quæ decórem ex membris Dómini suscepísti "O good cross, made beautiful by the body of the Lord; long have I desired you, ardently have I loved you, unceasingly have I sought you out; and now you are ready for my eager soul. Receive me from among men and restore me to my Master, so that by means of you He may receive me who by means of you redeemed me.”

Music: Carlos Gardel, Amores de Estudiante, arranged for guitar by Bert Alink 2018 Public domain in Canada.

Thumbnail: Guillaume Courtois, Painting of the martyrdom of St. Andrew in the church of San Andrea Al Quirinale designed by G-L Bernini in Rome, 17th century.

Marana tha! Come, Lord Jesus!.  This is the very last word of the Bible, and it falls on the very last day of ordinary time. Tomorrow we will turn to advent, preparing ourselves for his coming at Christmas. What does it mean to be alert and ready for our death? Preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ernescliff College, Toronto on November 26, 2022.

Thumbnail: Tympanum from the Church of Ste-Foy, Conques, Paris, along the Way of Santiago. Romanesque.

Music: Carlos Gardel, Soledad, arranged for guitar by Bert Alink

St. Josemaria had a sense of excitement about what the Christian family could be like in the modern world. It was like an oasis that was nourished by this powerful underground source of fresh water, a human and divine love coming from the sacramental grace of matrimony. Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation on November 12, 2022 in Lancemore centre in Toronto.

Music: Carlos Gardel, Soledad, arranged for guitar by Bert Alink.

Thumbnail: Pieter de Hooch, The Courtyard of a House in Delft, 1658. National Gallery, London.

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Preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Lyncroft Centre: St. Josemaria wrote in the The Way 301 about what he described as that little group of men or a handful of women in the midst of a world crisis. They had a readiness to fight, a deep desire to be saints, and a willingness to fight. He used military imagery.

A secret, an open secret: these world crises are crises of saints.

God wants a handful of men 'of his own' in every human activity. And then... 'pax Christi in regno Christi — the peace of Christ in the kingdom of Christ'.

Music: Composed by Chiquinha Gonzaga, Lua Branca, arranged of guitar by Bert Alink.

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A meditation on the nature of freedom, preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai in Lyncroft Centre, November 2022.

We have been called to freedom (Gal 5:13). By letting Christ reign in our heart we acquire true freedom and conquer the slavery of sin: If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free (Jn 8:31-32). 

What is this freedom that we are meant to have? We know that it is good, but what exactly is it? Let's reflect more deeply on this. The Prelate of Opus Dei, Msgr. Ocariz spoke of the freedom of the children of God. “True freedom of spirit is this capacity and habitual attitude to act out of love, especially in the effort to follow what God is asking of us in each circumstance” (Pastoral Letter, 9 January 2018, 5).

Music: Carlos Gardel, Soledad, arranged for guitar by Bert Alink

Thumbnail: Peter Paul Rubens Christ's Charge to Peter, 1616, Wallace collection, London.

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Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches at Kintore College.

Luke 16:1-8: Jesus tells the parable of the shrewd steward:

‘There was a rich man and he had a steward denounced to him for being wasteful with his property. He called for the man and said, “What is this I hear about you? Draw me up an account of your stewardship because you are not to be my steward any longer.” (...) ‘The master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.’

In saving our soul and spreading the Kingdom of God, our Lord wants us to apply at least the same ingenuity and effort as people put into their worldly affairs or their attempts to attain some human ideal. 

Josemaría Escrivá wrote in The Way 317: "What zeal people put into their earthly affairs: dreaming of honours, striving for riches, bent on sensuality. Men and women, rich and poor, old and middle— aged and young and even children: all of them the same.

When you and I put the same zeal into the affairs of our souls, we will have a living and operative faith: and there will be no obstacle that we cannot overcome in our apostolic undertakings."

Well, where do you put your greatest energy and zeal? Where do you put the greatest efforts?

Music: FALL - Adrian Berenguer (Album Singularity)

Thumbnail: Der ungerechte Haushalter (The Unjust Steward) by Virgilius Solis 1534-1562, copper plate German Digital Museum. 

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Preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Lyncroft Centre on November 2, 2022.

In the 19th century, Cardinal John Henry Newman loved the Anglican choral tradition. But he was especially enamoured by the Holy Mass. It was the point of connection with the past, with souls before us, and souls in purgatory. He felt so attracted to the Mass as this timeless ritual that would be the same reality during all ages. Indeed the Holy Mass is the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross and for that reason it is efficacious.  We are present at Calvary.  Rather than merely remembering the life and death of Christ, we are present at it and partake of the eternal fruits which flow to us from the altar when the priest stands in the place of Christ and offers the Eternal Victim on the altar to God.

Music: Recordações do passado (Souvenirs from the Past) a Valsa for piano (1885) by Ernesto Nazareth arranged for guitar by Bert Alink 

Thumbnail: Jan Van Eyck, The Ghent Altarpiece, panel from the mystical adoration of the lamb, 15th century.

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A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Kintore College on the solemnity of All Saints, November 1st 2022.

I read a book that dramatizes in first person the personality of the Good Thief. As he looked at me, I thought he was trying to smile, and then he said, “I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.” He died that day, but we know he became St. Dismas. This is our dream. Saint Josemaria too had that dream: He would repeat that phrase: Dream and your dreams will fall short.

Music: Carlos Gardel, Soledad, arranged for guitar by Bert Alink.

Thumbnail: Portico of Paradise, in the Cathedral of San Martin de Ourense, Spanish Romanesque.

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