https://professyourfaith.com/blog.html Reflections on the Catholic faith, prayer, the saints, and sacred music. en Mon, 22 Jun 2026 09:00:00 -0000 https://professyourfaith.com/journal/reading-gregorian-notation.html https://professyourfaith.com/journal/reading-gregorian-notation.html Mon, 22 Jun 2026 09:00:00 +0000 The four-line staff, a clutch of square notes, and a clef that moves — made simple. https://professyourfaith.com/journal/the-eight-modes.html https://professyourfaith.com/journal/the-eight-modes.html Sun, 21 Jun 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Before major and minor, the Church had eight modes — each with a soul of its own. https://professyourfaith.com/journal/guido-of-arezzo.html https://professyourfaith.com/journal/guido-of-arezzo.html Sat, 20 Jun 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Every line of sheet music traces back to one eleventh-century monk tired of teaching by ear. https://professyourfaith.com/journal/how-to-chant-a-psalm-tone.html https://professyourfaith.com/journal/how-to-chant-a-psalm-tone.html Fri, 19 Jun 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Most of the Church’s daily prayer is sung to a handful of simple formulas. https://professyourfaith.com/journal/the-four-marian-antiphons.html https://professyourfaith.com/journal/the-four-marian-antiphons.html Thu, 18 Jun 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Four ancient songs to Our Lady, one for each season, sung as the last words before sleep. https://professyourfaith.com/journal/who-is-mary.html https://professyourfaith.com/journal/who-is-mary.html Tue, 16 Jun 2026 09:00:00 -0000 Catholics are often accused of worshipping her. The truth is older, stranger, and entirely about her Son. https://professyourfaith.com/journal/where-is-god-when-it-hurts.html https://professyourfaith.com/journal/where-is-god-when-it-hurts.html Sat, 13 Jun 2026 09:00:00 -0000 The oldest objection to faith is also the most human. The Christian answer is not a tidy argument — it is a person on a cross. https://professyourfaith.com/journal/what-actually-happens-at-mass.html https://professyourfaith.com/journal/what-actually-happens-at-mass.html Mon, 08 Jun 2026 09:00:00 -0000 The standing, the kneeling, the bells, the silence. For the curious and the returning, here is the shape of it — and what it all means. https://professyourfaith.com/journal/why-the-church-sings-in-latin.html https://professyourfaith.com/journal/why-the-church-sings-in-latin.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 09:00:00 -0000 Long after the world stopped speaking it, the Church kept singing in Latin — and not out of stubbornness. https://professyourfaith.com/journal/doubt-is-not-the-enemy.html https://professyourfaith.com/journal/doubt-is-not-the-enemy.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:00:00 -0000 The honest question is not a threat to belief. More often, it is the doorway in. https://professyourfaith.com/journal/praying-when-you-dont-feel-like-it.html https://professyourfaith.com/journal/praying-when-you-dont-feel-like-it.html Thu, 04 Jun 2026 09:00:00 -0000 Prayer is not a mood. Here is what the saints did on the days the feeling simply wasn’t there. https://professyourfaith.com/journal/aquinas-straw.html https://professyourfaith.com/journal/aquinas-straw.html Thu, 28 May 2026 09:00:00 -0000 Thomas Aquinas wrote more than most people read in a lifetime — then fell silent. https://professyourfaith.com/journal/what-the-eucharist-is.html https://professyourfaith.com/journal/what-the-eucharist-is.html Wed, 20 May 2026 09:00:00 -0000 Symbol, or substance? The Church has answered the same way for two thousand years. https://professyourfaith.com/journal/coming-back-to-confession.html https://professyourfaith.com/journal/coming-back-to-confession.html Tue, 12 May 2026 09:00:00 -0000 It has been years. You’ve forgotten how it works. The door is still open.