Fr. Robert Nixon, OSB
Fr. Robert Nixon, OSB, is a monk of the Abbey of the Most Holy Trinity, New Norcia, Western Australia. There he serves as Director of the Institute for Benedictine Studies. He is a retreat master and liturgist. His interests include Medieval Latin literature, especially the lives of the saints.
The Glories of Heaven: The Supernatural Gifts that Await Body & Soul in Paradise
The newest addition to the TAN Resurrection collection, The Glories of Heaven was written by Saint Anselm of Canterbury and has been translated into English for the first time by Fr. Robert Nixon, OSB. The following excerpt from Fr. Nixon’s Translator’s Note heralds the powerful and resonant teachings to be found in St. Anselm’s writings.…
The Youthfulness of Mary the Mother of God
How old was Mary when she conceived Our Lord according to St. Albert the Great? The accounts of the nativity of Christ, found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, each present to us very beautiful images of the Virgin Mary. She was the humble and innocent handmaid of the Lord, whose ready obedience to…
St. Albert the Great on the Color of Our Lady’s Hair
St. Albert the Great Speculation: “What Color was Mary’s Hair?” The desire to have a visual impression or image of any person whom we love is a very natural and human one. As beings who are both corporeal and spiritual, the affections of our heart and soul are inseparably conjoined to our physical senses. In…
The Author of the Salve Regina: the Stories of Two Great Lovers of Mary
The Salve Regina, after the Hail Mary, is undoubtedly the best-known and best-loved Marian prayer within the Catholic tradition. It is recited at the conclusion of each mystery of the Rosary; and, for those in monastic and consecrated life, it is traditionally sung as a final antiphon at night after compline, throughout most seasons of…
Freedom as a Divine Gift and Duty
Freedom is indisputably one of the paradigmatic and quintessential values of our Western culture, so much so that we may be led to conclude that it is a value which springs out of our human nature itself. To a certain extent, this is true. But if we examine the history of humanity in its broadest…
Advent: A Time for Preparing One’s Heart to Welcome the Infant Jesus
The season of Advent, like the season of Lent, is a time of earnest and directed preparation for God. Whereas in Lent, we prepare for the blessed passion and glorious Resurrection of our Lord, in Advent we prepare for His Incarnation, the entrance of Jesus Christ, who is God Himself, into this world of time…
Thomas Aquinas: 7 Little-Known Miracles of the Angelic Doctor
St. Thomas Aquinas, honored by the Church with the appellation of the ‘Angelic Doctor’, is amongst the most widely venerated of all Catholic saints. His writings are carefully read by all students of theology, and he is perhaps given more authority than any other single theological writer. Yet despite the fact that he is so…
Humility: A Hidden Source of Strength
Humility is the virtue which is perhaps more easily misunderstood and underappreciated than any other. Our culture values personal confidence, self-belief and resolution, and rightly so. And we are acutely aware of the psychological dangers of low-self-esteem, with which so many people struggle today, especially the young. Yet true humility is not in opposition to…