Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation on the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows at Roseaire Conference center in Delray Beach, Florida.Stabat mater dolorósajuxta Crucem lacrimósa,dum pendébat Fílius.At the Cross her station keeping,Stood the mournful Mother weeping,Close to Jesus to the lastIt is these tears and this sorrow that she embraced heroically today. But she did this as she co-redeemed with her son. Let us ask the light today to understand and deeply integrate in truth, what this all means for us, this start, this dolorosa, this lacrimosa.
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30:16
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30:16
Be Bold, Be Daring!
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai, at Roseaire Conference Centre in Delray Beach,Florida, September 13, 2025.In his encyclical, Spe Salvi, Pope Benedict XVI explained that hope can be performative not merely informative. Christian hope is not just knowledge or belief about the future. There is more: There is dynamic power that changes how people live and act in the present. Hope does something. It can make us bold and daring in approaching apostolic challenges.Music: Michel Lee, Toronto.
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30:17
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30:17
Lord, I am Stressed
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Roseaire conference Center in Delray Beach, Florida onSeptember 6, 2025.Lk 6: 1-15: Today we have another dispute of the pharisees with Jesus about the way of living the Sabbath. Jesus has authority over the Sabbath, he is Lord of the sabbath. He wants us to live out this time of rest in a way that goes beyond mere external compliance. Is it possible that there could be more of that trust in God? Less preoccupation. More of an abandoned prayer, to a God who loves us dearly, who cares for us, who has a plan for us, and uses our weakness, our limitations for his plans?Music: Michael Lee, TorontoThumbnail: Vincent Van Gogh, The Prayer, 1882.
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31:43
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31:43
Time for an Oil Change
This meditation was preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Roseaire Conference Center in Delray Beach, Florida, on September 3, 2025. At the beginning of this annual course, we experience a feeling of appreciation, a sense of indebtedness and gratitude because God has wanted us here for something good. He has wanted something from my life. He wants all my heart, all my soul, all my mind.Like Gregory the Great (+603), today's memorial, we want to come out of this truly revamped and renewed. Give thanks because we will be filled with a new oil change, high standard oil, a time to reinvigorate our strength, time to rest, time to live fraternity and to be with Our Lord. Music: Michael Lee of Toronto.
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28:42
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28:42
The Head of John the Baptist
Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation outside in the woods on the memorial of the beheading of John the Baptist at Camp Caribou near Barry's Bay on August 29, 2025. The church celebrates both his birth and his death. The to the death prelude is important: Mark 6, 14-16: King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” Others said, “He is Elijah.” And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.” But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”Then comes the flashback that explains this. Not all give their lives in martyrdom, but all saints were faithful to the end. We too, are part of that long chain of fidelity.
Meditations by Fr. Eric Nicolai, a Catholic priest of Opus Dei in Ernescliff College, Toronto. They are times of prayer addressed to men or women, with the intention of providing a personal dialogue with the Lord Jesus Christ present in their midst. They are usually preached in oratories of Opus Dei.
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