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Thom Ryng

@thomryng.bsky.social
739 followers 568 following 1.2K posts

Tell me, have you found the Yellow Sign? Catholic Hobbit, husband, (grand)father, author, writer, editor, amateur monk, pilgrim, liturgy geek, medievalist, gamer. Immigrant. Not necessarily in that order. I like pie. linktr.ee/thomryng

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Reposted by Thom Ryng
Dustin A. Chacón @lingdustin.bsky.social · 23h
I've heard people make claims that AI would lead to a new Renaissance, but I didn't imagine it'd happen like this:
Screenshot of a Tweet from Pope Leo XIV. It reads: 

"In this era of artificial intelligence, it is becoming urgen to distinguish human art from what machines produce. There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others. Algorithms lack the spark of humanity. For this reason, the Church wishes to renew an alliance with artists and cultural institutions to safeguard our humanity."
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 23h
The latest from the blog. www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
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Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels
pray to your Guardian Angel? Do you ask them for advice or help? Why not? The Church teaches that we all receive a guardian angel at birth, an angel assigned to guide and protect us, to watch over …
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The latest from the blog: the patron saint of grumpy old men. www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Saint Jerome: Ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ
Jerome was both a brilliant translator and expounder of the scriptures and a grumpy old man. Born in the Roman province of Dalmatia in modern Slovenia, he studied in Rome starting in about the year…
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Reposted by Thom Ryng
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 29/09/2026
Jack Smith: "Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in serious crimes against our nation ... rather than accept his defeat in the 2020 election, he engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results and prevent the lawful transfer of power"
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The latest from the blog. www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Feast of the Archangels – Happy Michaelmas!
the “Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels” or, in the old calendar, the “Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Michael the Archangel”. Whatever you call i…
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Reposted by Thom Ryng
Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 28/09/2026
AI has lost the Mandate of Heaven I’m afraid. WSJ saying it’s a “when” the ai bubble bursts. SNL dabbing on their biggest names for being weird. FT says 50% of chips sold in 2026 and 2027 have nowhere to go. Hundreds of billions short on revenue for even 10% ROIC. A disaster.
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The very latest from the blog. www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Doctor of the Church
Hildegard of Bingen is one of those medieval figures who can cause a lot of confusion to people not paying close attention. She (or, rather, a version of her with her Christianity stripped out) has…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The latest from the blog. www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Whither is thy Beloved gone, O thou most beautiful among women? Whither is thy Beloved turned aside, and we will seek Him with thee? the first antiphon of Lauds for today’s feast of The Seven…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Anniversary of the Last Day
Today marks the anniversary of the final Mass of the parish of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Tacoma. These years have been filled with heartbreaking, almost unfathomable loss. This is an annual po…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
The latest from the blog. www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Non Nobis: Some Thoughts on Training Altar Servers
I spent the morning and early afternoon on Vashon Island training altar servers at our sister parish of Saint John Vianney. This past Wednesday evening, I trained new altar servers at Saint Frances…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
The latest from the blog: twenty years an oblate. www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
The latest from the blog. May you have all the joy of the feast! www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
The Nativity of the Virgin
months after the solemnity of her Immaculate Conception, celebrated on 8 December, today we celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a feast so ancient that it is celebrated on the same d…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
The latest from the blog! www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Pope Saint Gregory the Great: Apostle of the Sacred Liturgy
“We make Idols of our concepts, but Wisdom is born of wonder.” (Pope St. Gregory the Great) a handful of Popes ever get named “Great”. Today in the Ordinary Roman calendar is the feast …
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist
is one of the more interesting feasts on the liturgical calendar, for today is the feast of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. OK, nowadays they’ve slightly sanitized the name; it&#8217…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
The latest from the blog: the closest I'll get to posting a political opinion. www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Saint Augustine: Kingdoms and Empires have Passed Away
this very volatile moment in our history, both of the United States and of the world, where things seem to be unravelling and so much anger rises to the surface so quickly, it’s worth taking …
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Saint Monica
Saint Monica, beleaguered mother of Saint Augustine, whose feast is tomorrow. I’ve had many occasions to pray for her intercession, but since last year, this day has hit a little differently …
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
The latest from the blog, including photos taken on my walks over the last week or so. www.thomryng.com/camino/unexp...
thomryng.com
Unexpected Encounters – Pilgrims on the Way
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
The latest from the blog. www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Our Lady, Queen of Heaven
the Octave day of the Assumption, is the Memorial of Our Lady Queen of Heaven. May you have all the joy of the feast! The Queenship of Mary has been depicted in art in various forms and guises sinc…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
The latest from the blog. www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
We Could Use a Man Like Saint Bernard Again
the feast of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. And at this moment in the history of the Church, we could very much use another like him. Born in 1090 to a noble Burgundian family near Dijon, he entered t…
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Reposted by Thom Ryng
John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 17/08/2026
"AI" has existed in its current form for barely four years and the fact that it's jammed up the cognitive development of an entire generation that fast (and that there's a specific overclass of techofascists who are deeply thrilled about this) is a big damn red flag. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/17/u...
nytimes.com
What Do Students Lose When They Stop Writing? (Gift Article)
Educators are worried that many students can no longer write essays without A.I. And it’s costing more than just grammar skills.
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Reposted by Thom Ryng
jack @jackalltogether.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
we’re like an army going in to WWI in 1914 confident because we spent 25% of GDP on having the shiniest uniform buttons
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
The latest from the blog. www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Saint Maximilian, the Vigil of the Assumption, and Entrustment
Vigil of the Assumption, we celebrate also the memory of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan Friar and priest who spent much of his life as a missionary. He returned to his native Poland, where he…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
The latest from the blog. www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Promises
I read a chapter (or part of a chapter) from the Holy Rule of Saint Benedict. This is done on a specific cadence, so that in a year I read through the entirety of the Rule three times. Today’…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I'm not sure what to make of this, but there you go. www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Nudges of Grace
I reflexively checked the email on my phone. What I saw absolutely stopped me in my tracks, and I had to take a couple of minutes to regroup. The first two emails were little nudges to respond or f…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
The latest from the blog. www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Saint Lawrence: Deacon, Martyr, Grail-Bearer
Saint Lawrence, the Deacon martyr whose feast is today. Many is the time I’ve sought his intercession. There are so many stories about him that it’s hard to sum him up briefly, although…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Saint Dominic
the feast of Saint Dominic de Guzmán. He was born near Santo Domingo de Silos in Spain, just north of the Camino, in 1170. Legend has it that before his birth, his barren mother made a pilgrimage t…
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Reposted by Thom Ryng
MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 07/08/2026
Two different countries. Two different headlines.
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Transfiguration
we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, one of the more important (if sometimes overlooked) feasts of the liturgical year. This event definitively revealed the divinity of Christ…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Our Lady of the Snows
is the Memorial of the dedication of one of my favourite church buildings in the world, the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, also known in English as Saint Mary Major. It is occasionally k…
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Reposted by Thom Ryng
Schooley @schooley.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
If you list all the crimes Trump has been credibly accused of, even just the ones he's confessed to, it genuinely reads worse than a mafia don. No wonder we feel like we're losing our minds when the media treats him with presidential deference.
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
The latest from the blog. Welcome to August! www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Saint Alphonsus Liguori
on your particular calendar, today or tomorrow is the memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787), a great saint and Doctor of the Church who founded the Redemptorists and wrote on the spiritua…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
The latest from the blog. www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Saint Ignatius of Loyola
founder of the Jesuits, founder of Ignatian spirituality, and the only saint so far as I know who had a leg shot off by a cannonball. Ignatius was from a minor Basque-Spanish noble family, raised t…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
The Feast of Saint James
is the Feast of Saint James the Greater, known throughout the Spanish-speaking world as Santiago and in French as Saint Jacques. He was one of Christ’s Twelve Apostles. Saint James is the pat…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Chant on the Vigil: Vespers for the Feast of Saint James
Cathedral of Santiago has published a booklet (available in PDF) for first Vespers of the feast of Saint James the Apostle. First Vespers only occur for Solemnities, and they are prayed on the Vigi…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
The latest from the blog. www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
The Apostle to the Apostles at Vézelay
we celebrate the feast of Saint Mary Magdalen. In the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, this is indeed a feast again, rather than merely a memorial, thanks to a change made by Pope Francis back in 2…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
The latest from the blog. www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Happy Birthday, Francine
Francine’s second birthday since she passed to the Lord. No, I don’t understand it either. It was our custom to celebrate her birthday with a dinner at some new place we hadn’t tr…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
The Poetry of Apollo
on July 20, 1969, human beings first set foot upon the Moon. My mother claims I watched the landing at the tender age of two, hiding underneath the coffee table. If so, I don’t remember it. M…
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Reposted by Thom Ryng
A Voice Crying in the Wilderness @cryingwilderness.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
The latest from the blog, or, my long morning. www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Small Steps in the Oratory
chapel at Pistachio House is the oldest building on the property. It began its life in about 1904 as the shack in which the folks who built Pistachio House lived during construction. Over the decad…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
The latest from the blog. Meanwhile, if you know anybody looking to hire a writer, editor, copy editor, proofreader, or (while I'm at it) Pastoral Assistant for the Sacred Liturgy, please let me know. www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
Emperor, Oblate, Saint
a pretty rare thing when Kings become saints, or at least become canonized saints. I can only think of a handful off the top of my head, though I’m sure there are more: Saint Louis IX of Fran…
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
www.thomryng.com/camino/funer...
thomryng.com
Funerals and Weddings
year ago today, I buried the love of my life in the cold earth of a priest's grave. It's an impossible thing. My heart aches even to think about it. Since I have returned from the Camino, the large...
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
www.thomryng.com/amateurmonk/...
thomryng.com
My Lord and My God
feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle! Today wasn’t always his feast. In fact, in my Monastic Diurnal, today is the Memorial of Saints Processus and Martinian. His main feast was celebrated for c…
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Reposted by Thom Ryng
Boze Herrington, Library Owl @sketchesbyboze.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
A key point in Fahrenheit 451 is that books were banned because they made people depressed and uncomfortable. The novel's protagonist, Montag, is taken into custody after he reads a poem that makes a woman cry because she realizes the emptiness of her life.
[quoting a tweet from isabelunraveled in which she rails against depressing books that get branded as “great writing”]
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Santiago so far www.thomryng.com/camino/via-l...
thomryng.com
Via Lemovicensis: Denouement
spent the first full day in Santiago on the 22nd mostly meeting up with other pilgrims who came in throughout the day. Most of the folks I walked with came in that day. There was some necessary sho...
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Santiago! www.thomryng.com/camino/via-l...
thomryng.com
Via Lemovicensis: Endgame
morning, I was out of the albergue before 6:30 in an effort to beat today's expected heat. Katie gave me a hug and left just a little bit before me. The morning air was humid. For the second day in a ...
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
It's all about the footnotes
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Ero cras? www.thomryng.com/camino/via-l...
thomryng.com
Via Lemovicensis: Penultimate
best efforts, I didn't make it out of the albergue much before 7 AM. A chunk of Melide's old city has its streets torn up for what appears to be water or sewage work. Finding the Camino actually prove...
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Quo vadis? www.thomryng.com/camino/via-l...
thomryng.com
Via Lemovicensis: Of Noise and Silence
at the albergue began at 7:30. We were all out the door before 7 AM, and somehow I was last of all. I contrived to lose the rubber tips on my hiking poles yesterday. I will have to replace those at fi...
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Sleeping and walking www.thomryng.com/camino/via-l...
thomryng.com
Via Lemovicensis: Nearing the End
had a community dinner and a community breakfast. I slept a little longer than I had hoped this morning, so I wasn't out the door until 7 AM. Mist filled the valleys has the sun rose through the cloud...
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Thom Ryng @thomryng.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
From Samos through Faerie www.thomryng.com/camino/via-l...
thomryng.com
Via Lemovicensis: Going to the West
left my little monastery hostel room this morning at about 6:30. Nothing in the immediate neighborhood was open for breakfast, so I took one final tour around the monastery building to get to the Cami...
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