In Your Presence

Eric Nicolai

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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Tuesday · 25 min
Anniversary of the Canonization of St. Josemaria
This meditation was preached at Ernescliff College, Toronto, on October 6, 2026. In 2002, Pope John Paul II pronounced this phrase in St. Peter's Square in front of thousands of faithful: "We declare and define Blessed Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer to be a Saint, and We inscribe his name in the catalogue of the Saints, ordaining that, throughout the universal Church, he be devoutly honored among the Saints. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." In Dante's Divine Comedy, heaven is portrayed as the highest celestial sphere, the Empyrean, where the Blessed Trinity is adored with the Blessed Virgin and all the saints. Now we know that Saint Josemaría is there too. Music: enrique27naveda-cancion-triste-by Luis Enrique Guerra Naveda Pixabay Thumbnail: The illustration "The Saintly Throng Form a Rose in the Empyrean" by Gustave Doré, created in 1868 for Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy.
Friday · 29 min
Founding of Opus Dei: I am sending an angel before you
A meditation preached at Ernescliff College, Toronto, on October 2, 2026. Today is the memorial of the guardian angels. Exodus 23: "The Lord says this: ‘I myself will send an angel before you to guard you as you go and to bring you to the place that I have prepared." Moses guided the people, but did not enter the promised land himself. The Christological interpretation is that Jesus guides us into the true promised land by his grace. We all have a mission in this life, and our angel will guide us. Josemaria received the illumination about his mission on the memorial of the guardian angels. They would help him, and Opus Dei as a whole to mature in the mission. Music: enrique27naveda-cancion-triste-by Luis Enrique Guerra Naveda Pixabay
September 24 · 28 min
Zacchaeus, I want to come to your house today: Living the virtue of detachment
Our Lord loves the poor: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” (Matt 11, 4-5) Our Lord includes this among the great wonders: Poverty. How can we live this virtue of detachment as priests? We have the example of the conversion of Zacchaeus, who gave his money to the poor and restituted. This is a meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai to priests at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Stoney Creek, Ontario, on September 22, 2026. Music: enrique27naveda-cancion-triste-by Luis Enrique Guerra Naveda Pixabay Thumbnail: Jean Colcombe, From Vita Jesu Christi by Ludolf of Saxony, French (Bourges), c. 1475-1500, Paris, BNF, MS Francais 178, fol. 89v_2. From http://imaginemdei.blogspot.com/2016/10/zacchaeus-little-man-in-tree.html
September 16 · 28 min
Our Critical Spirit
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Kintore College, Toronto, on September 16, 2026. The Gospel tells us about the different reactions of the people to John the Baptist and to Jesus. He comments on the lack of coherence present in these responses. The impossibility of getting coherent responses in light of the lives of John and of Jesus. “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation? … They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep.’” (Lk 7:31–32) Thumbnail: Eduard Manet, Young Flautist, or The Fifer, 1866, Musee D'Orsay, Paris. Music: enrique27naveda-cancion-triste-by Luis Enrique Guerra Naveda Pixabay
September 15 · 25 min
Our Lady of Sorrows
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai to priests at Saint Augustine Seminary in Toronto on September 15, 2026. Today's feast of Our Lady of Sorrows has an ancient and layered liturgical background. It is said to have started with the ancient Franciscan spirituality that meditated on Mary’s sorrows. We know that St. Francis himself suffered the stigmata, reflecting his closeness to Mary, who suffered a spiritual stigmata. The Great Rood crucifix in Westminster Cathedral is the perfect image to contemplate across these two consecutive feasts: yesterday’s Exaltation of the Holy Cross and today’s feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
September 14 · 29 min
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ellerton Centre in Toronto on September 14, 2026, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Yesterday we decorated with flowers the simple black cross in our oratories so that we could see it bloom today. The hymn of Philippians 2, 6-11: "...he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Thumbnail: Cross with garlands of roses from Ernescliff oratory Music: Audiio MULVEY_Awakening_Awakening_Instrumental
September 14 · 25 min
Holy Name of Mary: She Believes in You
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai to High School boys at Ernescliff College, Toronto, on September 12, 2026. Last week we celebrated the birth of Mary, the dawn of our salvation. She is the stella matutina, the morning star. It is a time of hope, for the Sun of Justice is about to rise; today, 8 days later, the name of Mary, in line with the practice of the Jews who would impose the name on the child 8 days after birth. Thumbnail: Leonardo Da Vinci, Sketch of St. Anne with Mary and Christ child and St. John, 1503, Florence. Music: Lifting Dreams - Aakash Gandhi Youtube free
September 8 · 26 min
The Birth of Mary: The Dawn of Salvation
A meditation preached at Ernescliff College in Toronto on September 8th, 2026, by Fr. Eric Nicolai. Today is the birthday of Mary, she is described as the “dawn of our salvation”. The arrival of a new person into the world is always a sign of hope. Mary opens up new possibilities for us in this academic year, just beginning. Thumbnail: The Nativity of the Virgin, painted around 1400–1405 by Andrea di Bartolo, a Sienese painter. Today housed in the National Gallery in Washington. Music: Audiio_MULVEY_Awakening_Awakening_Instrumental
September 6 · 28 min
Jesus Withdrew into the Wilderness and Prayed
This meditation was preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on September 5th, 2026, at Ellerton Centre in Toronto. ‘He withdrew to the wilderness and prayed’ (Lk 5:16) What did it look like to see the Lord withdraw into the wilderness? It was described as wilderness, a wild place because it was hostile to man’s control; there were no houses or comforts there. But it was a time of silent unity with God the Father. How can we pray like that in silence? It is hard for our generation to sit there without the comfort of devices. But we know inherently that if we sit there, alone with God, away from our notifications or the reels that make us laugh, we will still deepen in something we deeply need. We will come out of our prayer refreshed, rewired for the mission. Music: Audiio MULVEY Awakening Awakening Instrumental Sound effects: 11325622-police-siren-sound-effect-240674 on Pixabay. Nature sounds: Meditation forest sounds of birds singing relaxation - 4 minutes - Tim Irving. Tweeting-bird-sounds orangefreesounds Thumbnail: Ivan Kramskoy, Christ in the Wilderness, 1872 Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
September 2 · 27 min
Frame the New Academic Year with Hope
Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation on September 1, 2026, at the start of the new Academic year at Hawthorn School for Girls in Toronto. Picture Jesus now coming forward: “And there was handed to him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written…" Then with a sure voice: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor…to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Isaiah 61:1–2) from Luke 4:17. God’s gracious “year”—a jubilee of mercy, liberation, healing and restoration. We are now at the beginning of the academic year. A new moment of hope for all of us. How will we frame this hope?
August 30 · 30 min
Jeremiah's Lament: My Heart Burns Within Me
Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation at Ellerton Centre in Toronto on the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 30, 2026. Jeremiah is in utter anguish. He feels that he has failed. He’s in doubt. Maybe he has no vocation after all. He's in an inner crisis. Despite all the suffering he has experienced, he manages to complain to God and abandon himself to his healing. Jeremiah 20, 7-9: Seduxisti me, Domine, et seductus sum. You enticed me Lord, you persuaded me; you duped me, I felt duped. You overcame my resistance to your call, your all-encompassing vocation, your mission you have imposed on me. You chose me because you picked me out, you saw me like a wounded stag, and you loved me. Music: Lifting Dreams - Aakash Gandhi Youtube free Thumbnail: Rembrandt, Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, 1630, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
August 28 · 29 min
The Conversion of the Prodigal Son, and ours
Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation on August 17, 2026 at Parkhill Centre in Ottawa. Prayer in our life is an essential part of our existence of sons of God. It gives our resilience, and our purpose going. It is like the engine room of our interior life. In the Gospel, we have the Pharisees complaining about the company that Jesus kept. This prompted Jesus to reaffirm the truth of God’s mercy through the most iconic parables of the Gospel: The conversion of the prodigal son. Music: 'Undertow' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com Thumbnail: Rembrandt, The Conversion of the Prodigal Son, 1661.
August 26 · 27 min
Hypocrites: Clean the Inside of the Cup
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Camp Caribou near Barry's Bay, Ontario, on August 25th, 2026. Today, the Gospel speaks about the distaste that Jesus had for those who relied on appearances, on image, on looking good to others. Those who spent time cultivating a public image. It is a rather blistering accusation. Matt 23, 24-26: Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who clean the outside of cup and dish and leave the inside full of extortion and intemperance. Blind Pharisee! Clean the inside of cup and dish first so that the outside may become clean as well.’ Music: Regi Stone, All Heavens Declare. Thumbnail: Rembrandt, Jesus preaching. Etching, Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
August 24 · 25 min
I will Shed my Skin for you Lord: Feast of St. Bartholomew
A meditation on the feast of St. Bartholomew, preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ernescliff College on August 24, 2026. He preached in India and Armenia. For Bartholomew: “he shed his skin”: both in martyrdom and spiritual transformation, putting off the “old self” so that the new person may emerge. Thumbnail: detail from Michelangelo's Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel, 1536. Marco d’Agrate’s statue in Milan Cathedral, known as the San Bartolomeo scorticato: https://mainlymuseums.com/post/1174/the-anti-david-st-bartholomew-by-marco-dadrate-1562/ Music: Lifting Dreams - Aakash Gandhi Youtube free
August 20 · 30 min
A 1930 Letter from Saint Josemaria about Holiness
In 1975, Pope Paul VI told Blessed Alvaro del Portillo: "Collect everything that the Founder has written, because it is already a treasure belonging to the whole Church.”
August 19 · 29 min
Mary our Protector: Eve of the Assumption
Maximilian Kolbe had a vision of our Lady who offered him two crowns: a white one for virginity, a red one for martyrdom. Which do you want? I’ll take both. that Mary is and a sign of hope and comfort for your people on their pilgrim way.  (Assumption preface) Thumbnail: Esteban Márquez de Velasco (1652–1696) , Dormition of the virgin Mary, Art Gallery of Ontario.
August 6 · 28 min
The DNA of the Life Faith
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on August 1, 2026 at Ellentor Centre in Toronto. Matt 14, 22-36: Jesus walks on the water, and calls out to Peter: Come! Water in the ancient world was always seen as a place of instability. It was a scary place when you had these rickety boats. But Jesus informs everything we do. It is our life of faith. Our faith must inform our vision, the way we think, the way we work. It leaves its fingerprints everywhere we go. There you will find the DNA of faith. Music: pulsebox-piano-music-free-music-552725 pixabay free Thumbnail: Walking on Water, by Ivan Aivazovsky (1888), private collection.
August 2 · 28 min
The Feeding of the 5 Thousand
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on August 1, 2026 at Ellentor Centre in Toronto. John 6:1-15 tells of the account of the feeding of the 5 thousand. Lots of people. A real problem. A multitude had followed him. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a multitude was coming to him He looked up with mercy, with compassion. In front of the problem, the numbers, the money, the few pieces of bread, we hear about that little boy. 10 or 12 years old. Not with his parents. Free to help. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, John 6, 9-10: “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among so many?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place; so the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
July 31 · 32 min
Optimism and Smiling Faces
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Ellentor Centre in Toronto, July 31, 2026. "Don't forget that sometimes it is necessary to have smiling faces." (The Way, 657)
July 22 · 18 min
The Penitent Magdalene
A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai at Chipnee camp in Port Burwell, Ontario, July 22 2026. Mary Magdalene is the first person to whom the risen Christ appeared and he entrusted her with announcing the Resurrection to the Apostles themselves. She is the apostles of Apostles. Pope Francis elevated her memorial to the level of a feast. Music: pulsebox-piano-music-cinematic-552722 Thumbnail: Antonio Canova, Penitent Magdalene 1808, St. Petersburg Museum.

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