Sarapion the Sindonite travelled once on a pilgrimage to Rome. Here he was told of a celebrated recluse, a woman who lived always in one small room, never going out. Sceptical about her way of life—for he was himself a great wanderer—Sarapion called on her and asked, “Why are you sitting here?” To which sheContinue reading “Alone in a room”
Tag Archives: prayer
Contrition is no fun
Reading today from A History of Sin: Its evolution to Today and Beyond by John Portmann, who has this to say about sin fatigue: “Worshipping God takes time, just as repenting for sin does. Time gets increasingly scarce in the modern world, and atonement fatigue creeps into the picture. Traditional Jews read aloud from theContinue reading “Contrition is no fun”
Home
I’ve been reading The Confessions by St. Augustine for class. I first read his work when I was putting together The Renaissance Service, the arts-based vespers that looked to the arts as a window to the divine. I remember learning about his mother, Monica, who wept as she prayed for her “prodigal” son; she wasContinue reading “Home”
Icon Workshop 5:45!
Do you know anything about icons? Not the little technology-based dingbats you click on to, say, share a blog, but the kind that people of faith use for devotional purposes. They are used most often in the Greek and Eastern Orthodox traditions, but can be found in almost any spiritual practice: a time of meditationContinue reading “Icon Workshop 5:45!”
The music called to me
The first time I ever heard a chant from Taize I was not even remotely a Christian. I was a young mother of a four-year old, and an 8-month old who had recently been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Brain tumors tend to make smart, sophisticated secularists get down on their knees and beg likeContinue reading “The music called to me”
Heather Choate Davis 