Both men departed to that place where everything is true. The stage sets were removed and the masks were taken off. In a theater of this world at mid-day the stage is set and many actors enter, playing parts, wearing masks on their faces, retelling some old story, narrating the events. One becomes a philosopher,Continue reading “The World as a Theater”
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Church Fathers on Animals
Martin Luther, upon seeing a dog, whose tail had been mangled by a wagon wheel said: “Take comfort, small friend, in the Resurrection, you too shall have a little golden tail.” Martin Luther, Letter to J. Goritz, 1544 “I beg you to show kindness to animals. The very least you can do is to putContinue reading “Church Fathers on Animals”
Come Out, Lazar
Come out, Lazar!Come out, Lazaro, what so befall.Then might not the fiend of hellLonger make that soule to dwell.So dreadful was that ilke cryTo that feloun, our enemy.The kinges trumpet blew a blast;Come out! it said, be not aghast.With that voice the find gan quake,As doth the leaf when windes wake.‘Come out’ is now aContinue reading “Come Out, Lazar”
Leaf from Leaf
Leaf from leaf Christ knows;Himself the Lily and the Rose: Sheep from sheep Christ tells;Himself the Shepherd, no one else: Star and star He names,Himself outblazing all their flames: Dove by dove, He callsTo set each on the golden walls: Drop by drop, He countsThe flood of ocean as it mounts: Grain by grain, HisContinue reading “Leaf from Leaf”
“The whole earth is a living icon of the face of God.”~ John of Damascus
The Church Fathers on Racism
“We ought to understand that while the names of God may differ among the various nations, nevertheless, since we are all of the same origin, we ought to consider ourselves as of one family, and not despise the kinship of the human race.” (Gregory of Nyssa, Great Catechism, 32) “God has made all races ofContinue reading “The Church Fathers on Racism”
Maria Walks amid the Thorn
Maria walks amid the thorn,Kyrie eleison,Maria walks amid the thorn,Which seven years no leaf has born.Jesus and Maria. What ‘neath her heart doth Mary bear?Kyrie eleison,The little Child doth Mary bear,Beneath her heart He nestles there.Jesus and Maria. And as the two are passing near,Kyrie eleison,And as the two are passing near,Lo! roses on theContinue reading “Maria Walks amid the Thorn”
The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from the limitations of our own weakness and an invocation of all good to enter and abide with us. George Eliot
Recovery
Any recovery is but a stay of the death that is our common doom. Sheldon Vanauken, “A Severe Mercy,” chapter VII
Aelfric on Pentecost
The Holy Ghost appeared over the apostles in semblance of fire, and over Christ, at his baptism, in likeness of a dove. Why over Christ in semblance of a dove? Why over the followers of Christ in likeness of fire? In books it is read concerning that kind of birds that its nature is veryContinue reading “Aelfric on Pentecost”
Locus Communis 