St. Monica

St. Monica is one of my favorite Saints. Her story involves no angels or incorruptible bodies, but is one of quiet miracles and persistent faith. It seems at once mundane and holy, and reads a bit like an episode of The View. Admittedly, my family reminds me of hers. There have been no Christians for several generations. I wish I had the dedication to pray for them as much as St. Monica did.

Monica was married by arrangement to a pagan official in North Africa, who was much older than she, and although generous, was also violent tempered. His mother lived with them and was equally difficult, which proved a constant challenge to Monica. She had three children; Augustine, Navigius, and Perpetua.

Through her patience and prayers, she was able to convert her husband and his mother to the catholic faith in 370· He died a year later. Perpetua and Navigius entered the religious Life.

Augustine was much more difficult, and Monica prayed for him for 17 years, begging the prayers of priests who, for a while, tried to avoid her because of her persistence at this seemingly hopeless endeavor. One priest consoled her by saying, "it is not possible that the son of so many tears should perish." This thought, coupled with a vision that she had received, strengthened her. Augustine was baptized by St. Ambrose in 387. Monica died later that same year, on the way back to Africa from Rome in the Italian town of Ostia.

Monica is the patroness of abuse victims, converts, mothers, and all women.

"O Lord, who through spiritual discipline didst strengthen thy servant Monica to persevere in offering her love and prayers and tears for the conversion of her husband and of Augustine their son: Deepen our devotion, we beseech thee, and use us in accordance with thy will to bring others, even our own kindred, to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; who with thee and theHoly Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

St. Teresa of Avila

"About the injunction of the Apostle Paul that women should keep silent in church? Don't go by one text only."
-St. Teresa of Avila

"O God, who by the Holy Spirit didst move Teresa of Avila to manifest to thy Church the way of perfection: Grant us, we beseech thee, to be nourished by her excellent teaching, and enkindle within us a lively and unquenchable longing for true holiness; through Jesus Christ, the joy of loving hearts, who with thee and the same Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

Saints Alive

Some have suggested that Fr. Andrew White, who represents the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Middle East, and Iraq in particular, may be the next individual added to the kalendar of Saints.

Article here.



Another piece about Iraqi Christians here.

Lord God,

you hold both heaven and earth in a single peace.

Let the design of your great love

shine on the waste of our anger and sorrow,

and give peace to your Church,

peace among nations,

peace in our homes,

and peace in our hearts,

in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

All Souls

All Souls' and All Saints'/Eve are among my favourite holidays. They're a celebration of the darkness, of the unknown, of mystery and ritual and antiquity. (I don't know why I feel that ancient things automatically adopt a degree of holiness, it just feels right.)

If you do not celebrate the death/darkness, it isn't a whole celebration of life/light. It's a reminder that physical death (even if it meant a final end) is not the worst kind of death.

This fondness for All Souls' day is problematic. You see, I don't personally know many dead people. As life goes on, I'm sure my appreciation and perception of this day will morph into something new. Some day, I will have pictures to place on the altar, and the day will assume a different hue, likely more somber.

Secondly, none of my ancestors have been members of the communion of saints for about 150 years, and I just can't conceive of receiving a visit from them.

So, I placed some incense and food on my home altar anyway, lit a candle, said a prayer and opened the window for any wandering spirits who cared to stop by. (This is the one time of year where I afford myself a certain amount of superstition and elect to walk by intuition.)

I felt it was a night well-spent.

Happy Birthday, Mary

Today is the feast day of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Interesting fact for those of you familiar with Arizona; The iconic pink Church of the Nativity in Flagstaff is not so named for the nativity of Jesus, as I had previously presumed. It is named for the nativity of Mary.

Who knew?

True in the 4th century - still true today

"While we try to amass wealth, make piles of money, get hold of the land as our real property, overtop one another in riches, we have palpably cast off justice, and lost the common good. I should like to know how any man can be just, who is deliberately aiming to get out of someone else what he wants for himself."

--St. Basil the Great

St. George, St. Andrew's Cross

One of the things I've been seeing on various anti-Episcopal blogs lately is the shield of the Episcopal Church (USA) turned upside down. I suppose this is a childish and banal (you can't do anything better with photoshop? Really?) attempt at protest.

Let's just take a moment to remind ourselves that the red cross is St. George's cross, patron saint of England. The red signifies the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Blue is representative of the Mother of God, and the 9-cross pattern is St. Andrew's cross, patron saint of Scotland. The 9 crosses represent 9 dioceses of Scotland, a country which ordained American bishops when the English refused.

Normally, I'm all for protest. But like it or not, th e Episcopal shield is a Christian symbol. (One that represents Christ, Mary, and the Saints, at that.) When fellow Christians engage in its desecration, they're only shooting themselves in the foot. I can't imagine God smiling on the act, either.

Stick with photoshopping devil horns onto Katharine's head or something.

St. Mary Magdalene - July 22nd

Today is the feast day of Mary Magdalene, a woman from modern-day Migdal in northern Israel.

Sometimes referred to as "the Madeleine," mystery and confusion surround her life.

According to Western church tradition, she is the "sinful woman," the sister of Lazarus out of whom Jesus dispelled seven devils. She has been called Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha. In popular Christian culture as a prostitute, she is depicted with long, red unveiled hair.

However, the Church celebrates her feast of July 22nd as the woman "to whom Christ appeared after his resurrection, not as the sister of Saint Martha nor as the sinful woman whose sins the Lord forgave." She is often shown with a vessel of oil, which she used to anoint the Lord's feet, then wiped clean with her hair.

The Eastern church distinguishes between these three persons, stating that Mary had been a virtuous woman her entire life. She was granted her the title, "Equal of the Apostles." She is celebrated as the first witness to the Resurrection. This is significant, because woman were not allowed to be witnesses in legal proceedings. Her witness would have been "illegitimate," and yet Jesus commissioned her to go tell the others of his return. She is also depicted in Eastern iconography with oil, but as a myrrhbearer, one who would anoint the lifeless body of Jesus.

Gnostic texts paint Mary as one having been given a "secret knowledge" by Jesus, of which the other Apostles were jealous. Poor hermeneutic studies of these ancient gospels have led to the claim that perhaps Mary was married to Jesus. The stuff of legends, heresies, and the Da Vinci Code!

So who was this woman? A sinner? A prostitute? Wife of Jesus? Possessed? Apostle to the Apostles? I suppose we'll probably never know, but we do know a few things for sure.


One, she was the first witness to Jesus' resurrection.

Scripture paints a vivid picture of a woman in the gardens of a wealthy man, outside the city. It's a Sunday morning, and the sun has not yet risen. She has come alone. She has a capsule of oil with her. Entering the tomb of her friend, she finds it empty.

Then she loses it.

Can you blame her? She's just given her entire life away to a man who, despite all his promises, is dead. And now even the body was gone. Jesus asks her why she is weeping, but she doesn't recognize him. Finally, he calls her name - and only then does she understand.

Secondly, Mary is a figure of sorrow, of beauty, and of penitence. She is depicted weeping, grasping the foot of the cross in agony, anointing Jesus' feet with her tears.

Is it any surprise then, that I chose Mary as my patron saint? Sure, it's a bit of a faux-paus for a
male to choose a female as his patron, but hey - that's my prerogative as an Anglican!


It's rather easy for me to be sad. Certainly, it's easy for me to believe that "they have taken my Lord away, I do not know where." It's difficult to actually trust promises of resurrection and new life. More often than not, I find myself willing to mourn an empty tomb, while God sneaks up behind me. Even then, it takes calling my name, before I "get it."

We've all been there - some more than others. The good news (no pun intended) is that God indeed sneaks up on us. He takes the oil we've brought for anointing a dead body, and makes it a sacred vessel, for the healing of the sick. He empowers us to run with that message, and go about the business of building God's kingdom.

"O God, when others were ready to condemn Mary Magdalene, Jesus accepted her with all her imperfections. She in turn accepted Your Son as her Saviour. It was to St. Mary Magdalene, before all others, that Jesus committed the message of Easter Joy. Through her intercession may we proclaim Christ as our living Lord, and one day contemplate Him reigning in glory. Amen."

St. Joan of Arc

I just finished watching the Joan of Arc movie, which is surprisingly historically sound. (Or so I hear.) Her story never ceases to amaze me - the parallels between St. Joan and Christ are interesting - and not exactly inconsequential. Both were put to death as sinners, as blasphemers - Joan was both martyred and canonized (500 years later) by the Church. Interestingly enough, all the Church websites about her still dance around the word martyr. Joan asked to see a crucifix placed before her eyes while she burned.

The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is good to all,
and his compassion is over all that he has made.

All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
and all your faithful shall bless you.
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom,
and tell of your power,
to make known to all people your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

The Lord is faithful in all his words,
and gracious in all his deeds.
The Lord upholds all who are falling,
and raises up all who are bowed down.

-Psalm 145: 8-14

O God, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light Rises up in darkness for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, to ask what you would have us do; that the spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices, that in your light we may see light, and in your straight paths may not stumble, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

What the Doctor Ordered

I was looking for a certain quote by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, but I found one I hadn't seen before instead.

I can just hear him telling this story, smiling the whole way through. He has such a loping, easy laughter and grace about him - like he knows a great big secret that we don't. I couldn't help but smiling and laughing while looking through pictures of him. I believe he is a Saint, capital S.

Adam is in the garden. And there he was having a great time with the animals and gamboling all over the place, but God looked on and said. uh-uh. It’s not good for that guy to be all by his lonesome.

And God said to Adam, “Well Adam –”

Adam said, “Yes?”

“How about choosing a mate for yourself from the animals?”

So God let animals pass in front of Adam in procession and God said, “What about this one?”

“Nope,” said Adam.

“And what about this one?”

“No.”

“And this one?”

“Not on your life!”

And God say okay, and put Adam to sleep. And as the story goes, out of Adam’s rib, God created this delectable creature.

And when Adam awakes, he looks and says “Wow!” and “This is what the doctor ordered!”

It’s a story that is meant to convey a very profound truth about you and me. That you and I are incomplete, that we can’t, in fact, be human in isolation.

In solitary confinement, as it were.

I wouldn’t know how to be human except by learning it from other human beings. I need you in order for me to be me. I need other human beings in order for me to be human. …

The totally self-sufficient human being is, in fact, subhuman.
…
One of the sayings in our country is … “A person is a person through other persons.”

We are family.

Oscar Romero

I've been reading about Oscar Romero lately, the former Catholic bishop of El Salvador who was eventually murdered on March 24th, 1980, for his outspoken criticism of the Salvadoran government's human rights abuses. He was shot just after delivering a sermon, the final words of which were, "May God have mercy on the assassins." His blood spilled out onto the altar.

At his funeral, over 250,000 people came to pay tribute. Salvadoran death squads set off bombs and fired shots into the crowd at Cathedral Square, killing at least 31. Still, more and more people came every day to pay homage to the deceased prelate.
I'm absolutely in awe of this man. He is in the process for being canonized as a Saint in the Catholic church, and is already a Saint in the Anglican Communion. In his early life, he was conservative and rather blindly obedient. He was placed in El Salvador by church hierarchy so he wouldn't "make trouble." But witnessing firsthand the suffering of the people brought about his transformation into a prophetic voice of peace, as one who lives completely without fear.

This is why I firmly believe that religion should be subversive. If you're not doing your part to ruin the unjust status quo and piss people off, make people uncomfortable - then you're not doing it right. If your pastor drives a luxury SUV with $400 rims, you're not doing it right. If religion is a crutch and makes your life easier, rather than harder, you're not doing it right.

The word repent in Greek (metanoeo) literally means "Stop! Stop what you're doing! Go back! Think differently!" Our leaders and politicians have tried to convince us that "the way to peace is through war."

It has become a way of life for this country to be at war. That, my friends, is sickening. We need to stop. We need to go back and think differently. In a world of mind-numbing violence and fear, it's hard, if not impossible to hear the calm, quiet, voices of peace. Those voices belong to women and men who live boldly, and without fear. They will not be silenced.

"We must not seek the child Jesus in the pretty figures of our Christmas cribs. We must seek him among the undernourished children who have gone to bed at night with nothing to eat, among the poor newsboys who will sleep covered with newspapers in doorways. "

Necessary

[not the power to remember, but its very opposite, the power to
forget, is a necessary condition for our existence]

^{- st. basil}

Six Years Later

Lord
Take me where you want me to go,
Let me meet who you want me to meet
Tell me what you want me to say, and keep me out of your way.
-Fr.Mychal Judge, FDNY Chaplain

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi:

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

Thought for the day

If everyone believed absolutely 100% of what their church/denomination taught - there would be about 6 billion world religions.

"In prayer, come empty. Do nothing."
-St.John of the Cross