Worship that works – spirituality that connects
I first read about the Australian Fr Lazarus, living in the cave of St Anthony, in the book Desert Father: In the Desert with Saint Anthony
The monk mentioned at the end of the above clip is Fr Lazarus.
Now I fell over this youtube video of archaeological and restoration work at this ancient monastery, at one of the sources of Christian monasticism. Fr Maximous el-Antony describes the work and the possibility of discovering St Anthony’s tomb:
Wednesday’s General Audience to 15,000 people in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict called on Christians to learn from monasticism and set aside time every day to meditate on the Bible, “so that the Word of God will be the lamp that illuminates our daily path on earth.” Monastics “were devoted to the Sacred Scriptures and one of their main activities consisted in lectio divina, that is, a meditative reading of the Bible.” The pope reminded people that the Synod on the Word of God in 2008 recalled the importance of reading the Bible and said such reading must be built on monastic theology.
As monastic theology is listening to the Word of God, it is necessary to purify one’s heart to welcome it and, above all, one must be full of fervor to encounter the Lord. Theology therefore becomes meditation, prayer, a song of praise, and the impetus for sincere conversion.
More can be found on Lectio Divina here.
Julian of Norwich (by Robert Lentz)
Today is the feast of Julian of Norwich (c. November 8, 1342 – c. 1416). She is an English mystic. She is called Julian after the Church of St Julian in Norwich, where she was an anchoress. She lived in a cell attached to the church. At the age of 30, suffering from a severe illness and believing she was dying, she had a series of visions which she recorded soon after, and then, after reflecting on them for twenty years, she wrote an expanded version. These are called Revelations of Divine Love
She saw God holding a tiny thing in his hand, like a small brown nut, which seemed so fragile and insignificant that she wondered why it did not crumble before her eyes. She understood that the thing was the entire created universe, which is as nothing compared to its Creator, and she was told, “God made it, God loves it, God keeps it.” She delightfully surprises some people with her understanding of the motherhood of God and her strong insight that there is no wrath in God.
In the Episcopal Church there is an Order of Julian of Norwich. It is an order of both men and women contemplatives who follow the spirituality of Julian of Norwich and was founded in Norwich, Conn., in 1982.
Lord God, who in your compassion granted to the Lady Julian many revelations of your nurturing and sustaining love: Move our hearts, like hers, to seek you above all things, for in giving us yourself you give us all; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Sr Mary Paul
I am delighted to have e-met Sr. Mary Paul. Her website is The Still Heart. After a long journey, Bishop Sergio Carranza, of the Diocese of Los Angeles consecrated her on October 30th 2008 as a Professed Episcopal Solitary. With Life Vows of Simplicity, Obedience, and Chastity. In Anglicanism Professed Solitaries are few and far between. There was one I knew in the Dunedin Diocese (NZ) but he has now passed away. One suggestion is that there are only six such Nuns and one Brother in the entire Anglican Communion.
Mount Calvary Monastery and Retreat House was destroyed in the Montecito Tea Fire fire last week. The fire started November 13. It destroyed 210 homes in the cities of Montecito and Santa Barbara. The seven Benedictine Episcopalian (Anglican) monks, staff and retreatants were all safe.
Everything was lost, including a magnificent 17th century South American gold altar, a 1652 painting of Jesus healing the paralytic, and a painting of Fr. Karl Tiedemann, OHC who founded the monastery in 1947. The monks belong to the Order of the Holy Cross, who live in a Covenant of Friendship with the Roman Catholic order, the Camaldolese. The two orders have had a joint monastery. I was blessed to have spent time with the Order of the Holy Cross and the Camaldolese – photos and other information is to be found on this site.
The International Herald Tribune reported that Brother Radelmiller, the prior, 68, was the only one to get his habit, with the six-inch-long ebony cross he received at his ordination 38 years ago tucked into the pocket. “I keep running into little things that I’d missed,” he said, “things I had not realized I’d lost.” He began to cry quietly, then took a breath, saying: “But I really do feel like the most important thing is that we’re all O.K. and together. If they’re memories, I’ll just have to remember them. The most important thing is us.”
The brothers have accepted hospitality at St. Mary’s Retreat House, run by the Episcopal Order of Sisters of the Holy Nativity. Let us remember and pray for the monks, their life, witness, ministry and discernment for the future, and all affected by these fires.
The CD Chant: Music For The Soul by the Cistercian Monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz (Holy Cross Abbey) is a surprising hit. It made the top of the charts in Europe. In Austria it reached double platinum, and in Germany gold. It appeared amongst the Top 10 hits from the USA to New Zealand.
The primary motivation of the 80 monks living in this monastery has been for “God’s words to reach the ears of ordinary people.” The abbey, founded in 1133 by St. Leopold III Margrave of Austria, is located about 15km from Vienna. The story of their entering a CD competition began with someone spotting one of the monk’s youtube video on their chanting and emailing the monastery about the competition. They entered the competition on the last day possible.
Experts in Gregorian chant may compare the style here with Solemes or even dislike Teutonic pronunciation of Latin. I have a reasonable collection of CDs with Gregorian chant – I found this particular CD a mellow, gentle introduction to this tradition. If you are looking for an introduction to this meditative musical prayer tradition I would look no further than this CD.
Appropriately on the feast day of St Benedict (for a blog interested in monasticism and liturgy) this is the first post on the new blog using Wordpress for liturgy.co.nz
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