Summa Minutiae

On Disinterested Reading

Here's an essay by Abbot Andrew Marr of St. Gregory's Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in the Anglican Church, located in Three Rivers, Michigan. The essay appeared in the Abbey's Fall 2004 newsletter, and in it Abbot Andrew reflects on a talk given by Catholic Cistercian monk Michael Casey on the "ten commandments for those living the monastic life" as he found them in the Rule of St Benedict. The good Abbot takes one of Fr. Casey's commandments, the practice of leisurely reading, and presents some excellent insights on how we should read. He takes care to give practical advice for those with difficulties - what if reading just ain't your thing, or you don't have time for leisurely reading?

Here are the newsletter archives. Many thanks to Abbot Andrew and the monastery for putting such good content online.

Posted by Bill White at 10:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Our Lady of Sorrows?

The canticle in today's Lauds is from chapter 14 of the prophecies of Jeremiah. See verse 17:

"You shall say to them this word:
`Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,
and let them not cease,
for the virgin daughter of my people is smitten with a great wound,
with a very grievous blow.

Following ancient tradition in his commentary on this canticle, John Paul II sees the "virgin daughter" as Jerusalem the desolate. Could this also be understood in a sense as referring to Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, mourning at the foot of the cross?

Posted by Bill White at 9:43 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack