When a monk asks you a question, it’s generally wise to listen. I learned this lesson on my annual silent retreat at the monastery of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist in Cambridge, MA. During his sermon on the…
Over the past decade or so, I’ve begun to steep myself in some of the ancient rhythms and rituals of the Church. I have taken to incorporating disciplines like the Sabbath, silence and solitude and fasting into my regular life…
Jessica Brantley, Reading in the Wilderness: Private Devotion and Public Performance in Late Medieval England. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2007. Pp. xvii, 463. £38.00, Hardcover. In the British Library is a 15th-century collection of Middle English religious…
When a monk asks you a question, it’s generally wise to listen. I learned this lesson on my annual silent retreat at the monastery of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist in Cambridge, MA. During his sermon on the…
Following up on my previous posts on the Rhapsodic Theatre and Jerzy Grotowski’s Laboratory Theatre, I would like to introduce a third Polish theatre company that was an inspiration to both: The Reduta Theatre. The Reduta, founded by the Catholic…
Editor’s Note: Over the course of this next week, and before regular posting resumes on 20 January, we will be posting several book reviews. “Take up and read!” David W. Fagerberg, On Liturgical Asceticism. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America…
I’m coming to you from St Benedict’s Abbey in Atchison, Kansas, and I’d like to speak a word on behalf of utilitarian art. As I walk around the grounds of the Abbey, which is also home to Benedictine College, I…
Sr Mary Stella McNamee, icon writer of the Monastery of Our Lady of Hyning, offers a reflection on icons.
This week, we have seen how artists can apply monastic wisdom and techniques to their creative lives, as well as to their spiritual lives. By way of concluding the week, I would like to explore how monks and members of other…