O Lord our God, who by your Son Jesus Christ called your apostles and sent them forth to preach the Gospel to the nations: We bless your holy name for your servant Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, whose labors in propagating your Church among the English people we commemorate today; and we pray that all […]
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Bede
Posted on by James Woodward
Today we commorate The Venerable Bede Almost everything that is known of Bede’s life is contained in the last chapter of his Historia Ecclesiastica, a history of the church in England. It was completed in about 731, and Bede implies that he was then in his fifty-ninth year, which would give a likely birth […]
Yes?
Posted on by James Woodward
rejected things After the final no there comes a yes And on that yes the future world depends. No was the night. Yes is this present sun. If the rejected things, the things denied, Slid over the western cataract, yet one, One only, one thing that was firm, even One thing remaining, infallible, […]
When did you last talk about death?
Posted on by James Woodward
The British don’t talk about death, says a survey, because they fear it. So if you are going to have a chat about, for want of a better word, dying, how might it go? It’s got to be the party pooper to end them all: “Hi. What’s your name? What do you do? Do you […]
Ascension
Posted on by James Woodward
Today is Ascension Day – here are some arresting and stimulating images to help us into a deeper sense of the meaning of this Feast:
Alcuin of York
Posted on by James Woodward
Alcuin of York had a long career as a teacher and scholar, first at the school at York now known as St Peter’s School, York founded AD 627) and later as Charlemagne’s leading advisor on ecclesiastical and educational affairs. From 796 until his death he was abbot of the great monastery of St. Martin […]
Dunstan
Posted on by James Woodward
Today we remember Dunstan (c.909–19 May 988) was an abbot of Glastonbury, a bishop of Worcester, a bishop of London, and an archbishop of Canterbury who was later canonized as a saint. His work restored monastic life in England and reformed the English Church. His 11th century biographer, Osbern, himself an artist and scribe, states […]
The new Poet Laureate
Posted on by James Woodward
The excitement of welcoming the first woman to the post of poet laureate is similar to the emotion with which a supporter of an under-rated football team greets a goal. Then, of course, for both genders, there’s the moral satisfaction, and political buzz, in seeing the re-balancing of old inequalities. Women poets worth honouring […]
Rogation Sunday
Posted on by James Woodward
Today is Rogation Sunday. Here is a bit of background! Rogation days are, in the calendar of the Western Church, four days traditionally set apart for solemn processions to invoke God’s mercy. They are April 25, the Major Rogation, coinciding with St. Mark’s Day; and the three days preceding Ascension Day, the Minor Rogations. […]
Caroline Chisholm
Posted on by James Woodward
Today in the Calendar of Saints in the Church of England we commemorate – Caroline Chisholm (30 May 1808 – 25 March 1877) was a progressive 19th-century English humanitarian known mostly for her involvement with female immigrant welfare in Australia. Born on the outskirts of Northampton, the first stop on her way to […]
Matthais
Posted on by James Woodward
Today we commenorate Saint Matthias Saint Matthias (1st centuryAD- 80), according to the New Testament Acts of the Apostles, was the Apostle chosen by the remaining eleven apostles to replace Judas Iscariot following Judas’s betrayal of Jesus and his suicide (Acts 1:18-26). There is no mention of a Matthias among the lists of disciples […]
Meditate?
Posted on by James Woodward
mindful To meditate does not mean to fight with a problem. To meditate means to observe. Your smile proves it. It proves that you are being gentle with yourself, that the sun of awareness is shining in you, that you have control of your situation. You are yourself, and you have acquired […]
Saint Georges Chapel Windsor
Posted on by James Woodward
In 1348, King Edward III founded two new religious colleges: St Stephen’s at Westminster and St George’s at Windsor. The new college at Windsor was attached to the Chapel of St Edward the Confessor which had been constructed by Henry III in the early thirteenth century. The chapel was then rededicated to the Blessed […]
Attachment?
Posted on by James Woodward
brilliant light happy are those who are free from attachment, feeders on rapture shall they be, like the gods of brilliant light. the Buddha
Julian of Norwich
Posted on by James Woodward
Little is known about Julian of Norwich, a close contemporary of Chaucer’s –not even her name (“Julian” was the name of the church at which she was an anchoress). Unlike Kempe, Julian wrote her text, Revelations of Divine Love, exclusively about her vision and religious meditations,not about her life. Following her vision, which occurred during a […]
Its all in the Mind?
Posted on by James Woodward
the mind the mind is restless, unsteady hard to guard, hard to control. The wise one makes it straight as a fletcher straightens an arrow. How good it is to rein the mind which is unruly, capricious, rushing wherever it pleases. The mind, so harnessed, will bring one happiness. Your worst enemy cannot […]
In Praise of…
Posted on by James Woodward
An extraordinarily rich and wonderful poet UA Fanthorpe Photo: UPPA She did not see herself as a serious contender. In fact, she made her preference clear in a poem, Petition of the Cats Concerning Mr Peter Porter. Still, she was happy that the post went to Andrew Motion: “Andrew’s worked so hard,” she declared, […]
Hope
Posted on by James Woodward
Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one’s life. Hope is the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. To hope is to wish for something with the expectation of the wish being fulfilled, a key condition in […]
The gift of Laughter
Posted on by James Woodward
It may be that we have not in our spirituality, learned to exercise that great solvent of rigidities, God’s gift of laughter! Alan Ecclestone What is laughter? What is laughter? It is God waking up! O it is God waking up! It is the sun poking its sweet head out From behind a cloud […]
Always Changing
Posted on by James Woodward
tree not even for a moment do things stand still: look at colour, in the trees Seiju, his death poem (d. 1776, age 75)