Saturday, September 10, 2011

Lectio Divina For 11 September

From The American Bible Society:

September 11, 2011




Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time



This is a reminder to continue in your daily Lectio Divina Scripture reading. We’ve included the content again for you, to make it easier for you to continue to engage with God’s Word.



…UNLESS YOU FORGIVE YOUR BROTHER FROM YOUR HEART

Matthew 18:21-35 (Good News Translation)



21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?” 22 “No, not seven times,” answered Jesus, “but seventy times seven, 23 because the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who decided to check on his servants' accounts. 24 He had just begun to do so when one of them was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 25 The servant did not have enough to pay his debt, so the king ordered him to be sold as a slave, with his wife and his children and all that he had, in order to pay the debt. 26 The servant fell on his knees before the king. “Be patient with me,” he begged, “and I will pay you everything!” 27 The king felt sorry for him, so he forgave him the debt and let him go. 28 Then the man went out and met one of his fellow servants who owed him a few dollars. He grabbed him and started choking him. “Pay back what you owe me!” he said. 29 His fellow servant fell down and begged him, “Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!” 30 But he refused; instead, he had him thrown into jail until he should pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very upset and went to the king and told him everything. 32 So he called the servant in. “You worthless slave!” he said. ‘I forgave you the whole amount you owed me, just because you asked me to. 33 You should have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you. ’ 34 The king was very angry, and he sent the servant to jail to be punished until he should pay back the whole amount. ” 35 And Jesus concluded, “That is how my Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

Other Readings: Sirach 27:30 – 28:9; Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12; Romans 14:7-9;



Lectio

One of the risks we run when dealing with the Scripture, especially with Jesus’ words, is taming them, making them seem reasonable, and depriving them of the feelings of unrest and scandal they should provoke in our conformist vision of the world. The question posed by Peter is a practical consequence of the attitude expected from Christians when dealing with sin in their midst (Matthew 18:15-20, the passage we read last Sunday). In this case, the sin is against me, a member of the community. One has the impression that Peter tries to give a logical, even generous answer to his own question, in advance to Jesus’ answer. But the parable Jesus offers as an example of forgiveness and mercy goes far beyond our human logic. Although forgiving our brother “seven times” may be an unselfish sign of condescendence, it limits itself to the world of reasonable behavior. In a sense, what we find in Sirach’s reading (and in Peter’s suggestion) is a simple tit for tat, a common rule of peaceful coexistence. It is nothing strictly Christian or even extraordinary. Using Jesus’ words from a similar context, “Even the pagans do that!” (Matthew 5:47). In fact, if we recall Jesus’ prayer, it is most significant that the only comment he makes concerns “forgiveness of wrongs,” and in that case, he limits its scope to a certain equivalence: “If you do not forgive others… your Father will not forgive you” (Matthew 6:14-15). In today’s parable, Jesus takes us a step further. Our lack of mercy deprives us of the possibility of receiving pardon from God. Of course, in the day of the Last Judgement (that is the context of the story), God will not forgive us unless we have forgiven others from our heart. But, at the same time, there is no condition regarding our having pardoned beforehand. That is precisely the situation of the first servant at the beginning of the parable. At that moment he has not been put to the test of forgiving anyone, but he is granted pardon without any merit on his part. We always receive pardon without any merit in our part. God forgives us not because we have previously forgiven others, but out of his own generosity and mercy. In the end, what we find here is a description of God as the forgiving and merciful Father who does not reject the prodigal son, “who makes his sun to shine on bad and good people” (Matthew 5:45), who “loved the world so much that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16).



Meditatio

In our society, as in that of Jesus’ time, justice is understood mainly as a restoration of things to a previous state; giving back what you stole, paying back what you owe. But in many cases, there is no way to “restore,” and justice may tend to become simply vengeance. All too often, in our personal relations, we keep memories of offenses and wrongdoings we have received and expect to get even, without any room or thought for mercy. Reflect on a couple of simple facts in your life. To what extent are you willing to pardon? Looking back to your life. Have you really forgiven from your heart, or do you still keep a list of resentments? Can you remember any occasion in which you have humbly asked to be pardoned?



Oratio

Give thanks that your sins were forgiven in baptism and, later on, if you are a Roman Catholic, by means of the sacrament of penance. Pray for yourself, that you may become a sign of God’s forgiveness and reconciliation, that you may bring peace to that part of the world where you live.



Contemplatio

Read today’s second reading, Romans 14:7-9. During the week, try to experience God’s presence in your daily activity and feel that whatever you do, wherever you go, either in life or in death, you belong to the Lord.



Reflections written by Rev. Fr. Mariano Perrón Director of Inter-Religious Affairs Archdiocese of Madrid, Spain



© 2010 American Bible Society. All Rights Reserved. 1865 Broadway, New York, NY 10023





Reformed Church In America Daily Prayer Request For Saturday, 10 September

From The Reformed Church in America:


September 10 Prayer Request

Join Christians around the world in offering prayers for the countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Slovenia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia. For specific requests and praises, visit the World Council of Churches ecumenical prayer cycle web page.



Today's Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35





Friday, September 9, 2011

Greek Orthodox Church Daily Readings For Saturday, 10 September

From goarch:

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +




Daily Scripture Readings and Lives of the Saints for Saturday, September 10, 2011



Readings for today:



St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 2:6-9

Matthew 10:37-42, 11:1



Feasts and Saints celebrated today:



Saturday before Holy Cross

Menodora, Metrodora, & Nymphodora the Martyrs

Poulcheria the Empress

Forefeast of the Elevation of the Venerable and Life-Giving Cross

Afterfeast of the Nativity of the Theotokos





Epistle Reading



The reading is from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 2:6-9



BRETHREN, among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him."



(c) 2011 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America



Gospel Reading



The reading is from Matthew 10:37-42, 11:1



The Lord said, "He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it. He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward, and he who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward." And when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.



(c) 2011 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America





Menodora, Metrodora, & Nymphodora the Martyrs



Reading from the Synaxarion:



These Martyrs, sisters according to the flesh, were from Bithynia. They lived in virginity on a mountain near the Pythian hot springs of Bithynia, devoting themselves to asceticism and prayer. Betrayed to the local governor, Fronto, they were subjected to frightful tortures, and so gave up their holy souls into the hands of God. They contested for the Faith during the reign of Maximian, in the year 304.



Apolytikion in the First Tone

In thee the image was preserved with exactness, O Mother; for taking up thy cross, thou didst follow Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to overlook the flesh, for it passeth away, but to attend to the soul since it is immortal. Wherefore, O righteous Menodora, thy spirit rejoiceth with the Angels.





Kontakion in the Fourth Tone

Ye put the foe to flight with all his devices, when ye contended for the Trinity bravely, as sisters bound in spirit with a sacred love. Wherefore, ye are gone to dwell with the five prudent virgins in that fair and glorious bridal chamber in Heaven; and, O prizewinners, ye now stand before the King of all with the Angels in endless joy.





This content is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved:

Reading (c) Holy Transfiguration Monastery - Brookline, MA

Apolytikion (c) Holy Transfiguration Monastery - Brookline, MA

Kontakion (c) Holy Transfiguration Monastery - Brookline, MA





Afterfeast of the Nativity of the Theotokos



Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone

Thy Nativity, O Theotokos, hath procliamed joy to the whole world; for from thee hath dawned the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God, annulling the curse and bestowing the blessing, abolishing death and granting us life everlasting.





This content is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved:

Apolytikion (c) Holy Transfiguration Monastery - Brookline, MA



German Evangelical Church (Evangelische Kirche In Deutschland [EKD]) Daily Readings (Evangelium Tag Für Tag) For Saturday, 10 September (Samstag [oder Sonnabend], 10 September)

From ETfT:

EVANGELIUM TAG FÜR TAG


«Herr, zu wem sollen wir gehen? Du hast Worte des ewigen Lebens.» Joh. 6,68







Samstag, 10 September 2011



Samstag der 23. Woche im Jahreskreis



Heiligen des Tages : Hl. Nikolaus von Tolentino, Hl. Pulcheria, Hl. Theodard



Kommentar zum heutigen Evangelium -

Hl. Franz von Sales : «An den Früchten erkennt man den Baum»



Erster Brief des Apostel Paulus an Timotheus 1,15-17.

Das Wort ist glaubwürdig und wert, dass man es beherzigt: Christus Jesus ist in die Welt gekommen, um die Sünder zu retten. Von ihnen bin ich der Erste.

Aber ich habe Erbarmen gefunden, damit Christus Jesus an mir als Erstem seine ganze Langmut beweisen konnte, zum Vorbild für alle, die in Zukunft an ihn glauben, um das ewige Leben zu erlangen.

Dem König der Ewigkeit, dem unvergänglichen, unsichtbaren, einzigen Gott, sei Ehre und Herrlichkeit in alle Ewigkeit. Amen.







Psalm 113(112),1-2.3-4.5a.6-7.

Halleluja! Lobet, ihr Knechte des Herrn, lobt den Namen des Herrn!

Der Name des Herrn sei gepriesen von nun an bis in Ewigkeit.

Vom Aufgang der Sonne bis zum Untergang sei der Name des Herrn gelobt.

Der Herr ist erhaben über alle Völker, seine Herrlichkeit überragt die Himmel.



Wer gleicht dem Herrn, unserm Gott, im Himmel und auf Erden,

ihm, der in der Höhe thront, der hinabschaut in die Tiefe,

der den Schwachen aus dem Staub emporhebt und den Armen erhöht, der im Schmutz liegt?









Evangelium nach Lukas 6,43-49.

Es gibt keinen guten Baum, der schlechte Früchte hervorbringt, noch einen schlechten Baum, der gute Früchte hervorbringt.

Jeden Baum erkennt man an seinen Früchten: Von den Disteln pflückt man keine Feigen, und vom Dornstrauch erntet man keine Trauben.

Ein guter Mensch bringt Gutes hervor, weil in seinem Herzen Gutes ist; und ein böser Mensch bringt Böses hervor, weil in seinem Herzen Böses ist. Wovon das Herz voll ist, davon spricht der Mund.

Was sagt ihr zu mir: Herr! Herr!, und tut nicht, was ich sage?

Ich will euch zeigen, wem ein Mensch gleicht, der zu mir kommt und meine Worte hört und danach handelt.

Er ist wie ein Mann, der ein Haus baute und dabei die Erde tief aushob und das Fundament auf einen Felsen stellte. Als nun ein Hochwasser kam und die Flutwelle gegen das Haus prallte, konnte sie es nicht erschüttern, weil es gut gebaut war.

Wer aber hört und nicht danach handelt, ist wie ein Mann, der sein Haus ohne Fundament auf die Erde baute. Die Flutwelle prallte dagegen, das Haus stürzte sofort in sich zusammen und wurde völlig zerstört.









Auszug aus der liturgischen Übersetzung der Bibel







Kommentar zum heutigen Evangelium :



Hl. Franz von Sales (1567 – 1622), Bischof von Genf und Kirchenlehrer

Philothea I, Kap. 3





«An den Früchten erkennt man den Baum»



Gott als Schöpfer der Welt bestimmte, dass alle Pflanzen Frucht bringen, „jede nach ihrer Art“ (Gen 1,11). So will er auch, dass die Christen als lebendige Pflanzen seiner Kirche Früchte der Frömmigkeit bringen, ein jeder nach seiner Befähigung und Berufung. Die Frömmigkeit, das christliche Leben, muss unterschiedlich gestaltet werden: vom Adeligen anders als vom Handwerker, vom Knecht anders als vom Fürsten, von der Witwe anders als vom Mädchen oder von einer verheirateten Frau. Nicht nur das; die Frömmigkeit muss sich in ihrer Ausübung nach den Kräften eines jeden richten, nach seinen Aufgaben und Pflichten. Passte es etwa zu einem Bischof, wenn er als Einsiedler leben wollte wie ein Kartäuser? Oder wenn Eheleute nicht mehr Geld ansparen würden als die Kapuziner? Oder wenn ein Handwerker den ganzen Tag in der Kirche verweilte wie ein Mönch, oder wenn ein Mönch wie ein Bischof unaufhörlich allen möglichen Begegnungen ausgesetzt wäre, nur um dem Nächsten zu dienen? Wäre eine solche Frömmigkeit nicht lächerlich, falsch und unerträglich? Dennoch ist dieser Fehler sehr häufig anzutreffen...



Nein, die Frömmigkeit richtet, sofern sie nur echt ist, keinerlei Schaden an; sie macht alles besser... „Die Biene“, sagt Aristoteles, „saugt ihren Honig aus den Blumen, ohne sie zu beschädigen“, sie lässt sie unversehrt und frisch, wie sie sie angetroffen hat. Die echte Frömmigkeit verbessert obendrein; denn sie schadet nicht nur keiner Berufung oder Betätigung, sondern bereichert und verschönert sie sogar... Die Sorge für die Familie fällt leichter, die Liebe zwischen Mann und Frau wird aufrichtiger, der Dienst des Fürsten zuverlässiger, und jeder Art von Tätigkeit fällt leichter.



Es wäre ein Irrtum, ja eine Ketzerei, wollte man die Frömmigkeit aus einer Kompanie von Soldaten verbannen, aus dem Laden der Handwerker, von den Fürstenhöfen, aus der ehelichen Gemeinschaft. Wo wir auch sind – wir können und müssen auch nach dem vollkommenen Leben trachten.







Greek Orthodox Church Daily Readings For Friday, 9 September

From GOA:

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Daily Scripture Readings and Lives of the Saints for Friday, September 9, 2011



Fast Day (Wine and Oil Allowed)



Readings for today:



St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians 4:22-27

Luke 8:16-21



Feasts and Saints celebrated today:



The Holy & Righteous Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna

Severianos the Martyr of Sebaste

Theophanes the Confessor

Afterfeast of the Nativity of the Theotokos





Epistle Reading



The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians 4:22-27



BRETHREN, Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, the son of the free woman through promise. Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written, "Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and shout, you who are not in travail; for the children of the desolate one are many more than the children of her that is married."



(c) 2011 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America



Gospel Reading



The reading is from Luke 8:16-21



The Lord said, "No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a vessel, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hid that shall not be made manifest, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light. Take heed then how you hear; for to him who has will more be given, and from him who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away."



Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him for the crowd. And he was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you." But he said to them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it."



(c) 2011 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America





The Holy & Righteous Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna



Reading from the Synaxarion:



Today, the day following the Nativity of the most holy Theotokos, we celebrate the synaxis of Saints Joachim and Anna, honouring them as her parents.



Apolytikion in the Second Tone

As we celebrate the memory of Thy righteous ancestors, O Lord, through them we beseech Thee to save our souls.





Kontakion in the Second Tone

Now Anna is glad, for from the bonds of barrenness hath she been released; and nourishing the all-pure one, she doth summon all together, that they might praise Him Who from her womb hath bestowed upon mortal men the only pure Mother who hath not known man.





This content is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved:

Reading (c) Holy Transfiguration Monastery - Brookline, MA

Apolytikion (c) Holy Transfiguration Monastery - Brookline, MA

Kontakion (c) Holy Transfiguration Monastery - Brookline, MA





Severianos the Martyr of Sebaste



Reading from the Synaxarion:



Saint Severianos, a senator from Sebastia, was both an illustrious man of wealth and a fearless Christian. Because he encouraged the holy Forty Martyrs of Sebastia to stand fast in their confession, he was given over to terrible torments, and received his own crown during the reign of Licinius and Lysius the Duke, about the year 315.



This content is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved:

Reading (c) Holy Transfiguration Monastery - Brookline, MA





Afterfeast of the Nativity of the Theotokos



Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone

Thy Nativity, O Theotokos, hath procliamed joy to the whole world; for from thee hath dawned the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God, annulling the curse and bestowing the blessing, abolishing death and granting us life everlasting.





This content is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved:

Apolytikion (c) Holy Transfiguration Monastery - Brookline, MA



German Evangelical Church (Evangelische Kirche In Deutschland [EKD]) Daily Readings (Evangelium Tag Für Tag) For Friday, 9 September (Freitag, 9 September)

From ETfT:

EVANGELIUM TAG FÜR TAG


«Herr, zu wem sollen wir gehen? Du hast Worte des ewigen Lebens.» Joh. 6,68







Freitag, 09 September 2011



Freitag der 23. Woche im Jahreskreis



Heiligen des Tages : Hl. Petrus Claver



Kommentar zum heutigen Evangelium -

Die spanisch-mozarabische Liturgie: «Kann ein Blinder einen Blinden führen?»



Erster Brief des Apostel Paulus an Timotheus 1,1-2.12-14.

Paulus, Apostel Christi Jesu durch den Auftrag Gottes, unseres Retters, und Christi Jesu, unserer Hoffnung,

an Timotheus, seinen echten Sohn durch den Glauben. Gnade, Erbarmen und Friede von Gott, dem Vater, und Christus Jesus, unserem Herrn.

Ich danke dem, der mir Kraft gegeben hat: Christus Jesus, unserem Herrn. Er hat mich für treu gehalten und in seinen Dienst genommen,

obwohl ich ihn früher lästerte, verfolgte und verhöhnte. Aber ich habe Erbarmen gefunden, denn ich wusste in meinem Unglauben nicht, was ich tat.

So übergroß war die Gnade unseres Herrn, die mir in Christus Jesus den Glauben und die Liebe schenkte.







Psalm 16(15),1-2a.5.7-8.11.

[Ein Lied Davids.] Behüte mich, Gott, denn ich vertraue dir.

Ich sage zum Herrn: «Du bist mein Herr; mein ganzes Glück bist du allein.»

Du, Herr, gibst mir das Erbe und reichst mir den Becher; du hältst mein Los in deinen Händen.

Ich preise den Herrn, der mich beraten hat. Auch mahnt mich mein Herz in der Nacht.



Ich habe den Herrn beständig vor Augen. Er steht mir zur Rechten, ich wanke nicht.

Du zeigst mir den Pfad zum Leben. Vor deinem Angesicht herrscht Freude in Fülle, zu deiner Rechten Wonne für alle Zeit.









Evangelium nach Lukas 6,39-42.

Er gebrauchte auch einen Vergleich und sagte: Kann ein Blinder einen Blinden führen? Werden nicht beide in eine Grube fallen?

Der Jünger steht nicht über seinem Meister; jeder aber, der alles gelernt hat, wird wie sein Meister sein.

Warum siehst du den Splitter im Auge deines Bruders, aber den Balken in deinem eigenen Auge bemerkst du nicht?

Wie kannst du zu deinem Bruder sagen: Bruder, laß mich den Splitter aus deinem Auge herausziehen!, während du den Balken in deinem eigenen Auge nicht siehst? Du Heuchler! Zieh zuerst den Balken aus deinem Auge; dann kannst du versuchen, den Splitter aus dem Auge deines Bruders herauszuziehen.









Auszug aus der liturgischen Übersetzung der Bibel







Kommentar zum heutigen Evangelium :



Die spanisch-mozarabische Liturgie

Eucharistisches Hochgebet zum zweiten Fastensonntag; PL85, 322





«Kann ein Blinder einen Blinden führen?»

Es ist recht und gut, dir Herr, heiligster Vater, ewiger allmächtiger Gott, Dank zu sagen durch Jesus Christus, deinen Sohn, unsern Herrn... Er ist in diese Welt gekommen, um zu richten, damit die Blinden sehend und die Sehenden blind werden (Joh 9,39). Die erkannt haben, dass sie sich in der Nacht des Irrtums befanden, haben das ewige Licht empfangen, das sie aus dem Dunkel ihrer Sünden befreit hat. Und die Überheblichen, die behaupteten, das Licht der Gerechtigkeit in sich selbst zu besitzen, sind zu Recht in ihre eigene Finsternis gestürzt worden. Ihr Stolz hatte sie auf gebläht, sie waren sich ihrer Gerechtigkeit so sicher, dass sie keinen Arzt aufsuchten, um geheilt zu werden. Durch Jesus Christus, der sich als die Tür bezeichnete (Joh 10,7), hätten sie zum Vater gelangen können; da sie sich aber anmaßend auf ihre Verdienste beriefen, verharrten sie in ihrer Verblendung.



Deshalb kommen wir in Demut zu dir, heiligster Vater. Wir berufen uns nicht auf unsere Verdienste, sondern legen vor deinem Altar unsere eigene Wunde frei. Wir gestehen das Dunkel unserer Irrtümer ein und legen die geheimsten Falten unseres Gewissens frei. Wir bitten dich, lass uns ein Heilmittel für unsere Wunde finden: das ewige Licht in der Dunkelheit, die schuldlose Reinheit in unserem Gewissen. Wir wollen aus ganzer Kraft dein Angesicht betrachten..., wir begehren den Himmel zu sehen...



Komm doch, Jesus, zu uns, die wir dich in deinem Tempel darum bitten, und heile uns heute, denn du hast Wunder gewirkt ohne darauf zu achten, dass es an einem Sabbat geschah... Du hast uns aus Nichts geschaffen: mache nun eine Salbe und bestreiche damit die Augen unseres Herzens... Vernimm unser Gebet und beseitige die Blindheit unserer Sünden, damit wir die Herrlichkeit deines Angesichts im Frieden der ewigen Seligkeit schauen können.





A Request For Prayer

From Confederate Catholic:

Prayer Request


Rebel Mom
September 9, 2011 at 3:48 PM
Tags: Baby, Prayer
Categories: Family, Health, Religion
URL: http://wp.me/p6ijd-pw



We are requesting prayers for a family member who is in need of God's healing touch. After birth, our nephew is having trouble breathing.





My Guardian Angel

Angel of God, my Guardian dear,

To whom God's love

commits me here,

Ever this day be at my side, to light

And guard, to rule

and guide. Amen.

Poets, Architects, Playwrights, Composers, Sculptors, Painters, Photographers, Philosophers, Mystics, Astronomers...

From Parabola:

Friday, September 9








James Hilton

James Hilton (September 9th, 1900 – December 20th, 1954) was an English novelist who wrote several best-sellers, including Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr. Chips.





Lost Horizon is a 1933 novel by English writer James Hilton. It is best remembered as the origin of Shangri-La, a fictional utopian lamasery high in the mountains of Tibet.







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Saturday, September 10







Henry Purcell

Henry Purcell (10 September 10th,1659 – November 21, 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music.





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Saturday, September 11







D. H. Lawrence

David Herbert Richards Lawrence (September 11, 1885 – March 2, 1930) was an English author, poet, playwright, essayist and literary critic. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation. In them, Lawrence confronts issues relating to emotional health and vitality, spontaneity, human sexuality and instinct. Lawrence's opinions earned him many enemies and he endured official persecution, censorship, and misrepresentation of his creative work throughout the second half of his life, much of which he spent in a voluntary exile he called his "savage pilgrimage." At the time of his death, his public reputation was that of a pornographer who had wasted his considerable talents. E. M. Forster, in an obituary notice, challenged this widely held view, describing him as, "The greatest imaginative novelist of our generation." Later, the influential Cambridge critic F. R. Leavis championed both his artistic integrity and his moral seriousness, placing much of Lawrence's fiction within the canonical "great tradition" of the English novel. Lawrence is now valued by many as a visionary thinker and significant representative of modernism in English literature, although feminists have a mixed opinion to the attitudes toward women and sexuality found in his works.







“However smart we may be, however rich and clever or loving or charitable or spiritual or impeccable, it doesn’t help us at all. The real power comes in to us from the beyond. Life enters us from behind, where we are sightless, and from below, where we do not understand. And unless we yield to the beyond, and take our power and might and honor and glory from the unseen, from the unknown, we shall continue empty.”





— D. H. Lawrence



“Below what we think we are

we are somebody else,

we are almost anything.”



— D.H. Lawrence





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Tuesday, September 14







Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (September 14, 1486 – February 18, 1535) was a German magician, occult writer, theologian, astrologer, and alchemist.







"Nothing is concealed from the wise and sensible, while the unbelieving and unworthy cannot learn the secrets. All things which are similar and therefore connected, are drawn to each other's power." This is known as the law of resonance.





—Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim









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Thursday, September 16







Hildegard of Bingen

Blessed Hildegard of Bingen (1098 – 17 September 1179), also known as Saint Hildegard, and Sibyl of the Rhine, was a Christian mystic, German Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath. Elected a magistra by her fellow nuns in 1136, she founded the monasteries of Rupertsberg in 1150 and Eibingen in 1165. One of her works as a composer, the Ordo Virtutum, is an early example of liturgical drama. She wrote theological, botanical and medicinal texts, as well as letters, liturgical songs, poems, and the first surviving morality play, while supervising brilliant miniature Illuminations.

Poems, Blueprints, Sculptures, Plays, Symphonies, Quotes, Aphorisms, Analects, Photographs, Paintings...

From Parabola:

Edward Steichen, "Lotus," Mt. Kisco, New York, 1915.


Edward Steichen, "Lotus," Mt. Kisco, New York, 1915.



“The struggle to know who I am, in truth and in spirit, is the spiritual quest. The movement in myself from the mask to the face, from the personality to the person, from the performing actor to the ruler of the inner chamber, is the spiritual journey,” wrote Ravi Ravindra
René Magritte "Not to Be Reproduced (La Reproduction Interdit)," (1937)

René Magritte "Not to Be Reproduced (La Reproduction Interdit)," (1937)





“If you would look at a flower, any thought about that flower prevents you from looking at it. The words the rose, the violet, it is this flower, that flower, it is that species keep you from observing. To look there must be no interference of the word, which is the objectifying of thought. There must be freedom from the word, and to look there must be silence; otherwise you can’t look. If you look at your wife or husband, all the memories that you have had, either of pleasure or pain, interfere with looking. It is only when you look without the image that there is a relationship. Your verbal image and the verbal image of the other have no relationship at all. They are nonexistent.”



—Jiddu Krishnamurti



From SILENCE: PARABOLA, VOLUME 33, NO. 1; SPRING 2008.







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Claude Buck, "Sunset," ca. 1915

Claude Buck, "Sunset," ca. 1915





“By nature, we do not perceive ourselves or others accurately. We magnify the importance of ourselves and diminish that of others. In the beauty of a clear night, however, we look at the stars and feel ourselves small, unimportant, and at peace. On an objective scale, we sense our insignificance. Somehow the realization comforts us. The return of the illusion hurts us, takes our peace away, allows us to magnify slights, rejections, and humiliations as others challenge the illusion of our self-importance with theirs. It is in our human nature that this be so; it is our task to transcend it.”



—Barry Grosskopf, “Hidden in Plain Sight”







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Photograph by Allen Ginsberg

Photograph by Allen Ginsberg. The caption reads: "I sat for decades at morning breakfast tea looking out my kitchen window, one day recognized my own world the familiar background, a giant wet brick-walled undersea Atlantis garden, waving ailanthus (“stinkweed”) “Trees of Heaven,” with chimney pots along Avenue A topped by Stuyvesant Town apartments’ upper floors two blocks distant on 14th Street, I focus’d on the raindrops along the clothesline. “Things are symbols of themselves,” said Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. New York City August 18, 1984 --Allen Ginsberg,





“The poignancy of photography comes from looking back to a fleeting moment in a floating world.”



—Allen Ginsberg







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T. Enami, "Into the Mist. Lone Pilgrim on a Mountain Trail," Ca.1905-15.

T. Enami, "Into the Mist. Lone Pilgrim on a Mountain Trail," Ca.1905-15.



In Between





We here and that man, this man,

and that other in-between,

and that woman, this woman,

and that other, whoever,



those people, and these,

and these others in-between,

these things, that thing,

and this other in-between, whichever,



all things dying, these things,

those things, those others in-between,

good things, bad things,

things that were, that will be,



being all of them,

he stands there.



—Nammalwar (AD880 to AD930)