A Study in Truths

The Life and Times of an Unrepentant Apostate

[lovechangeseverythang]

The current season of my life: waiting.

[st-catherine-of-siena-deactivat]

“He who carries God in his heart bears Heaven with him wherever he goes.” - St. Ignatius of Loyola  

[lighthearted-science]

The glory of God is man fully alive.

Saint Irenaeus (via lighthearted-science)

[eclecticlayman]

In continental Europe . . . every aspect of a monk’s life was governed by a strict Rule, and the abbot had absolute authority. In Britain and Ireland, by contrast, the monks and nuns enjoyed a high degree of freedom, and their way of life remained simple and flexible. They each worked out their own pattern of prayer and meditation, meeting only once a day for worship. The abbot was seen not as a ruler to whom obedience was owed, but rather as a wise spiritual guide from whom to seek advice . . . Every monastery had huts available for travelers and the sick; and the monks were expected to share with them some of the food they had gathered.

Celtic Christianity: Deep Roots for a Modern Faith by Ray Simpson

[eclecticlayman]

The heart of the Celtic fire was the monastery. The Celtic monastery was usually started by a hermit, who cleared a piece of forest and built himself a hut. Gradually others would come to join him, clearing some more woodland and erecting huts nearby. Then in their midst they would build a chapel, a simple wooden frame covered in turfs. Sometimes these communities grew to no more than ten or twenty people, but often they consisted of hundreds or even thousands of men and women, forming by far the largest settlements in the whole of the British Isles. And they were constantly spawning new communities, as individual monks and nuns, weary of the bustle of the large monastery, went off into the forest to live as hermits; and soon others would come, to form another monastery.

Celtic Christianity: Deep Roots for a Modern Faith by Ray Simpson

[eclecticlayman]

Christians must travel in perpetual pilgrimage as guests of the world.

St Columbanus

[eclecticlayman]

One of the most striking and original features of Irish Christianity is the love of wandering . . . which was interpreted in both its literal and its figurative sense. The epic stories of faith journeys came to have as much significance as the events themselves. 'In epic literature,' John Sharkey writes, 'the journey is symbolic of the life of the soul, the cycle of experience it must undergo. . . . The telling of our journeys is as much a religion as the ceremonies themselves.'

Nora Chadwick

[eclecticlayman]

The Carmina Gadelica by Alexander Carmicheal, at sacred-texts.com

Carmina Gadelica is a compendium of prayers, hymns, charms, incantations, blessings, literary-folkloric poems and songs, proverbs, lexical items, historical anecdotes, natural history observations, and miscellaneous lore gathered in the Gaelic-speaking regions of Scotland between 1860 and 1909. The material was recorded, translated, and reworked by the exciseman and folklorist Alexander Carmichael (1832–1912).

[eclecticlayman]

Have no fear, brothers, for God is our captain, and our pilot; so take in the oars; and set the sail, letting him blow us where he wills.

The Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot

[eclecticlayman]

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.

Romans 8:26 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

[eclecticlayman]

18 Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Ephesians 6:18 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

[eclecticlayman]

Pray without ceasing.

1 Thessalonians 5:17

[eclecticlayman]

Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths, and where the best road is. Walk on it, and you will live in peace. . . . My people have forgotten me. . . . They have stumbled in the way they should go, they no longer follow the old ways. . . . Set up signs and mark the road; find again the way by which you left. Come back.

Jeremiah 6:16; 31:21 

[eclecticlayman]

Today there is a turning from secularism toward spirituality, but it is to any and every type of spirituality—except that of the churches, which are often identified with a bureaucratic, outdated culture. The emerging culture is the “pick ’n’ mix” variety, and the New Age movement, which seeks to embrace the energies within the universe, is the first attempt at a postmodern world-view. The challenge to Christianity is to find the appropriate way of communicating the gospel to a new culture as it forms; and to respond to the longing for a return to a holistic approach to life that does not put the natural and the supernatural, the sacred and the secular, into separate compartments.

Celtic Christianity: Deep Roots for a Modern Faith by Ray Simpson

[eclecticlayman]

This spirituality resonates with those who are addressing cultural changes from widely differing perspectives. In the following pages, the term “Celtic spirituality” refers to the Christianity of people such as Aidan and Hilda. They championed the Christian faith, yet were free from Roman stereotypes of Christianity, and were open enough to respond to fresh adventures of God’s Spirit and to the concerns of an evolving people.

Celtic Christianity: Deep Roots for a Modern Faith by Ray Simpson

[eclecticlayman]

Post Church Post 1

1/26/2020

Today I attended mass at an Episcopal church. I have done this off and on since my departure from Rome and I plan on continuing to do so. Today was a good experience.

I've been going there off and on because it is the church that my friend attends and is sort of the subdeacon at. It is a small parish church serving an equally small American town. Quaint, honest, unpretentious, and what they lack in quantity, they make up for in quality.

All of this is presided over by the vicar of that small American town. A nice little lady with a big heart. Today though she was feeling a little under the weather so her fellow congregants rushed in to help where needed.

And today was a big day. It was the annual meeting. A(n) (obviously) yearly event where everyone gets together to make big decisions concerning the parish, to see how things are, and to just generally get together and try and outdo the Baptists on how many casseroles can be prepared for and eaten at one given church function.

But before all this commotion was a stillness. The mass itself was beautiful and reflective. The peace wasn't the "sober" style that I was accustomed to as a former Roman Catholic but it was a nice change of pace.

During the giving of the peace, my subdeacon friend I mentioned earlier introduced me to a fellow parishioner that he thought I might hit it off with. He was right. This person, upon hearing that I was a newly formal defector from the Roman Catholic Church, said, "Looks like I have a comrade now!"  Turns out this guy used to be a Roman Catholic priest and not just any priest but also a canon lawyer. He didn't really go into details of why he left aside from some passing remarks about "the bishops" to which I understandingly nodded. I think we'll have some good conversations later on.

The homily was on Matthew 4:12-23, where Christ recruited two lucky fishermen to become fishers of men.

I also received communion. This is a big thing for me. Communion is a big thing by itself. For someone who was a confirmed Roman Catholic to receive communion anywhere but a Roman Catholic Church is something else altogether.

All told though, it was a good experience and I hope to try and make it next Sunday. I'm going to try and do these weekly reflections. My subdeacon friend used to do similar posts on Facebook so I got the idea from him.

God Bless!

-Eclectic Layman

[eclecticlayman]

Christ opened heaven for us in the manhood he assumed

St. Irenaeus