just a brief meditation on the dogma of the trinity today in light of the upcoming birthday of swami abhishiktananda/dom henri le saux in august.
another longer essay in the ongoing saga of generative software/decomputing and higher ed coming soon!
Western monastic tradition
a belated post on a new(ish) essay in _spirit & life_
in the thick part of the term amid other family stuff going on too, apparently i completely forgot to announce that i had an essay published in the benedictine magazine spirit & life back in march.
it’s on mortification, which isn’t a terribly popular topic of essay writing these days, but i find it fascinating. it comes out of my ongoing research on and reading of the 17th-century benedictine dame gertrude more. especially the talks i gave at dame gertrude’s foundation of stanbrook abbey back in october.
a little light reading!
celebrating the 50th anniversary of swami abhishiktananda’s mahaprasthana
swami abhishiktananda (1910-1973; aka dom henri le saux) was a french benedictine monk and priest who felt called to live in india in order to set up contemplative monasteries there. he ended up staying the rest of his life and discovering more than he had bargained for in the general life of india and particularly in advaita vedanta. he never renounced his vocation as a monk or a priest, and he is said to have achieved final awakening right near the end of his life. i was introduced to swami abhishiktananda by my amma sr. pascaline coff and had the great privilege of collecting and translating his french poems a few years back.
this year on december 7th marks the 50th anniversary of swami abhishiktananda’s mahaprasthana (great departure). several of us who admire swamiji and his message of awakening and interreligious respect and affection will celebrate on december 6th at 10.00 am central standard time.
prior cyprian consiglio, fr. adam bucko, jon sweeney, and others will be gathering on zoom to share meditation, song, and talk on swamiji. if you’d like to attend as well, you can email jonmsweeney@gmail.com to receive the zoom link.
pax/shanti
new essay on swami abhishiktananda
this year is the 50th anniversary of the passing of swami abhishiktananda, benedictine monk and sannyasi. and i was invited by dimmid to write an essay on how/why swamiji’s life and message are still important and instructive for their journal dilitato corde.
swami abhsihiktananda was, it’s said plenty but bears repeating, a pioneer of interreligious dialogue, leaving his native france in 1948 for india and never returning. his embrace of advaita and his struggle to articulate his spiritual message in terms honest to the reality of his “double belonging” to the church and to the vedantic tradition make him an immensely compelling figure.
as i did with fr. bede griffiths a few months ago, rather than focusing on the more outgoing aspects of swami abhishiktananda’s thought and life, i turned to the foundations of his formation in monasticism. in this essay i look at his close and at times fraught relationship with the psalms.
it was good fun to write, requested as more of a reflection than a scholarly essay, so i placed myself in this one more than i usually do. other interesting takes are being added as the issue fills up in celebration.
requiescat in pace et lux perpetua luceat ei.
belated notice of an essay on fr. bede griffiths, osbcam
a bit back i had an essay on fr. bede griffiths, osbcam appear in new camaldoli’s newsletter. the new camaldoli hermitage is a community of camaldolese hermit-monks who trace their spiritual heritage back to st. romuald and st. benedict. i’ve visited a few times now, and i’m never disappointed in the monks’ welcome, community atmosphere, and the tremendous land the hermitage sits upon overlooking the pacific ocean in the santa lucia mountains.
folks who write on bede usually focus on his more speculative and experimental views, his interreligious models, etc. given my own proclivities, i took the chance to write about bede as a simple monk, who was, despite all the changes in his life and spirituality, devoted to the divine office (liturgy of the hours), the public prayer of the church that’s been sung throughout the day every day in all sorts of communities since the early years.
other solid stuff in here too.
lenten essay (about jokes) in _spirit & life_
for all those who keep the season of holy fasting we call “lent” in english (or those who are interested in world religions for whatever reason), i’ve got a new essay out in the benedictine magazine spirit & life.
it’s based on an interaction i had with some other guys here in milwaukee last year as well as some studying of the nature of christian atonement i did years and years ago now (when i first read william langland’s tremendous poem, piers plowman—read piers if you haven’t!).
all i’ll say here is that the essay involves the devil as a monstrous fish and the holy cross as a tricky hook. enjoy!
essay in _macrina magazine_
for any readers out there who are interested in monastic spirituality, i’ve got a new essay up at macrina magazine on devotion to the sacred humanity of christ and its monastic origins.
lots of good work being done over at macrina, so take a look around if you have an interest.
New Personal Essay on Contemplation in _Spirit & Life_
I’m always grateful for the support of Spirit & Life, the Benedictine magazine that the congregation of sisters I’m affiliated puts out every other month. But especially so right now. On the occasion of the Exultation of the Cross coming up on the 14th of this month, they’ve published an essay of mine that brings together American neo-bohemia, altered states of consciousness, devotion to the Sacred Humanity of Christ, and contemplation. (!) You can find it here.
This is by far my most personal essay so far, and I find it’s getting easier over the years to just say what I want to say. Spirit & Life has helped foster that growth for sure—if you like what you see there, please subscribe; it’s free and a very pleasing material publication!
pax inter spinas
Webinar for Paraclete Press with Abbot Primate Gregory Polan on the Divine Office
I had the distinct privilege yesterday of having a conversation with Abbot Primate Gregory J. Polan, OSB and Rachel McKendree of Paraclete Press about the practice and virtues of the Divine Office (also known as the Liturgy of the Hours) and my new book, The Saint Benedict Prayer Book.
We discussed a bit of the history but more so the vision of reality that is conveyed by the performance of the Hours, why it matters as a form of prayer in the world today and how it shapes who we are. It was a fabulous discussion with much wisdom from Abbot Primate Gregory.
If you have an interest, you can watch the full conversation here, and you can pick a copy of the book here.
Pax et Bonum!
More Benedictiana: 6th century poem on St. Benedict in _Spirit & Life_ (+ audio)
I’ve come back from vacation to find my translation of a Latin poem on St. Benedict in the latest print issue of Spirit & Life, the magazine that the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration publish every couple months.
It’s a middle-length poem by a monk named Mark of Monte Cassino, and it’s the earliest attestation we have of St. Benedict’s existence—in plenty of time for his feast day on July 11th. The Latin is set in elegiac couplets, and I’ve translated them into alternating 12-syllable and 10-syllable lines modeled on French syllabic lines.
So, if you’re interested in arcane Benedictine texts (as you know I am), have a read here and a listen below if you like! Also: you can sign up for a free subscription to the magazine here.
Jacob Riyeff 