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Week of 1/29-2/3/2024:
Mother Mary, "Hail Mary," St.
Brigid 02/4/2024 |
January 29, 2024: A Revised Hail Mary Prayer For Our Post-Modern Times
We are meditating on the original 12th century version of
“Hail Mary:” Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, untroubled maiden. You are blessed among women, you who brought forth peace to people and glory to the angels. Blessed too is the fruit of your womb, who by grace made it possible for us to be his heirs. The message that humans bring “glory to the angels” and are “heirs” to Christ, along with the emphasis on “grace” and “peace,” stands out as integral to the creation spirituality tradition. In
one of his sermons, Meister Eckhart challenges us to be “full of grace” like Mary was. Matthew proposes updating the prayer for our post-modern times by adding to the original Hail Mary the following ending: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us heirs and co-workers of God at the hour of our creativity. Amen. |
“The Annunciation” (1914) by John William Waterhouse. Public domain from WikiArt.org. |
January 30, 2024: A Revised “Hail Mary” & A New Cosmology Banish Despair
Unlike the original “Hail Mary” prayer (see DM, above), the one recited by many people the world over since the 16th century is full of
reference to sin and death. In that same century, Swiss reformer John Calvin declared that life in this world is…. totally wretched. Nowhere is happiness to be found. And “infinite misery” abounds. Clearly Calvin doesn’t resonate with the principles of Creation Spirituality! A new cosmology can liberate us from this guilt culture. Even Calvin said that if God had formed us of the stuff of the sun or the stars…then we might have said that our beginning was honorable.
The new cosmology, which teaches exactly that, can lift our souls, open our hearts, and remind us that creation is good! January 31, 2024: The
Magnificat, Mary and Ourselves as Mystic-Prophets
In addition to the “Hail Mary” that is built on the Annunciation scene in the gospels, we can meditate on the prayer attributed to Mary and called the “Magnificat.” (Luke 1.46-55) It begins: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my savior; Because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid. Yes, from that day
forward all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me. Mary lifts up feminine wisdom and strength and compassion. Prayers that call up the strength and wisdom of our ancestral mothers and healthy fathers are needed more than ever today. |
“Shlom Lech Maryam,” the Hail Mary in Aramaic. Sung by Ana Otero. |
February 1, 2024: The Aramaic “Hail Mary” & Eckhart’s Call to Birth the Christ
Apropos of the call for new versions of the “Hail Mary” prayer, Matthew received a video teaching from Aramaic scholar Neil
Douglas Klotz. Neil was on the faculty for years at ICCS in Oakland where he led body prayer every morning and taught courses on the Aramaic Jesus and on the Dances of Universal Peace. The Aramaic version of Hail Mary, said Neil, has much to do with us being “mothers of God,” as per Eckhart. He is referring to passages in Eckhart like this: What help is it to me that Mary is full of grace, if I am not also full of grace? And what help is it to me that the Father gives birth to
his Son unless I too give birth to him? February 2, 2024: The Divine Feminine and St. Brigid
We are honoring St. Brigid’s feast day (February 1st.) The mystics Eckhart, Hildegard, Aquinas, and St. Francis were all deeply steeped in Celtic spirituality. And Brigid is, of course, greatly revered among the Celts. In his excellent book on Celtic spirituality, Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul: Celtic Wisdom for Reawakening to What Our Souls Know and Healing the World, John Philip Newell says, “Celtic wisdom remembers the
sacredness of the feminine.” Of Brigid he says: She loves the earth…models female leadership, inspires poets and musicians, midwifes at new beginnings, and extravagantly embodies compassion and boundless generosity toward the poor and those who seek refuge. |
Mural depicting Brigid as both goddess and saint, Dundalk, County Louth. Wikimedia
Commons |
February 3, 2024: St. Brigid, Druidic Ecumenism, and the Divine Feminine
Brigid straddles two worlds—the Christian and the pre-Christian. Legend tells us that Brigid’s mother was a Christian and her father a
Druid. She is “a symbol of continuity in the Celtic world between one age of wisdom and the next.” In the centuries following her death, St. Brigid “took on many of the characteristic of the goddess” and was remembered through the ritual of the perpetual fire, a ritual that lasted a thousand years until it was extinguished during the Protestant Reformation. Newell says: This marked a tragic shift in Ireland’s dominant form of Christianity away from the divine as immanent and feminine toward
regarding it solely as masculine and transcendent. |
Banner image: Altar window of St. Joseph’s Church in Letterfrack, Ireland, depicting Saints Brigid, Mary with Child, and Joseph. Wikimedia Commons. |
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Passion for Creation: The Earth-Honoring Spirituality of Meister Eckhart
Matthew Fox’s comprehensive translation of Meister Eckhart’s sermons is a meeting of true prophets across centuries, resulting in
a spirituality for the new millennium. The holiness of creation, the divine life in each person and the divine power of our creativity, our call to do justice and practice compassion–these are among Eckhart’s themes, brilliantly interpreted and explained for today’s reader.
“The most important book on mysticism in 500 years.” — Madonna Kolbenschlag, author of Kissing Sleeping Beauty
Goodbye. |
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In the Beginning There Was Joy: A Cosmic Celebration for Kids of All Ages
The first book in the Father Fox’s Fantastical Fables series tells the story of the big bang and how humans fit into the awesome, fantastical,
cosmic picture! With artwork curated from illustrators around the world, this book expresses the joy and wonder of all peoples and cultures, planting seeds of respect, cooperation and hope to work together for the healing of our planet.
"Matthew Fox has created a narrative, for every parent and grandparent, both spiritual and scientific, that is a gift for all
elders who recognize their responsibility in initiating the young ones into the grandeur of existence." Cosmologist Brian Swimme, author of Cosmogenesis and The Universe Story "Matthew Fox has given all of us, children included, a wondrous and enchanting view of creation and all that humanity should
aspire to." - Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit and A Time for Grace Receive a 20% discount when you buy this and one other book from Matthew Fox’s store! Use Promo Code 20% at checkout. |
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UPCOMING EVENTS See Matthew Fox's full calendar
HERE |
SPECIAL EVENT: 5-DAY WORKSHOP IN AQUINAS’ HOMETOWN OF ORVIETO, ITALY
WITH MATTHEW FOX, MESHI CHAVEZ, AND CLAUDIA PICARDI
JUNE 9-14, 2024
LEARN MORE HERE. |
Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book “The Lotus & The Rose” in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat. Thursday, February 15, 4:00-6:00 pm PT. Register HERE. |
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Creation Spirituality Conversations |
Matthew Fox speaks on "What the Mystics Tell Us About Dying" at the 2024 Symposium on Death and Bereavement Studies. To listen, click the video thumbnail at right. |
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