Everyone knows the classic symptoms of a heart attack: squeezing pain in the chest, radiating down the left arm or to the jaw, shortness of breath and so on. But medical researchers are now discovering that women often experience heart attacks differently; the list of “classic” symptoms we’ve all been taught is the result of research focusing on men, and neglecting women.
And everyone knows that pride is the deadliest of deadly sins, but perhaps this is another example of how “what everyone knows” is mainly true for men, because of theologians’ tendency to ignore women. (more…)
Susan Pitchford
Fioretti ("little flowers")
A "florilegium" is a collection, or bouquet, of writings. It comes from the Latin "flora" (flower)+ "legere" (to gather). It has the same meaning as the Greek word "anthology."
In the Middle Ages and beyond, when books were rare and expensive, people copied their favorite excerpts from books into a booklet they carried with them, a florilegium. In a similar vein, the "fioretti" or "little flowers" of Francis of Assisi are a series of stories about the saint that were gathered into a single volume. In this florilegium (nicer than "blog," isn't it?), I'd like to gather some of my favorite bits of writing by various authors, adding a little commentary but mostly letting the quotations speak for themselves. I hope it will grow into a garden that will be a pleasant place to linger for a bit. Enjoy! Archives
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FlorilegiumBlessed Are Your EyesJuly 12, 2009
Remember that you have only one soul,
that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life, which is short, and has to be lived by you alone, and that there is only one glory, which is eternal. If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing. ~Teresa of Avila “Purity of heart is to will one thing.” ~Søren Kierkegaard “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” ~Jesus of Nazareth People who are nearsighted know that squinting sharpens your focus. (more…) God Is Not BoredJuly 6, 2009
“In Louisville, on the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all these people, that they were mine and I was theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers…I have the immense joy of being man, a member of the race in which God himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now that I realize what we all are. If only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.”
Thomas Merton “Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander” “Sin is a sort of willful forgetfulness of how great and wonderful we are.” Alan Jones “Soul Making” The other night, a dear friend and fellow Franciscan was telling me about a particularly intense spiritual experience he’d had. “Ah,” I said, “you had a Merton-street-corner moment.” (more…) |
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