Religious Freedom Week

(1) Some Reflections for Religious Freedom Week (The Catholic Thing)

(2) The English Way (The Imaginative Conservative)

“Some [books] do well, some do ill, and many—simply through the beauty of creation—reflects bits and pieces of divine grace. In essence, when art, a book might very well magnify the Lord.”

(3) Report: DHS Identified Being ‘Religious’ With Domestic Terrorism (The Federalist)

Lectio Divina
The Flower of the Field from The Prayer of Love and Silence.

“And why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow: they do not work or make clothes for themselves. But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers.” — Matthew 6:28-29

I’ve added this plate from E.W. Twining and a statue of Our Lady of Walsingham to my reflection since my focus is on Catholic renewal in England. Regarding the plate from Twining, it’s less about the subject matter than the small detail in the border— specifically the rose, the lily, and the passion flower.

The rose in the border of that plate represents Our Lady, the Mystical Rose, who appeared in a vision to Richeldis de Faverches in 1061 and commanded her to build a replica of the little house of the Holy Family in Walsingham. The statue of Our Lady of Walsingham holds a three-fold lily-scepter denoting her virginity/sovereignty and her perfect abandonment to the divine Will. The statue was in the Holy House in Walsingham until it was burned in London along with other medieval statues of Our Lady in 1539¹. The passion flower represents the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

…for it is through him, indeed, that salvation comes to us, and by him alone that we shall reach our goal.

It was popular amongst Christian Missionaries in the Americas. The sermon mentions the rose and lily but the passion flower symbolizes the purpose of the religious. In the sermon:

“Daily charity consists for the most part in the giving of invisible things—the fruits of our prayers [emphasis mine]; silent and unexpressed sympathy, an understanding of and respect for those with whom we live.”

After the Romans left Britain, Pope Gregory sent Augustine to Christianize King Æthelberht in 590. Augustine found success and monasteries and Christianity flourished in Britain until the dissolution / stripping of the altars in the 1500s.

¹Pilgrim Handbook: The Walsingham Way

(4) The Magnificat Latin Chant/Magnifica Latin (YouTube)

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