If I could have five minutes on my own in St Peter’s Basilica I’d spend them in prayer before Michelangelo’s Pieta. It is the most exquisite piece of art that I have ever seen. I still kick myself for not ever having risen from my sleep early enough to arrive before the crowds who flood … Continue reading Embodying Sorrow With Perfect Love – The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
In these unfamiliar days of the sacred three days (The Triduum of the Paschal Mysteries) each of us is confined physically to our domestic spaces- which Anima hope can become tiny – domestic Churches in which we walk in the saving footsteps of the Lord. We have collected a couple of resources for you to … Continue reading Good Friday Reflections For Your Domestic Church
The term “Domestic Church” refers to the family, the smallest body of gathered believers in Christ. Though recovered only recently, the term dates all the way back to the first century AD. The Greek word ecclesiola referred to “little church.” Our Early Church Fathers understood that the home was fertile ground for discipleship, sanctification, and … Continue reading Reawakening the Domestic Church
When fishes flew and forests walked And figs grew upon thorn,Some moment when the moon was blood Then surely I was born. With monstrous head and sickening cry And ears like errant wings,The devil’s walking parody On all four-footed things. The tattered outlaw of the earth, Of ancient crooked will;Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb, I keep my secret still. … Continue reading The Donkey – By G.K Chesterton
It happens to us all. A harsh quip back to someone who has hurt us, an angry rant about a situation beyond our control, the storming out of a room to count to ten before resuming a heated conversation. It happens to us all, and none more so than me. It’s what we redheads are … Continue reading Sorrowing With Our Mother: The Second Sorrow – The Flight into Egypt
Andrey ShishkinSimeon and Jesus The setting of this the Virgin Mary’s first Sorrow- is probably familiar to us as the fourth Joyful mystery of the Rosary the “Presentation of Jesus in the Temple,” In the calendar of the Church it is celebrated as part of “The Feast of Candlemas” when candles are blessed in the … Continue reading Sorrowing with Our Mother: The First Sorrow – The Prophesy of the Sword.
Adriaen Isenbrant Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows The intimate relationship and shared mission between the Blessed Virgin Mary and her Son can be glimpsed in various short accounts in the New Testament. These are given particular attention in the Gospel of Saint Luke. What has captured the imaginations and hearts of Christians from the … Continue reading Sorrowing With Our Mother: An Introduction to the Seven Sorrows.
Dear Anima Sisters and Friends, Welcome to Spring 2019. We hope our newest blog reflections will, like Spring, bring you some green shoots of faith and hope! Our Anima contributions are aimed at nurturing the soul - despite hearing from each other how dispiriting the year has been. There is serious drought in some parts … Continue reading A letter for you – Sorrowing With Our Mother
On this Vigil of the feast of Our Lady of Dolours - or Our Lady of Sorrows, we felt that the ancient poem of the Stabat Mater would be an apt relaunch back into the world of this website. Let us pray that we can be inspired by this most holy of women who stood … Continue reading The Stabat Mater
Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum - Lk 1:38 FIAT. Such a small word meaning ‘let it be done’. It almost sounds weak and submissive, where could it possible fit into our world of Power-House Women? Surely, this phrase of ‘let it be done’ is more of a last resort - ‘I give up. Whatever happens, … Continue reading The Freedom of a Fiat
