Daily Devotional: January 17th

Daily Prayer XVI

Magna Mater, Great Mother of gods and all creation,
Womb of the cosmos, source of all becoming.
You who cradle the world in your boundless embrace,
Nourish us with your eternal strength and love.

You are the soil that bears all fruit,
The ocean from which all life flows.
In your depths, we find the mystery of generation,
And in your silence, the wisdom of the eternal void.

O Holy One, bearer of the sacred balance,
Teach us to honor the cycles of birth, death, and renewal.
In your hands, the forces of creation and dissolution meet,
And through you, we are made whole.

Magna Mater, guide us as we walk this earthly path,
Ground us in your enduring presence,
And open our hearts to the divine harmony
That flows through all things born of you.

Daily Meditation

"Plato also says, that the soul is tripartite; and that the first part of it is reason; the second anger, or irritability; and the third appetite, which we may likewise call cupidity. But health, strength, and beauty, are then present with the animal, when reason governs the whole soul; when the two inferior parts are obedient to it, and anger and cupidity, being concordant with each other, desire nothing, and excite nothing, which reason judges to be useless."

—Apuleius

Doctrines of Plato Book I

Monthly Ascesis: Praying for Virtue

“Ask from God those things that you cannot receive from man.”

-Sextus

“In the Pythagorean sentences, we are also advised not to pray for things that we can do for ourselves. For example, we should not pray for money or material goods because these are things we can work to gain by ourselves. Rather, the things we should ask the gods for are things that are, like them, immaterial and perfect. The best things for us to ask the gods for are virtues.

When we pray, we should ask the gods to show us the way to immaterial things that are aligned with their perfect nature. Cardinal virtues like prudence, courage, justice, and temperance are great starting points. But any virtue is worthy of our prayers of petition.”

Excerpt from Ascesis: The Handbook of Platonic Practice

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