Daily Devotional: October 17th

Daily Prayer XVI

Hail, Magna Mater, healer and bestower of life,

Thy touch brings both ailment's end and peace from strife.

Goddess of fertility, from thy sacred womb life springs,

In thy nurturing embrace, all creation sings.

Amidst the battlefield, thy shield provides defense,

Protector of the faithful, a guardian immense.

Thy bountiful gifts, a testament to nature's grace,

Magna Mater, in thee, all find a sacred space.

Thou art the arbiter of health and soothing cure,

Yet, in thy hands, the power to afflict and obscure.

To those who seek, thou offer immortality's gleam,

In devotion to thee, a timeless, eternal dream.

Daily Meditation

"Ask from God those things which you cannot receive from man.”

—Sextus

Sentence 32

A man can make you rich and wealthy. All the material comforts of money, luxury, and fine things come from the world of men. But God can bring you toward virtue and the good. He can replace fear with courage and doubt with hope. When we ask for things from God, we should ask for those things most like Him: those that are immaterial and of the highest good.

Monthly Ascesis: Breath and the Pneuma

“In the Western classical tradition, the words for spirit and soul - pneuma, psyche, anima, and spiritus hold profound significance. Interestingly, each of these words also carries the meaning of breath or to breathe. This linguistic connection underscores the belief that breath is the essence of life. In the myth of Prometheus, for instance, it was Minerva’s breath that animated the clay figures of man, giving them life.”

The breath is one of our most powerful tools for spiritual practice and is directly linked to our souls. When we speed up our breathing, our mind speeds up. When we slow it down, our mind slows. Controlling our breath is a leap forward for control of the self and our passions.

“Once you have fixed your breath, you can start to focus on it and use it as an instrument to still the mind. With each breath, there will be a slight pause at the top of the breath and a slight pause at the end of each exhalation. To increase stillness, we will let our minds come to rest in the pause following the exhalation. Breathe out and rest in that moment between breaths. When you feel the need to breathe in again, then do so and come back around to the rest point of the next exhalation.”

-Excerpts from, Ascesis: the Handbook of Platonic Practice

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