Daily Devotional: October 24th

Daily Prayer IX

Ceaseless gratitude to thee, O blessed gods divine,

For the bounties bestowed, and those in future twine.

Jove, the fount of highest blessings, we extol,

In thankfulness, let our grateful voices roll.

May the welfare of my kind not escape my sight,

In my capacity, strive for the common light.

Aid willingly for the greater good we share,

Knowing that such endeavors make my fortune fair.

Let not my actions be the source of woe,

But, to the best of my ability, let goodness flow.

Becoming akin to your celestial grace,

In virtuous deeds, may I find a blessed place.

Daily Meditation

"Everything is born from a single fire.”

—Chaldean Oracles

Fragment 10

God is the power of all things. Everything is contained within Himself in the way that in him is what we call everywhere. But God is not so much extended through the world as the world is extended in God. There is nowhere He is not.

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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