Daily Devotional: September 16th

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

"By a strict regimen and by abstinence from many kinds of food and from the lusts of the flesh, curtails licentiousness and the love of pleasure, and induces a habit of patient submission to the stern and rigorous services in shrines, the end and aim of which is the knowledge of Him who is the First, the Lord of All, the Ideal One.”

—Plutarch

Isis and Osiris

To reach the summit of spiritual union, we must make sacrifices. These are not just ritual sacrifices but sacrificing those things that bind us to our earthly nature. The kinds of things that increase our love of pleasure and the delights of the body are the very chains that bind us to it. Through spiritual ascesis, we loosen the bonds of our mortal existence and taste the divine.

Monthly Ascesis

Developing a practice of watchfulness is a powerful and effective way to create stillness in our souls, allowing us to behold God's presence in our lives.

This month, add this meditation practice to your morning prayers. This is particularly effective following a chanting session.

“The most basic and fundamental meditation practice is watchfulness or Nepsis in Greek. Watchfulness is the act of observing the mind while not chasing any thoughts or emotions that arise. You only need to sit down, close your eyes, and relax to do this practice. Then, watch your thoughts as they arise and fall away. Thoughts will continue to pop into your mind, and that’s ok. The key is not to follow them. For example, if your mind starts thinking about a project at work, don’t follow that idea and start working on the project in your mind. Just acknowledge that thought and watch it. Don’t feed that idea with more ideas; just leave it alone. Eventually, it will pass by, or a new thought will take its place. If that happens, just watch that thought without following it or allowing it to disturb you.”

-Excerpt from our new book, Ascesis: the Handbook of Platonic Practice

If you would like to subscribe to the Daily Romanist Devotional, please follow the instructions here.