Daily Devotional: September 30th

Calends Eve

Hymn for the Calends Eve

O Juno, Queen of Heaven’s bright expanse,

Majestic Goddess, with your regal glance,

On this eve of Calends, we raise our song,

To thee, whose power and might have ruled so long.

O wife of Jove, whose voice the skies obey,

In golden chariot, thou dost lead the day,

With peacock plumes that trail in splendor bright,

And eyes that glitter with celestial light.

On this sacred eve, we humbly pray,

With offerings pure, we seek thy favor's ray,

Bestow thy blessings, keep us in thy care,

O Queen of Heaven, hear our solemn prayer.

Thy power is boundless, thy wisdom vast,

In every age, through eons that have passed,

With reverence, we honor thee tonight,

O Juno, Goddess, in thy radiance bright.

Daily Meditation

"‘To live with the gods’ And to do that is to show them that your soul accepts what it is given and does what the spirit requires— the spirit Gad gave each of us to lead and guide us, a fragment of himself. Which is our mind, our logos.”

—Marcus Aurelius

Mediations Book 5.27

We share in a fragment of the divine mind. Whether we choose to follow it or not determines much in our lives. However, those who choose to follow reason as their guide are the ones who live with the gods.

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

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