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The Breath of the Soul: Reflections on Prayer,
by Joan Chittister. TwentyThird Publications,
2009.
This handy little book by Chittister gives guidelines for and engaging in prayer. She tells readers what they must bring to prayer to make it authentic and real, a deep part of daily life for the seeker. In the introduction, Chittister explains what this book is not. It is not a teacher
of prayer forms. It does not provide prayers for every occasion. It is not a history of prayer styles or theologies. It is not a primer on prayer nor a discussion of the effects of prayer.
The author calls it a discussion of the attitudes that prepare for prayer. It examines what the pray-er needs to do to prepare for
prayer that the praying may be authentic. Chittister sees prayer as a link beyond the mundane, the daily, the routine, the immediate dimensions of life. “It is the beginning of a relationship with the God who is closer to us than we are to ourselves.” “It grows us into the fullness of ourselves, both spiritually and psychologically.”
Each of the 42 chapters ends with a mantra appropriate to the theme of the day, and a quote from Scripture. The chapter headings include: discipline, routine, gratitude, presence, acceptance, change, blessing, growth, awareness, abandonment, trust, attention, and intimacy.
(Thanks to Sr. Irene Hartman OP for this
review.)
Hardcover, Kindle
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St. Pedro d San Jose' Betancur: April 26. 1626-67.
Central America claimed its first saint with the canonization of Pedro de San José Betancur. Known as the “Saint Francis of the Americas,” Pedro de Betancur is the first saint to have worked and died in Guatemala.
Pedro very much wanted to become a priest, but God had other plans for the young man born into a poor family on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Pedro was a shepherd until age 24, when he began to make his way to Guatemala,
hoping to connect with a relative engaged in government service there. By the time he reached Havana, he was out of money. After working there to earn more, he got to Guatemala City the following year. When he arrived, he was so destitute that he joined the breadline that the Franciscans had established.
Soon, Pedro
enrolled in the local Jesuit college in hopes of studying for the priesthood. No matter how hard he tried, however, he could not master the material; he withdrew from school. In 1655, he joined the Secular Franciscan Order. Three years later, he opened a hospital for the convalescent poor; a shelter for the homeless, and a school for the poor soon followed. Not wanting to neglect the rich of Guatemala City, Pedro began walking through their part of town ringing a bell and inviting them to
repent.
Other men came to share in Pedro’s work. Out of this group came the Bethlehemite Congregation, which won papal approval after Pedro’s death. A Bethlehemite sisters’ community, similarly founded after Pedro’s death, was inspired by his life of prayer and compassion.
He is sometimes credited with originating the Christmas Eve posadas procession in which people representing Mary and Joseph seek a night’s lodging from their neighbors. The custom soon spread to Mexico and other Central American countries.
Pedro died in 1667, and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in Guatemala City on July 30, 2002.
Calendar of Saints
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