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30. St John of the Ladder (d. 649) abbot on Mt Sinai and ascetical writer |
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John's nick-name "Climacus" comes from his famous classic in ascetical literature, "The Ladder of Paradise", which is read in Orthodox monasteries during Lent. Patrick Duffy researches what is known of his life and work. In prep
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31. St Stephen the Wonderworker of Mar Saba (725-794) monk |
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Stephen was a nephew of John of Damascus who spent a half-century as a monk in the convent of Mar Saba overlooking the Kidron Valley in the West Bank east of Bethlehem. Patrick Duffy tells his story.
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29. Blessed Restituta Kafka (1884-1943) |
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Helene Kafka became a Franciscan Sister of Christian Charity and during World War I became a skilled theatre in a Vienna hospital. During World War II she refused to take down crucifixes in her hospital wards and was decapitated by order of Hitler's secretary Martin Bormann for effective intimidation. Patrick Duffy tells her story.
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25. St Dismas - the Good Thief |
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March 25th is the supposed date of the Crucifixion. After listing the Annunciation, The Roman Martyrology in the second paragraph for this day says: "At Jerusalem, the commemoration of the good thief who confessed Christ on the cross, and who deserved to hear from him these words: 'This day shalt thou be with me in paradise'." Patrick Duffy writes what is known about him.
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Patrick Duffy has chosen a poem by Denise Levertov, entitled "Annunciation" to illuminate this feast. Denise Levertov (1923-97) was born in Ilford, Essex, England. Her mother was Welsh; her father a Russian Hassidic Jew who immigrated to England from Germany and after converting to Christianity, became an Anglican parson. Denise worked as a civilian nurse during the Blitz and in 1947 married an American writer Mitchell Goodman and from then on lived in the USA where her son Nikolai was born. She was influenced by the transcendentalism of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. She taught in the University of Washington and held a professorship at Stanford University in California. Resistance to the Vietnam war, prejudice, injustice and support for feminism were themes of her poetry. Her conversion to Christianity in 1984 was the main influence in her religious writing. She became a Roman Catholic in the last decade of her life. "Annunciation", from the collection "A Door in the Hive" (1989), is inspired by a compelling line from the 6th century Akathisthos (sung while standing reverently) Hymn of the Orthodox Liturgy in praise of the Theotokos (Mother of God): "Hail, space for the uncontained God".
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