Category: meditation
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Poussin’s spiritual exercise
I am reading John Armstrong’s inestimable In Search of Civilization. I am reading it slowly. On page 123, Armstrong observes, It is said of Poussin–one of the most thoughtful of painters–that he owned only nineteen books. Of course this was in the early seventeenth century–an era when personal libraries were much smaller than today and…
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Examination of conscience: 2nd day of spiritual exercise (1)
I’m finding myself incredibly impatient this morning, so I need to explore my sense of impatience. I should begin with the nature of impatience. And then get on with some exercise. I feel impatient when my desire for something is deferred. Some kind of obstacle gets in the way. A simple example: Someone is visiting,…
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Examination of conscience: 1st day of spiritual exercise
For St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), devout Catholic and author of Spiritual Exercises, the examination of conscience was a vital exercise for one who wished to make spiritual progress. We might liken this practice to an intellectual-moral pilgrimage: a pilgrimage of self-transformation. A word before we begin. The virtues and defects I write about are…
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Montaigne the philosopher
When Montaigne retired to his tower and started scrawling quotes on the ceiling, his only plan was to surround himself with his friends. Then he got the idea of writing the quotes down, then he began commenting on them, then musing about them and mulling them over, and finally, as if by accident, his scribblings…
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 