Litany of Flights, a conversation with poet Laura Reece Hogan, with Tim Bete, OCDS

Laura Reece Hogan is a is a professed Third Order Carmelite and the award-winning author of the chapbook O Garden-Dweller and a book of spiritual theology, I Live, No Longer I. Laura earned a law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, and an Masters in Theology from St. John’s Seminary in California. She is also a poet and her poems can be found in America, First Things, The Christian Century, Dappled Things, and Whale Road Review, among other publications.

Laura is winner of the 2020 Paraclete Poetry Prize for her poetry collection titled Litany of Flights. The book remind us to behold the extraordinary in the ordinary, and that the secret workings of the divine occur even through the difficult.

Buy the book on Amazon.

Therese Poems by Sarah Law, with Tim Bete, OCDS

Poet Sarah Law talks about her new book Therese: Poems, which is a wonderful way to meditate on the life of St. Therese of Lisieux. Sarah also reads several poems. The book can be purchased at:

Paraclete Press: https://paracletepress.com/collections/vendors?q=Sarah%20Law&contributorID=100447

Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Thérèse-Paraclete-Poetry-Sarah-Law/dp/1640603948

The link between contemplative prayer and poetry

Frances Harry, OCDS, interviews poet Tim Bete, OCDS, about the link between contemplative prayer and poetry, including the "secret wisdom" discussed by St. John of the Cross the the concept of "creative intuition" discussed by Jacques Maritain.

Books of poetry by Tim Bete: The Raw Stillness of Heaven, Wanderings of an Ordinary Pilgrim

Primary source material: The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross (includes The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night, The Spiritual Canticle, The Living Flame of Love, Letters, and The Minor Works) [Revised Edition]. ICS Publications.

The Range of Reason by Jacques Maritain
https://maritain.nd.edu/jmc/etext/range01.htm

How should we approach the poetry of St. John of the Cross?

Fraces Harry, OCDS, interviews poet Tim Bete, OCDS, about the poetry of St. John of the Cross. Below are resources and links to things mentioned in the podcast.

Books of poetry by Tim Bete: The Raw Stillness of Heaven, Wanderings of an Ordinary Pilgrim

Primary source material: The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross (includes The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night, The Spiritual Canticle, The Living Flame of Love, Letters, and The Minor Works) [Revised Edition]. ICS Publications.

The Living Flame of Love by St. John of the Cross

1
O living flame of love
that tenderly wounds my soul
in its deepest center! Since
now you are not oppressive,
now consummate! if it be your will:
tear through the veil of this sweet encounter!

2
O sweet cautery,
O delightful wound!
O gentle hand! O delicate touch
that tastes of eternal life
and pays every debt!
In killing you changed death to life.

3
O lamps of fire!
in whose splendors
the deep caverns of feeling,
once obscure and blind,
now give forth, so rarely, so exquisitely,
both warmth and light to their Beloved.

4
How gently and lovingly
you wake in my heart,
where in secret you dwell alone;
and in your sweet breathing,
filled with good and glory,
how tenderly you swell my heart with love.

Spanish
1
¡Oh llama de amor viva,
que tiernamente hieres
de mi alma en el más profundo centro!
Pues ya no eres esquiva,
acaba ya, si quieres;
¡rompe la tela de este dulce encuentro!

2
¡Oh cauterio suave!
¡Oh regalada llaga!
¡Oh mano blanda! ¡Oh toque delicado,
que a vida eterna sabe,
y toda deuda paga!
Matando, muerte en vida la has trocado.

3
¡Oh lamparas de fuego,
en cuyos resplandores
las profundas cavernas del sentido,
que estaba oscuro y ciego,
con extraños primores
calor y luz dan junto a su Querido!

4
¡Cuán manso y amoroso
recuerdas en mi seno,
donde secretamente solo moras
y en tu aspirar sabroso,
de bien y gloria lleno,
cuán delicadamente me enamoras!

The Living Flame of Love in song

In Spanish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjvx3dx8RNI

Living Flame of Love (Marcus Steer) Malone University Chamber Choir
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqLgA5cX0R0

Love's Living Flame sung by a choir (text by St. John of the Cross)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx6PP954Dh8

John Michael Talbot (song)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFdI6JMQuqg

O Living Flame of Love (song by Karl Kohlhase)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOaE2U0xljQ

Fr. Bonaventure Sauer's talk about poetry

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxECpvpN_K6BU3U0cXRucDF2WDQ/view

Short Takes: Holy Week Poems

In honor of National Poetry Month, and with Holy Week in mind, Frances recites two of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity’s poems: My Cruicified Love and The Carmelite. Both may be found in the book, Barb of Fire translated by Alan Bancroft, Gracewing Publications.

Purcahse the book, Barb of Fire, on Amazon.

Catholic Poetry as a Spiritual Exercise with host Frances Harry, OCDS and Guest, Tim Bete, OCDS

Frances chats with Tim Bete, poet and Secular Carmelite, about the how poetry can increase your faith, its relationship to Scripture and what some of the Carmelite saints said about poetry. Tim is also poetry editor for the Catholic Poetry Room feature at IntegratedCatholicLife.org.

Resources

• Catholic Poetry Room @ IntegratedCatholicLife.org
• Tim's book, The Raw Still of Heaven at Amazon
• Some of Tim's poetry recommendations (this is always being updated)
• The Carmelite Poet & Contemplative Blog
• Other poems by Tim
• The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross (ICS Publications)
• CatholicPoetry.org

Silence and Poetry

In this second of a two part series, Mark and Frances continue a discussion of the important role of silence in our contemplative prayer life, and in our daily life. Building on the more objective list of the twelve degrees of silence they discussed in the previous program, this week they introduce the writings of Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified, a Carmelite Saint who was Canonized in 2015, where Jesus Himself instructs the Saint on how to practice silence. The Lord uses very powerful poetic imagery to try and provide a picture of just what He wants Miriam (Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified), and for that matter all of us, to try and practice this deep interior silence. The Lord well understands that it is not the external noise of the world that often interrupts our efforts to find this silence, but rather it is the reverberating echo of our own thoughts and internal conversation that disrupts our prayer life. External events and circumstances will always pose a threat to our interior silence, but it is more how we respond to them and what permission we give them to enter into our hearts that has the potentially most negative consequences for our prayer. This program is very helpful for anyone looking to find more effective ways to practice silence, both in prayer and in their daily life.