Come to the Circle

In today’s Lenten journal, Rev. Judith Liro ponders circles—the circle made by prayer beads, the circle we gather in to worship, and the great circle of life.

Come to the circle, the circle of Life,
Come to the circle of Life.
Come to the circle, the circle of Life,
Come, dance and sing! ”  
Words and music by Kristopher Lindquist

The circle itself feels healing to me, familiar and meaningful to St. Hildegard’s for all of our years together.  We’ve experienced years of transformation in our circles and so I naturally expect the circle of beads in the rosary to be full of life and healing.  In the beginning those of us who were liturgists of St. Hildegard’s were instinctively drawn to the circle.  We realized that sitting in pews wouldn’t work for the liturgies we were dreaming so we chose the parish hall—bare, yet spacious and flexible.  We chose to arrange the chairs in a circle or oval creating an intimate space to share our lives and look into each other’s faces.  We wanted room to dance and experimented with styles.  We were blessed when Lila taught us sacred circle dances, some contemplative and quiet and others lively and celebratory. We enjoyed free-form movement in response to our Song of Celebration that was held by the circle.  Years before we were called as a community, we gathered in smaller circles for transformative study and to share our lives and these transformative circles continue.

As a symbol the circle can mean wholeness, inclusion, the power of the female, goddess.  It can symbolize Mother Earth, the sun, the universe. In our eyes a circle meant respect for a non-hierarchical wisdom, that each being offered something of value.  I’ve been seeking daily prayers for Hildegardians to share and now the circle of rosary beads seems to fit in a way that other forms of prayer haven’t.  We may want to fill the circle and pray the circle in a variety of ways but it may give shape to our prayers in a way that flows organically out of our life together.

When I pray around the circle I’m reminded of belonging to the Circle of Life and of being loved and embraced here no matter what.  I’ve discovered that these prayers help me to embrace all of life with its joys and sorrows, its glory and devastation. I’m reminded of sitting in our circle for the Service of the Word, passing The Peace, and gathering close around our round Altar-Table for Holy Communion. For me the circle of the rosary is a sign of community where all of creation is welcome and honored, experienced locally and globally. 

What is your experience of circle and of praying with circles?

Love,

Judith

Mandala, by Rev. Virginia Marie Rincon

Something to hold on to

Mary, by St H member, Peggiann Jones

In today’s Lenten blog, Rev. Judith Liro, explores how prayer beads and the connection they bring to Mary, mother of Jesus, can bring us comfort.

Today I want to focus on the comfort to be found in praying with beads. We have a need to be soothed and comforted when we’re frightened and feel alone.  Mary is known for offering gentle compassion and being present when we are facing painful reality.  Waking up and being comforted belong together on this path of love.

Praying with beads is a way to befriend ourselves, to enter into a field of compassion cherishing us unconditionally, a field of acceptance and non-judgment connecting us with all beings.  Perhaps we feel compassion and interconnectedness as we hold and finger the beads and find tangible comfort.  Mary comforts and soothes.

In the book, The Way of the Rose : The Radical path of the Divine Feminine Hidden in the Rosary, both authors share healing and comfort received.  Perdita Finn writes about debilitating episodes of anxiety and panic that have plagued her for a long time.  The rosary changes her life by bringing a sense of safety she hasn’t known in years.  The rosary brings Clark Strand healing from restlessness.  He’s been a spiritual seeker who has never found any spiritual practice satisfying for long.  When Mary appears to Clark, she tells him to pray the rosary.  Initially he’s highly skeptical.  He’s not a Roman Catholic and has never been drawn to Mary.  Truth-be-known this popular prayer seems more suited to an uneducated grandmother than to a man who spent years in a Zen monastery and has continued to be a spiritual warrior.  However, praying the rosary is healing for both of them and they come to believe that Mary knows how to respond to each of us with what we need.  Mary brings the truth about our lives we need to hear as well as the lap we need to crawl into for comfort.

The way that difficult truth is coupled with gentle comfort reminds me of an earlier time in my life.  During my first sabbatical I was in silence, living at a retreat center for a month.  The Holy Spirit did bring me face to face with my shadow selves in a firm and matter of fact manner.  There was no shaming or bullying or meanness; neither was there a glossing over or backing away from what I didn’t want to see.  The truth was offered for my liberation.  It was a gift to set me free.  There was a great sense of warmth and caring—the knowing that I was beloved and totally safe.  My experience wasn’t connected with Mary or the rosary but aligns with the authors’ experiences.  I am reminded that the devil is sometimes called “the Accuser” and the Holy Spirit is named “the Advocate.”  Remembering this difference helps me to have a firm boundary with inner voices of self-blame and to recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit when there is truth spoken with love and encouragement.

Love,
Judith

 

The Mysteries—Praying Life’s Wholeness

Today, the Rev. Judith Liro, explains, “The Mysteries,” and St Hildegard’s member Gracie Lightfoot Chairez shares her beautiful version of the mysteries that she created to resonate with her life and faith. Maybe it will resonate with you too. 

Stories from the lives of Mary and Jesus are held by the beads of the circle.  In this way the rosary is very similar to the liturgical year from Advent, through Jesus’s life, ministry and passion, and concluding with stories of resurrection and the life of the Spirit.  Praying the mysteries is a way to experience a sampling of the same circle of Gospel stories in a daily rhythm rather than an annual one. The rosary invites us to experience Mary’s perspective on all these moments as they unfold and that’s an important addition.  The last two mysteries are Mary’s and are not found in scripture but in tradition. Liturgy and praying/ reflecting with beads or through the tradition of the rosary are windows for our own human lives, windows opening us to the Divine.  

Praying your mysteries happens when these stories resonate with your life and you receive comfort and wisdom. 

The traditional rosary includes fifteen stories that are prayed in three rounds. (Joyous, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries) my husband Joe told me about a fourth round (Luminous Mysteries) that had been proposed by Pope John Paul in 2002; I don’t know if they are widely accepted but I think not.  I tried them for myself and then added those five mysteries to give a fuller sampling of the stories I love.  

  • The Five Joyful Mysteries
    The Annunciation, The Visitation, The Nativity, The Presentation, The Finding at the Temple

  • The Five Luminous Mysteries
    The Baptism of Jesus, The Wedding at Cana, The Kin-dom of God, The Transfiguration, The Eucharist

  • The Five Sorrowful Mysteries
    The Betrayal and Agony in the Garden, The Scourging, The Crown of Thorns, The Via Dolorosa, The Crucifixion

  • The Glorious Mysteries
    The Resurrection, The Ascension, Pentecost, The Assumption of Mary, The Coronation of Mary

The norm to pray five mysteries in one session works for me, so it takes me four days to pray twenty stories.  Since these stories are already very familiar and meaningful to me, it’s been a wonderful gift to pray them in this cycle that repeats every four days.  The Joyful Mysteries, the Luminous Mysteries, the Sorrowful Mysteries, the Glorious Mysteries—these are the four rounds with five stories in each. 

Remember, we don’t have to be the pope to add or exchange stories.  You can make it your own as I’ve mentioned before. Sharing core stories in common deepens community while the variation gives room to be ourselves.

I never know how my imagination will be inspired on the daily round yet I experience the Spirit moving in this meditation in a very lively way.   One day I may be praying in gratitude; another day it is more intercession and longing for change; still another may be feeling the sadness and suffering of these days.  
The circle of beads holds my own feelings and thoughts as I listen to the Spirit.  This is what it means to say Scripture is sacred and inspired.  It’s not that every word is a law that must be followed or that every word was dictated from above.  It simply means that the Holy Spirit speaks to us in and through these stories.  It’s not the only way the Holy Spirit draws near but it is a tried and true way—a thin place. 

In future posts I’ll write in more depth about my own experiences with the four Mysteries. For today, I’d like to share how one of our members, Gracie, has made Praying the Mysteries her own. I hope it will inspire you. Thank you, Gracie, for sharing your prayers and practice with us, and with anyone who finds their way here. 

May you know you are beloved,

—Judith

Gracie’s adaptation for Praying the Mysteries
using prayer beads that some refer to as the rosary

The prayers are said while reflecting on the mysteries.
The joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries are rooted in stories from the New Testament of the Bible.
The mysteries about sufferings we cause and new world/new humanity draw from the failings of humanity to care for each other and the potential for a world where humans do take care of each other.

  • Five Joyful Mysteries  
    The Annunciation.  Mary Visits Elizabeth.  The Nativity.  The Presentation.  Jesus found in the Temple.
  • Five Sorrowful Mysteries  
    The Agony in Garden of Gethsemane.  The Scourging at the Pillar.   The Crowning with Thorns.  Carrying the Cross.   The Crucifixion.
  • Five Glorious Mysteries   
    The Resurrection.  The Ascension.   The Descent of the Holy Spirit.   The Assumption.   The Coronation of Mary.
  • Sufferings We Bring on Ourselves   
    Social injustices.  Ravaging Mother Earth.  Extreme poverty & the Wealth Gap.  Promotion of Violence.  Greed and materialism
  • A New Community, New World, New Humanity  
    Nurture all children. Health care for everyone. Educate all people from birth to death. Honor Mother Nature/planet Earth/our home.  Share all resources for food and shelter.

The Prayers  
Pray the Creed on the crucifix (or other beginning bead or symbol you may have) . 
Next 5 beads are 1
Father/Mother, 3 Hail Marys, 1 Father/Mother. 
On the medallion (or centerpiece) pray Glory Be
Then begins the decades where we pray 10
Hail Marys while reflecting on one mystery. 
1 Our Father/Mother is prayed between each of the decades.
Pray
Glory Be again at the end.

Creed
I believe in the Divine Creator who made the universe from the earth to the farthest reaches of existence. I believe in Christ-Sophia born of the Virgin Mary, who died and was buried. On the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven and joined with the Divine Creator. I believe in the Holy Spirit that breathes life and comes and goes at will. I believe in forgiveness, resurrection, and life everlasting.

Our Mother Our Father
Our Mother Our Father who live in heaven holy be your name. Your justice come. Your will be done. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Protect us. Guide us. For the power and glory and honor are yours. Now and forever.

Hail Mary
Hail Mary full of grace, Spirit is with you. Blessed are you among women. Blessed is the fruit of your womb. Holy Mary, mother of Christ-Sophia, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.

Glory Be
Glory be to the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sanctifier – As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever will be. World without end.

Making old prayers yours

Today, the Rev. Judith Liro, founding priest of St Hildegard’s explains how she takes the ancient tradition of praying with the Roman Catholic rosary and makes it come alive for herself with new language. The image above is from https://wayoftherose.org/sample-page/

“In the circle (of a Roman Catholic rosary) there are five large beads with ten smaller beads in-between each large one. Traditionally one prays the ‘Our Father’ with each large bead followed by ten ‘Hail Marys’ on the smaller ones. These two primary mantras alternate in-between announcing the Mysteries. More on Mysteries another day. For today let’s talk about the two prayers. I’ve adapted the traditional prayers for my prayer practice. Here are the words I pray and some explanation about them. 

Our Mother, Our Father, You are in heaven, Holy is your name.
Your Kin-dom come, Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread; forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial; Deliver us from evil.

Traditionally the second mantra is the Lord’s Prayer ending with “deliver us from evil.”  I’ve substituted the prayer we’ve been singing at our Eucharistic liturgies from the beginning.  As you know this is the prayer Jesus taught his disciples and it’s a potent summary of the path of love.  First, there is acknowledging God as masculine and feminine and loving parent; ‘Holy’ points to the wholeness and ‘heaven’ points to the sacredness of all that is.  Petitions follow for the bread we need, acknowledging genuine need and hunger of all kinds.  We commit to live with forgiveness rather than retribution and violence.  We acknowledge our vulnerability when facing all the struggle within and without.  Our final prayer is deliverance from evil, from all that keeps us and Creation from peace and the Beloved Community. In repeating this prayer as a mantra, my focus is lighter and yet all the repetitions express my heartfelt longing for the flourishing of the earth community and my commitment to serve it.

Hail Mary, full of Grace; God is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

 The first two lines are from the New Testament; the third is from tradition.  The first line (Luke 1:28 ) was spoken by the angel to Mary of Nazareth at the “Annunciation” when Mary said yes to bearing the Holy Child.  I substituted God for Lord.  The second line was spoken by Elizabeth at the “Visitation” when Mary visited her older cousin, pregnant with John the Baptizer (Luke 1:42). One phrase of the third line is linked to the 5th century Council of Ephesus when Mary was officially declared “Theotokos, Mother of God” because she had given birth to the Christ, both human and divine.  Some prefer to leave out the word “sinners” but I leave it in when I consider how humanity is destroying so much of nature and endangering all life on the planet and I’m a part of it.  I say it with more compassion than blame, and with some frustration too at human denial and delay, my own included.  The three lines represent the three stages of the goddess—Maiden, Mother, Crone. Makes me wonder if they were first in an ancient prayer that has Christian overlays.

The rhythm of prayer—There is a back and forth between focusing mentally and being taken out of this realm into the imaginal realm. Both are important.  The latter is like the rest in the heart beat and the importance of silence in music as well as the need for Sabbath in a busy life of work.  Some meditation practices emphasize focus and being mentally present; however, this is not the case with praying the rosary.  Here the repetitions encourage moving into something closer to a dream state.  There is something about focusing lightly on the five stories and on each of the mantras in-between that sets the mind free. 

Mantras— After some practice you are repeating the mantras without paying attention to the words although you are holding the prayers in your heart.  

It takes longer to describe the praying of the rosary and lay it out with some detail than it does to pray it.  It’s like trying to write about swimming.  For this prayer you jump in and practice until you get the hang of it.  Suddenly you are being held up by the water.  Your prayers are a part of it but feeling held in the movement of prayers and stories gives buoyancy and strengthens hope.

Of course you can pray with the beads in other ways.  Whatever prayers come from your heart can be prayed with the rosary beads.

With love,

Judith

Praying with Beads during Lent

“Within our community we’ve been longing for a shared practice that is Hildegardian and organic, a dance with Spirit and traditional form resonating with our life up to now and fitting our new reality of being dispersed across many time zones. Perhaps praying with beads together in a Hildegardian way could enhance our healing container for this new time.  It’s a rhetorical question and we won’t know until we see if Sophia will bring this to birth in us.  We’ll have to live the question and see what happens.” 

“During Lent we are exploring this for ourselves, and invite anyone who finds themselves drawn here to consider trying the practice for yourself. We are sharing some thoughts here on our blog and on Instagram over the next 40 days.  It’s an invitation to a Lenten practice for anyone who is seeking a connection with the Divine. 

“Praying with beads is a daily practice that can go anywhere with you—you can carry your beads in your pocket, wear them on your wrist or keep them near you throughout the day. Praying with beads represents a deep spiritual practice that offers daily prayers that can fit into a busy life in the world. One round can be prayed at the same time each day or prayed in fits and starts if your day has many interruptions.

“In the days to come I’ll reflect and post more here on the blog. Thanks to each of you who is sharing this Lenten journey with me. And thanks to each of you praying daily for our country and world with all of our challenges and Earth, our beautiful home.  We are part of a larger circle yearning for healing and peace.

“May you know that you are Beloved.”

—Judith 

For this Lenten experiment, you may already have beads that are special to you. You can use beads from any tradition or make your own. 

​​As you choose your prayer beads, or gather your supplies, begin to think about what quotations, stories, memories, images, songs, poems, prayers you will choose to accompany you through Lent this year.

There are formal and ancient prayer practices in several religious traditions that include beads. 

In the Catholic tradition it is called praying the rosary. A rosary has 59 beads.

In the Buddhist tradition, the string of 108 prayer beads is called a mala. 

St Hildegard’s is part of the Episcopal or Anglican Tradition. Anglican prayer beads have 33 beads.

You may choose to make traditional prayer beads or something of your own creation. You could even use a bracelet that you already have. It comes down to the simple point that the beads are tangible objects that help us focus. Through touching the beads, seeing them, maybe even smelling them, we bring our focus on the here and now. As we pray or sing or recite a poem, while holding the beads, we increase the ways our whole body is awake and aware and open to the Divine Mystery.

The internet has many videos and links to books about making your own prayer beads.  Here are some DIY prayer bead resources: 

You don’t have to spend money, you can make your own beads from recycled paper:

https://craftingagreenworld.com/articles/how-to-make-prayer-beads-pope-francis/

Here’s a video on how to make Anglican prayer beads

Rev. Andrea Morrow at  St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Wyandotte, Michigan, made this easy to understand video for her church’s Sunday School kids, but it works for us all. Her cat even makes an appearance! 

We hope you will send a picture of your beads and come back for more discussion of praying with beads during Lent. 

Campo de Estrellas in Episcopal News Service

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2022/02/21/episcopalians-explore-embrace-green-burial-as-a-final-act-to-care-for-creation/

From the article by BY HEATHER BEASLEY DOYLE, see link above for full article
” Episcopalians are helping to shape the future of funeral practices as people increasingly consider the economic and environmental costs of typical American burials, while also seeking to reconnect with the circular nature of life and death in the natural world.”

“In 2016, Cindy Ybarra bought the 30 acres of land that have become the conservation cemetery. “I’ve been keenly aware of the environmental crisis to the point of almost despairing, so this gives me the feeling of doing all that I can to address it,” she said. After Cindy read the book “Wilding,” she and her son Michael decided to somehow return the land to nature. They “almost jokingly” considered starting a cemetery, Michael said. When they met Sarah Wambold, a licensed funeral director who had left the mainstream funeral industry, the idea was no longer a joke. Wambold was eager to meet the Ybarras, with their land and vision.

“When the pandemic began, they had finished the legal work for the cemetery, but Covid-19 ruined plans to offer in-person green burial workshops. Wambold and Ybarras successfully changed that plan thanks to the creation care grant they received from The Episcopal Church in 2020. Michael and Cindy are both Episcopalians and Cindy is a member of St. Hildegard’s Community in Austin. The community’s priest, Judith Liro, helped apply for the grant on behalf of Campo de Estrellas.

“The money has allowed the co-founders to teach people throughout the United States about green burial practices via online workshops. “The grant came at the perfect time,” Cindy said. The trio considers education the most important part of their work. “We need people to start to think about these concepts and processes prior to a death occurring, and to ask the questions and to get comfortable,” Wambold said. No funerals have taken place at Campo de Estrellas yet, but eight people have indicated that when the time comes, they want to be buried at the conservation cemetery.

“Although few Americans choose natural burial, more than half of those surveyed by the National Funeral Directors Association expressed interest in green funerals. Founded in 2005 to demystify the options, the nonprofit Green Burial Council sets best practices for practitioners and answers consumer questions. Curiosity first peaked about five years ago, Green Burial Council President Edward Bixby said, adding that the pandemic has prompted more inquiries. Covid-19 “has made society reflect on their mortality,” he said. Most people who choose green burial for themselves are cremation converts, he said: “They didn’t realize that an option like this existed,” but it aligns with their values and desire for a more affordable burial.”

Campo de Estrellas Conservation Cemetery is located in Bastrop County near the city of Smithville.

Sister Helena Marie

Sister Helena Marie is St. Hildegard’s community chaplain. I thought I would share a 2014 video of her speaking of her spiritual journey. It is also where Rev. Judith Liro met Sister Helena Marie and the rest is history. Blessings never cease.

https://youtu.be/wT2RbsKjBZM

Season of Mary Magdalene Anointed and healed

Please join us as Alisa Carr leads us in our new season; The Season of Mary Magdalene Anointed and Healed. We will worship, reflect and pray into this season for five sundays in a row starting July 11th at 4:30 pm central time. You can join us two ways; online via zoom and in person. The location for in house is at Interfaith Chapel at Trinity United Methodist Church 4001 Speedway, Austin, Tx, 78751. If you have never joined us online before please send request to our email for link to join us. sthildecommaustin@gmail.com You are also welcomed to join us prior to the service at 4 pm. central for a 20 min. silent meditation.

Celebrating Pauli Murray At St. Hildegard

Pauli Murray’s Feast Day in the Episcopal Church July 1

We at St. Hildegard’s have been exploring and celebrating Pauli Murray’s Contemporary Saint Day for two Sundays, and July 4 will be the second Sunday we experience together Pauli’s life struggle.
On June 27, we heard of Pauli’s childhood in North Carolina as they grew up in an apartheid world, living with and loving their grandmother who had been born into slavery. We followed their brave journey to achieve an undergraduate degree at Hunter College in New York City, and closed with a journey through Pauli’s decision to pursue a law degree in order to work for freedom for the black people who were suffering under economic hardship and Jim Crow laws.

This Sunday we will hear of Pauli’s struggle to live in a female body when they felt they were a man.

Pauli’s life has many oppressions and triumphs. The Episcopal Church was a refuge for Pauli from the time they were born. In the final chapter of Pauli’s life, while they were in Seminary, they fought within the church to make it possible for women to be ordained as priests.

On the night of September 1977 that the Episcopal Church passed the resolution allowing women to be ordained as priests, Pauli Murray received a call from a priest present at the convention who was Rector at the church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where Pauli’s grandmother Cornelia had been baptized. He asked Pauli to come and preside at the first Holy Eucharist she would give after her ordination. Pauli writes of this experience on the last page of her book, Song in a Weary Throat, which is summarized, and quoted in part in the following:

The first Holy Eucharist at which Pauli Murray presided took place on February 13th in the bodies, hearts and minds of those present in this historic Episcopal Church which had been built by and continued to serve whites who counted slave owners and their descendants in their members. Both slave and slave owner blood was in Pauli and her grandmother Cornelia, who had been baptized in this church and allowed to attend in the balcony.

By February 13, 1978 the work of countless individuals, like Pauli, strong families, like Pauli’s and courageous religious, government and institutional officials made it possible for “a thoroughly interracial congregation” to attend this first Holy Eucharist presided by an African American woman in the Episcopal Church.

Pauli writes, “Whatever future ministry I might have as a priest, it was given to me that day to be a symbol of healing. All of the strands of my life had come together. Descendant of slave and of slave owner, I had already been called poet, lawyer, teacher and friend. Now I was empowered to minister the sacrament of One in whom there is no north or south, no black or white, no male or female —only the spirit of love and reconciliation drawing us all toward the goal of human wholeness.”

offered and composed by Professed Member Margo Stolfo

About Us

St. Hildegard’s is an intentional, contemplative/active community in Austin, Texas. We are currently in provisional status to become a recognized faith community in the Episcopal church.  The whole of our life—our liturgies, music, retreats and the community itself, as well as our Servant Leadership School—is the primary justice ministry we offer to all who are seeking.  The use of expansive, non-hierarchical language in our liturgies and music, and our shared creativity creates peace and comes from a deep theological commitment. With our words and our actions, we consciously seek to embody a vision of God’s dream:  a culture of non-violence, using collaboration and partnership to express our talents and gifts and to exercise community discernment.

We seek to empower and support each member to follow and develop his/her personal call for the healing of the world and also nurture initiatives that emerge in the community. Current actions and concerns include women’s issues such as human trafficking, GLBT justice, supporting fair trade, being in solidarity with cooperatives on the Texas border and in Chiapas, providing support for conscientious objectors, ending the death penalty, immigration reform, interfaith dialogue, and care for the Earth.

If you would like more information about our community please contact us at sthildecommaustin@gmail.com