For Thérèse, obedience did not mean abandoning what she understood to be God’s call.
Silence Beyond Expectation: A Reflection on Psalm 131
“Mom, Mom, Mom.” I hear this mantra often. Balancing family life and a career is challenging, and sometimes I just want silence. Not any silence, but a silence that requires absolutely no follow-up. A few years ago, I signed up for a silent retreat. I approached the retreat like a spiritual vacation: a little rest,…
How to Take a Personal Prayer Retreat
A personal prayer retreat is a choice to cut yourself off from the world for a time in order to be with God. I recommend every Christian, including laity, take a two-night prayer retreat at least once a year. This is not always feasible and, if you are unaccustomed to praying for more than an…
Bless Me, for I Have Sinned
What I was really asking God for was relief, happiness, help, healing, strength, and understanding.
St. Joseph and the Virtues of Silence
Saint Joseph was the head of the holy family and an indispensable figure in sacred history. Yet one of the most striking qualities of Joseph in the gospels is his silence.
Reconciliation: The Grace Of Not Explaining Yourself
One of the most remarkable things in the bulletin at St. Laurence Anglican Church is the Saturday worship schedule, which reads: When I first came to St. Laurence, this line caught me off guard—both unfamiliar and quietly unsettling. Over time, it has come to feel like an invitation to restoration, calling me back into belonging….
Book Review: Anglican Spirituality: An Introduction by Greg Peters
Greg Peters, Anglican Spirituality: An Introduction. Cascade Book, 2024. 108 pp. For many of us, the look and feel of being Anglican is as attractive as anything else it has to offer. Prayer Book spirituality is marked by modesty and calm, and methodical ways of speaking and thinking. There is a commitment to a discipline…
A Garden Enclosed
Anglican Compass is proud to announce the republication of the 1907 spiritual classic A Garden Enclosed: Practical Studies in Religious Life by Sister Frances Anna, writing anonymously as “A Sister of the Community of St. Mary.” This community is the oldest Anglican religious order in the United States. Below is an introduction by the Rev….
Book Review: A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society (Commemorative Edition) by Eugene Peterson. Intervarsity Press, 2024. “Spiritual formation.” “discipleship.” “Christian living.” One can walk into a Christian bookstore and find plenty of glossy covers promising secrets to growth in forty days, seven steps, three keys, or one weird trick Paul forgot…
Book Review: A Little Theology of Exercise by David Mathis
David Mathis’s A Little Theology of Exercise: Enjoying Christ in Body and Soul is a concise book on the benefits of exercise for the Christian life. The subtitle “enjoying Christ in body and soul” is at the heart of the book. Mathis, a pastor at Cities Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and an adjunct professor…
Taizé: Brother Roger’s Vision of Christian Unity
Taizé is the name of a small village in France, which is home to a monastic community of ecumenical Christian brothers and hosts many thousands of pilgrims from all denominations who visit each year. When these pilgrims return to their homes, they carry with them the spirit of Taizé, expressed in song, silence, and a…
The Church Offers What the Culture Can’t
As a youth minister, summer camp is a regular part of my life. Every year, we load up the church van and head into the middle of nowhere for a week of sleepless nights, camp food, sunburn, and ruthless competition. While I love all the craziness that comes with camp, there is one experience I…
