The Still Point:
A Daily Advent Calendar of Music, Art and Poetry
as we wait and listen with Mary
“I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope,
for hope would be hope for the wrong thing;
wait without love, for love would be love of the wrong thing;
there is yet faith, but the faith and the love are all in the waiting.
Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought:
So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing."
-TS Eliot, "East Coker"
In this dark time of the year, we are invited into season of stillness, called inward to a deeper kind of listening.
As we cocoon inside, you are invited to enter into contemplation with this online Advent program. From November 19- December 24, you will receive an email in your inbox each day that will share stories, inspiring poems, gorgeous art and heart opening music in celebration of the Sacred Feminine through Mary.
Advent Chapel: Sunday Mornings, 11 am- Noon PST
Every Sunday, you will be into a contemplative circle on zoom where together we will share spiritual practices that can help connect you to the "still small voice" within you: chanting, visio divina, guided journaling and reflection in small groups on the themes of Advent.
Monday - Friday, there will be daily posts of art and/or music, stories about Mary and prayers.
Saturday is Sabbath Day: a time to rest and integrate the learnings of the week
Sunday is Celebration Circle: an online zoom gathering where we sit in silence together, sing and share
Weekly Topics Include:
Week One: Remembering Our Roots
Heralds and Ancestors: The Sibyls of the Ancient World; Art of Pietro Perugino and Fra Lippi; St. Anne and St Joachim, Mary's parents; music of Orlando di Lassus; The Childhood of the Virgin Mary in myth and art
Week Two: First Flowering and Bridal Mysticism
The Life of Mary in Christian and Islamic traditions, Scrovegni Chapel by Giotto; Van Eyck Altarpiece; Song of Songs, Bridal Mysticism and Bach's Wachat Auf, Cantata 140
Week Three: Saying Yes to Surprise: Annunciations and the Magnificat
Art of Botticelli, Leonardo Da Vinci, Fra Lippi;
Music of Charpentier, Bach, Dufay, Josquin des Prez, Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Alonso Lobo
Week Four: Awe, Wonder and Humility
The O Antiphons; HIidegard of Bingen and Sapientiae; music of Morten Lauridsen and Arvo Part;
poetry of John of the Cross (Juan de la Cruz) and contemporary writers
Saturday is Sabbath Day: a time to rest and integrate the learnings of the week
Sunday is Celebration Circle: an online zoom gathering where we sit in silence together, sing and share
Weekly Topics Include:
Week One: Remembering Our Roots
Heralds and Ancestors: The Sibyls of the Ancient World; Art of Pietro Perugino and Fra Lippi; St. Anne and St Joachim, Mary's parents; music of Orlando di Lassus; The Childhood of the Virgin Mary in myth and art
Week Two: First Flowering and Bridal Mysticism
The Life of Mary in Christian and Islamic traditions, Scrovegni Chapel by Giotto; Van Eyck Altarpiece; Song of Songs, Bridal Mysticism and Bach's Wachat Auf, Cantata 140
Week Three: Saying Yes to Surprise: Annunciations and the Magnificat
Art of Botticelli, Leonardo Da Vinci, Fra Lippi;
Music of Charpentier, Bach, Dufay, Josquin des Prez, Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Alonso Lobo
Week Four: Awe, Wonder and Humility
The O Antiphons; HIidegard of Bingen and Sapientiae; music of Morten Lauridsen and Arvo Part;
poetry of John of the Cross (Juan de la Cruz) and contemporary writers