August 15: The Feast Day of Saint Mary, Mother of Jesus

 August 15th, is the Feast Day of Saint Mary the Virgin, Mother of Jesus. The Greeks call her Theotokos, God-Bearer. We learn a great deal about Mary through the eyes of artists, who often serve as our best guides, seeing and connecting us with God. I share a traditional view of the Annunciation by Fra Angelico, featuring Mary, at San Marco in Florence. I see a peaceful Mary surrendering to God’s call.

Fra Angelico San Marco

A modern painting of the Annunciation by John Collier reminds us of Mary’s youth.

john collier

Michelangelo’s Pieta at St. Peter’s Basilica depicts the depth of a mother’s love for her deceased son. No words can express the sorrow in this statue, as in real life.

Pieta Michelangelo

Kelly Latimore’s wood print reminds us that the members of the Holy Family became refugees, hastily journeying to Egypt with King Herod at their heels. We must never forget that all of us in this country were refugees, except for Indigenous People. 

kelly latimore

The image of Mary and Jesus from the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul is a traditional icon that teaches us to see God through the eyes of Mary as we look through the icon to see God.

Hagia Sophia

My favorite image of Mary is with her relative Elizabeth, who is in early pregnancy

and the other near term, at the Church of the Visitation in Jerusalem. Two women see God in each other, and Mary explodes with joy and prophecy with the Magnificat. Mary is calling us to do the same. Pray that we may have eyes to see God, the Christ, in ourselves and one another.

Church of Visitation Jerusalem

 Joanna Seibert  joannaseibert.com https://www.joannaseibert.com/

 

August 14: Jonathan Daniels Pilgrimage and the Song of Mary

August 14: Jonathan Daniels Pilgrimage and the Song of Mary

“I knew then that I must go to Selma. The Virgin’s song was to grow more and more dear in the weeks ahead.”—Jonathan Daniels, quoted in The Jon Daniels Story, William J. Schneider, ed. (The Seabury Press, 1967), p. 67.

On the second Saturday in August, people from across the country will gather at 11:00 a.m. Central Time in Hayneville, Lowndes County, Alabama, to remember the death of Episcopal seminarian Jonathan Myrick Daniels. On August 20, 1965, Daniels died while protecting an African American teenage girl, Ruby Sales. 2025 marked the 60th anniversary of his martyrdom.

The pilgrimage begins at the courthouse, where a trial lasting less than an hour found the man who murdered Daniels “not guilty.”

Next, it moves to a small country store where Jonathan was killed. The pilgrimage then returns to the courthouse for Eucharist, where the bread and wine are consecrated on an altar that was once the judge’s bench for that 1965 sham trial, lasting less than an hour, which found the man who murdered Jonathan not guilty. Previously, the Right Reverend Phoebe Roaf, the Bishop of the Diocese of West Tennessee, was the preacher. In 2025, the Right Reverend Michael Curry was the preacher.

Bishop Russell Kendrick of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast recently reminded us that this march, commemorating the death of the twenty-six-year-old Daniels, occurred on the same day as the disastrous white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. The similarities are sometimes too much to bear, reminding us that we seem no further advanced in race relations than we were three-quarters of a century ago. As a nation, we seriously lack the ability to secure human rights. We all need continued growth to recognize who our neighbor is.

Daniels took a leave from the Episcopal Seminary in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after hearing Martin Luther King, Jr.’s call for students to join him in his march in Selma, Alabama, to support the Civil Rights movement. He had been moved by singing the Song of Mary, the Magnificat, at Evening Prayer, especially by the words: “He hath put down the mighty from their seat and exalted the humble and meek.”

Jon devoted many Sundays in Selma to bringing small groups of black high school students to services to integrate the local Episcopal church. They were seated, but many in the congregation scowled at them. Many parishioners openly resented their presence, putting their priest squarely and uncomfortably in the middle of the controversy.

Jon returned to the seminary in May to take examinations and complete other requirements. In July, he returned to Alabama, where he helped compile a list of helpful local, state, and federal agencies and other legally available supportive resources for people of color.

On Friday, August 13, Jon and others went to Fort Deposit to join picketing at three local businesses. On Saturday, they were arrested and held in the county jail in Hayneville for six days before posting bail. After their release on Friday, August 20, four of them went to buy sodas at a local country store and were met at the door by a special county deputy with a shotgun who told them to leave or be shot. After a brief confrontation, the part-time deputy aimed the gun at a seventeen-year-old black girl in the group, Ruby Sales. Jon pushed her out of the way, took the bullet, and was instantly killed. 

Ruby attended the same seminary as Daniels and now heads the SpiritHouse Project in Atlanta. This program uses art, spirituality, and education to bring about racial, economic, and social justice.

Our senior associate rector, Michael, reminded me that at the School of Theology, Sewanee, Tennessee, all first-year students are loaded onto a bus and taken on the Jonathan Daniels pilgrimage during seminary orientation. He describes it as a very moving experience for many who are visiting the site of a martyr for the first time.

When we sing or recite Mary’s song, The Magnificat (Book of Common Prayer, p. 119), together, let us remember Jonathan Myrick Daniels and Ruby Sales and how this Canticle transformed their lives. Is there something in that song that also resonates with each of us?

Daniels died on August 20th but is remembered on the day of his arrest, August 14. The march will also be live-streamed from the Diocese of Alabama at these two sites:

Their website: www.dioala.org/jonathandaniels

Their Facebook Page: www.fb.com/dioala/live 

Joanna. https://www.joannaseibert.com/daily

The Loving-Kindness Meditation: A Daily Way of Life

The Loving-Kindness Meditation

 “Sitting comfortably, lying down, driving, sitting in a meeting, waiting in the hospital, or in any other potentially stressful situation.”

 Repeat these words silently, intending to send loving-kindness to yourself:

‘May I be peaceful. May I be happy. May I be safe.’

Next, silently repeat the exact words, directing loving-kindness toward someone you love:

‘May I be peaceful. May I be happy. May I be safe.’

Next, silently repeat the exact words, intending loving-kindness to reach a neutral person in your life, someone you barely know:

‘May I be peaceful. May I be happy. May I be safe.’

Finally, silently repeat the exact words, intending loving-kindness toward someone you are in conflict with or dislike:

‘May I be peaceful. May I be happy. May I be safe.’

Take a breath. Inhale, then exhale.

Notice your reactions during this meditation. Accept what you notice. Be aware of your thoughts, emotions, or responses to this meditation or to the people you directed it toward. This is mindfulness practice.

—Madhuleena Roy Chowdhury,  “What is Loving-Kindness Meditation?”

https://positivepsychology.com/loving-kindness-meditation/

 

Dr. Jay McDaniel, a retired professor of Religion, Philosophy of Religion, and Theology at Hendrix College, spoke recently at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church about using this Loving-Kindness Prayer if we have difficulty loving our enemies. The Loving-Kindness meditation is an ancient Buddhist meditation on unconditional love, with no expectations of receiving anything in return. The many forms of the Loving-Kindness meditation direct our thoughts and love toward ourselves and others.

The original name of this practice is metta bhavana, which comes from the Pali language. Metta means love in a non-romantic sense. It is our word for friendliness or kindness, thus loving-kindness. It is an emotion, something you feel in your heart. Bhavana means development or cultivation.

Our nation desperately needs healing. We can start with this loving-kindness meditation and see what happens.