Historical Setting: Monkwearmouth, 794 C.E. The relentless intensity of grief that owns this mother’s spirit allows a breath for my mundane questions about the circumstances of her life. I am trying to understand her options. She says, “Everything is made of words. In a castle even the words are rich. For the castleContinue reading “#76.7 Thursday, January 15, 2026”
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#76.6 Wednesday, January 14, 2026
Historical Setting: Monkwearmouth, 794 C.E. What to do with this grieving mother is the issue. I could take her back to the nuns if they could listen without judging. Maybe they would receive her with pity, unless their own fear of a writhing demon overrules their holy compassion. Obligations to care for strangers are alwaysContinue reading “#76.6 Wednesday, January 14, 2026”
#76.5 Tuesday, January 13, 2026
Historical Setting: Monkwearmouth, 794 C.E. The Christmas story leaves Rachel grieving for her child. There are lots of bits of the Christmas story. When the nuns read the whole of it from the gospel of Matthew, told and told again by the followers of Jesus escaping Romans in Judah it calls for pondering, not justContinue reading “#76.5 Tuesday, January 13, 2026”
#76.4 Thursday, January 8, 2026
Historical Setting: Monkwearmouth, 794 C.E. The grieving girl tells her story. “The Christmas bells rang just then, same as when he was born that night when them nuns called me “Mary.” That baby were then, warm and wide-eyed, wiggling and wriggling alive; such a sweet babe he were. But then, the bells ring andContinue reading “#76.4 Thursday, January 8, 2026”
#76.3 Wednesday, January 7, 2026
Historical Setting: Monkwearmouth, 794 C.E. The young woman slipped out of the chains and she could have leapt from the tower to her certain death, but apparently, she chose to run toward the river. I’m following the tracks in the snow. The rising sun flushes the sky behind me in the fresh light of aContinue reading “#76.3 Wednesday, January 7, 2026”
#76.2 Tuesday, January 6, 2026
Historical Setting: Monkwearmouth, 794 C.E. I follow the Reverend Mother to the tower entryway. The arch is just the right height for the Reverend Mother to pass through, but I have to bend down. There is hardly enough light to see the steps immediately before us. This wooden structure of stairs and precarious landings creaksContinue reading “#76.2 Tuesday, January 6, 2026”
#76.1 Thursday, January 1, 2026
Historical Setting: Monkwearmouth, 794 C.E. Is this a magical time of year because of the particular songs and stories? I don’t think the season that Christians call the Christ Mass is sacred simply by edict or calendar. Now is when the sun begins a new light overtaking old darkness. There is no papal edict toContinue reading “#76.1 Thursday, January 1, 2026”
#75.14 Weds., December 31, 2025
Historical Setting: Monkwearmouth, 793 C.E. The Reverend Mother, asks me how I know this woman I brought here to them. “The guards rescued her from the sea and I went down to help them but I don’t know her.” “We know her here. Last winter she came to us in labor and theContinue reading “#75.14 Weds., December 31, 2025”
#75.13 Tuesday, December 30, 2025
Historical Setting: Monkwearmouth, 793 C.E. The Christmas story is when the poor and weak are lifted up and the proud and powerful are cast down. It was the story Jesus was born into. And this too is that story. I take the bones of the near drown girl to the Reverend Mother of Monkwearmouth. SheContinue reading “#75.13 Tuesday, December 30, 2025”
#75.12 Thursday, December 25, 2025
Historical Setting: Jarrow, 793 C.E. Some rise early for the mass. At Monkwearmouth the antiphons will be sung by the women’s choir this morning for this feast day celebrating the Christ birth. The guards dressed as monks have their shift change at first light, so it isn’t just the monks stumbling through the Jarrow hallsContinue reading “#75.12 Thursday, December 25, 2025”
Lazarus Ink 