7.15.2005

What’s on your table

Nathan at Quo Vadis tagged me for the bedroom meme. Essentially, list all the things on your bedside table. I’m modifying it a bit …. Listing the things on the bedside table in the guest room of my friend’s house where I’m dog sitting.

Lamp: Was on the table when I got here. VERY useful for reading of course.

Alarm Clock: Was also on the table when I got here. Again, very useful, not for reading but for waking up.

Thank You Card: Was also on the table when I got here, thanking me for watching the dogs and with a little bit o’ play cash. Thanks Melissa!!

Travel Alarm Clock: I don’t trust other people’s alarm clocks, so I travel with my own.

Journal: Detrimental as blogging is to my journaling health, I need to get back in the swing of things. It’s normally a big part of my prayer life, and super important for discerning.

Books: Even though I’m going to pick up HP 6 in a few hours, I brought along Let Your Life Speak - Listening for the Voice of Vocation, Every Day Simplicity (which is pre-candidate “homework”), my compact travel bible and People’s Companion to the Breviary.

Stationary: I want to write a real old fashioned letter to my friend Kathy who is in the Czech Republic teaching

Glass: Full of water from last night that I never drank

And that’s it. Seeing that I’m often spending the weekend away from home these days (usually at the groovy sisters’ place on the lake or other sisters’ houses) I’m getting really good at packing along what I need for some good prayer/reflection/spiritual reading. Makes any place seem like home!

Thanks Nathan! Rather than tag anyone else, I invite anyone who wants to play to join in.

3 comments:

Susan Rose Francois, CSJP said...

Kat,

I use the People's Companion to the Breviary published by the Carmelites of Indianapolis. It's super easy to use, and has such amazing prayers. I'm often floored by how the prayer is just what I need for that day.

Here's how I uses it, and I think I'm pretty on target.

In the back is a calendar. You find the year and the date, and that tells you what Week to use (1 through 4). You then go to the applicable weekday for that week.

There's a morning, afternoon and evening prayer. I usually try to do the morning and evening - afternoon's a bonus.

It's got 2 psalms and an old testament reading, with an "antiphon" you say before and after. Then a short reading. Then another antiphone and the canticle which are conveniently in the back of the book - Canticle of Zacaharia in the morning, Canticle of Mary/Magnifact in the evning.
Then some intercessions and a closing prayer.

Pretty simple. Takes about 15 minutes.

I love this breviary. I stayed with a priest friend at the seminary in January and was able to join the students in morning prayer. They use the more traditional breviary. Same concept, but the one from the Carmelites using inclusive language and has a smatter of different readings other than scripture - Teresa of Avila, Thomas Merton, etc... It's also got special days in the back, and this includes actual saints (Mary Magdalene is coming up on July 22) and holy people like Oscar Romero and Dorothy Day.

The coolest part is that even though I'm praying it on my own, I know I'm praying with folks around the globe. Kind of cool.

Hope that helps. I'm still figuring it out myself. The week in the seminary did help me with the rhythm of it.

great sandwich! said...

just so you know, this dummy loves peoples companion to the breviary! thanks for telling me about it.

Susan Rose Francois, CSJP said...

Cool g.s. .... and you are SO FAR from being a dummy!!!

let's call it even. you helped me find my way to the house o' phil. I helped you find the carmelites.