21 Comments
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James Bailey's avatar

I so resonate with this: “Our devotion is a reminder we are all starving for the sacred and the hungry will be fed.”

Grateful, Steven.

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Steven Foster's avatar

Thank you James! Seeing your note on PJPII helped release me from my reservations regarding this topic. You are such a life giver. Thank you again!

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James Bailey's avatar

Steven, I’m so glad PJPII by way of me, served you. That’s love and life in a crucible.

And the comment from you really lifts me up. I’ve been down today and have tried on several occasions to lift myself up, to no avail. Then you come along and take the time to share. Thank you. 🙏

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Miche Priest's avatar

It’s interesting how pervasive a thought could be. I remember my mom telling me when I was young that Catholics worship Mary.

“I do not worship a woman but I am moved by a mother.”

Beautifully said

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Steven Foster's avatar

Thank you Miche! Hope to talk more with you before the end of Cohort!

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Miche Priest's avatar

Will definitely make that happen!

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Drake Greene's avatar

Beautiful piece with a sense of scholarship and theology that defines the best of Catholicism

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Oscar Obregon's avatar

So beautiful Steven. Even after this rereading I can't stop thinking of my grandma, and how you've given a new and more profound meaning to this prayer that is close to my heart (and that does act as a meditation, as you rightfully point out). It's a great feat you've accomplished weaving such personal memories with such ancient and recognizable prayer, and everything in between.

Your writing has a quality that the more I read it, the deeper it seeps into me. Deep, profound, layered in the best and most complete sense of the words, and this one is no exception.

Honored to have been part of the developing of this essay, and amazed at the final version!

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Steven Foster's avatar

Without you my brother, it would not have been. Thank you again! 🙏🏼

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Alexandra Allen's avatar

"When I was a child, my best friend’s parents were my parents, at least half of the time."

I feel this. One of my first experiences with death was my oldest and closest childhood friend losing her dad to cancer. My mom was a palliative care nurse and she went with me to visit him in his final days and I remember her telling me to call my dad to come say "goodbye."

And I remember my sister waking me up when my friend called with the dreaded news that he was gone.

I'm glad your friend had you for support.

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Steven Foster's avatar

Alexandra what a story. I was questioning if my opening experience would land. Receiving this from you was a beautiful reminder of the truth. In mortality we discover our family.

Thank you for always being an remarkable friend.

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Daniel Joseph Petty's avatar

Lovely piece here. I truly connect with the feeling that a best friends parents agreed in a real sense also our parents. When my mother passed my closest friends truly grieved and I know I will to when theirs pass. Thank God I now find comfort in His Holy Mother.

I’m a former Protestant who is now on my way towards the Catholic Church. I plan on going through RCIA in the fall. I will save this and try to remember it should I find myself in a conversation with a Protestant who is questioning why we pray the Hail Mary. I think several things may need to be addressed before hand but this can and will be useful for someone I’m sure!

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Haley Brengartner's avatar

I read this many times over the past week. In my own exploration of Christianity I am stretched by the depth of your wisdom. Gorgeous writing as always. So simple, so thoughtful.

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Tommy Dixon's avatar

This was beautiful Steven. And the Latin, so good. Thank you for sharing.

Somewhat unrelated, but I recently read the idea of The Virgin Birth was a standard mythological motif, common in Greek and Hellenistic stories. In the Bible, it’s only found the the Gospel of Luke, who was a Greek. In two other Gospels, Jesus was thought to be a descendent of David.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.

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Steven Foster's avatar

Virgin births even predate Greek if I'm remembering correctly what I know of the Chaldeans and pre-Athenian myth. Christs birth by the Virgin Mary is recorded in all of the synoptic gospels. Lukes is the most detailed, Matthews is a one liner, Mark alludes to it with his reference to Isaiah's prophecies. John's gospel alludes to the virgin birth in his Word became Flesh opener but he doesn't use a specific Old Testament reference and it doesn't read well in English.

Jesus as a descendant of David leads Matthew's Gospel as that was a critical point to the prophecies for an audience in Judea. Lot more behind both of those sides.

Would love to talk more about it all with you sometime!

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Tommy Dixon's avatar

You’re such a wealth of wisdom man. Would love to sometime :)

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Thomas Zhao's avatar

Gratia plena is this article! Thanks Steven for this eloquent summarization that I may one day use with my own evangelical, casual, and agnostic friends.

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Karena's avatar

One of my first prayers. And I love the latin.

Bookmarking this essay - and again, sharing it with my siblings.

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Steven Foster's avatar

Thank you for this note Karena!

Curious your thoughts on that not so secret link at the end.

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Silvio Castelletti's avatar

Some prayers have been ingrained in our beings since we were little. Ave Maria, is one of them. You just repeat it mnemonically for most of your youth, until you stop and think about what you're really saying, and the beauty and musicality of these verses. This is what happened to me (and I'm definitely not a religious person).

Here's the Italian version, so beautiful:

Ave, o Maria, piena di grazia,

il Signore è con te.

Tu sei benedetta fra le donne

e benedetto è il frutto del tuo seno, Gesù.

Santa Maria, Madre di Dio,

prega per noi peccatori,

adesso e nell'ora della nostra morte.

Amen.

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Kahlil Corazo's avatar

Hi Steven, I don't think we ever got to meet in a breakout room, but I've been seeing you in the sessions and in the chat. I was watching the Elle Griffin session replay and heard you mention your interest in the Blessed Virgin after she said that she studied Mariology. I just wanted to jump in that conversation. Marian Iconography X A.I. was one of my earliest posts in Substack, and I connected it to my trip to Mexico! https://www.explorations.ph/p/after-501-years-we-can-finally-see

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