Maggi Dawn
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Maggi Dawn is an author, songwriter and theologian. She also is an associate dean and professor at Yale Divinity School's Institute of Sacred Music. Maggi has kept a blog since September 2003, writing about theology and faith, the arts and literature, and "a little about life and random nonsense."
Maggi Dawn
2y ago
Last year on Twitter, someone wrote to me “there are no women on my theology bookshelf. Who should I read?”. I followed up with a blog list, and was pleased to discover that without even looking up from my screen I could easily think of well over a hundred female theologians, ecclesiastical historians, biblical scholars ..read more
Maggi Dawn
2y ago
Forgiving is the hardest thing to do. Forgiving doesn’t trivialise an offence – as if to say, “It doesn’t matter – I forgive you.” It does matter. If it didn’t matter, there would be nothing to forgive. Forgiving isn’t about deserving. If someone has offended you enough that forgiving them is a challenge or even ..read more
Maggi Dawn
2y ago
While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, ‘Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.’But to the one who had told him this, Jesus replied, ‘Who is my mother, and who are ..read more
Maggi Dawn
3y ago
Saint Walburga (c.710 – 779) was the daughter of Saint Richard the King, and her brothers were Saints Willibald and Winebald. She went to Wimborne monastery, in Dorset, SW England, to study under Saint Tatta, and later became a nun there. In 748 she went with her brothers and a couple of friends on a ..read more
Maggi Dawn
3y ago
Saint John Theristus (Italian: Giovanni Theristis; 1049–1129) was an Italian Byzantine monk. The name Theristus means ‘reaper’ or ‘Harvester’, a title he got when he performed a miracle that saved an entire harvest from being destroyed in a storm. His life began in cruel circumstances. His father, who was a farmer, was killed in a Saracen raid on the ..read more
Maggi Dawn
3y ago
Today is the Vigil (the night before) of the feast of St Matthias. After Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, and subsequently died his own tragic death, Matthias was the dude who got picked to replace Judas. And what’s interesting about his appointment is that he’s the only Apostle who was chosen in the in-between time, after ..read more
Maggi Dawn
3y ago
Today’s saint is Margaret of Cortona, who was born into a farming family in Tuscany, Italy in 1247. Her mother died when she was seven, and the stepmother who came along after that didn’t connect with Margaret at all. Feeling rejected by her family, Margaret eloped with a young lad from Montepulciano. They didn’t get ..read more
Maggi Dawn
3y ago
First Sunday of Lent (Feb 21, day 5) I was reading about Saints in the Orthodox tradition, and came across the Kozelshchansk Icon of the Mother of God. (If you are not used to the practice of praying with icons, you might want to know that the idea is not to pray to something inanimate ..read more
Maggi Dawn
3y ago
Feasting and fasting. 11 months of shielding and lockdowns feels like a year-long Lent, so I’m reinventing the tradition this year. Instead of fasting, I’m celebrating a different saint every day. If you look through calendars of Saints, you find that every date has a selection of Saints who are celebrated on that particular day ..read more
Maggi Dawn
3y ago
Lockdown Lent: a saint a day to inspire hope in difficult times. Day 4: Francisco and Jacinta de Jesus Marto, and Lúcia dos Santos. Francisco and his younger sister Jacinta lived in a tiny village near Fátima, Portugal. They went out to play with their cousin Lúcia dos Santos, who used to look after the ..read more