Posts with the tag “etimology”

Dear Peregrinus: I imagine that all of us in the Pacific Northwest are praying that the rain that has come today to our region for the first time in almost four months will mark the beginning of Autumn’s confident habit! The incomparable Emily captures well how a dry land marks the preciousness of the individual drops of rain when the rain first arrives after a long absence. A drop fell on the apple tree...  Read More

Dear Peregrinus: You expressed to me what I have heard spoken almost constantly by others – that you find it distasteful having to choose between two (un-) presidential candidates. I know what you mean. But voting is something much deeper and more significant than merely choosing. Our English verb “to vote” derives from the Latin verb vōvere meaning “to vow; that is, solemnly to promise or formally to consecrate something" to God ...  Read More

Dear Peregrinus: Good to hear from you. I had not expected that I would because Christmas is now so close, and, to be honest, I myself did not think that I would be able to write back to you because of many commitments before me to meet between now and Christmas. However, I remind myself that for me to pause, to let go of other concerns, and to bring my whole attention ...  Read More

Dear Peregrinus: In your recent letter, you wrote about feeling turbulent of spirit. And because you chose that word as the one that seemed most accurately to describe what it feels like to be you right now, I have paid close attention to that word. Is such turbulence as you are feeling a good thing or a bad thing? I think that you are saying that you think this turbulence is a bad thing ...  Read More

Dear Peregrinus: A friend of mine asked me (she was not the only on who has) about your “unusual” name, what it meant. It had not occurred to me to wonder about your name, and so I thought that I would write to you what I have thought about it. Poetically, and without much investigation of your name, I have associated it with the Peregrine Falcon (Latin, falco peregrinus), about which...  Read More

Dear Peregrinus: You asked me about this prayer – the Anima Christi – which has its name from the first two words in the (original) Latin form of it. This prayer was thought to have been composed by St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491/2 – 1556). It was, as it turns out, not authored by Ignatius, but esteemed by him. Let us read through the whole prayer first. SOUL of Christ, sanctify me ...  Read More