St Anne's Episcopal Church

06/09/2026

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TUESDAY, June 9 COLUMBA OF IONA, Monastic, 567

Psalm 62:1. For God alone my soul in silence waits; from him comes my salvation.

A six-day silent retreat. No talking, no computing, no looking at my phone. There would be a 45-minute session with a spiritual director each morning, but 98.2% of my time would be spent in silence. Just me and God and my little yellow copy of The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius.

I had it all planned out. By lunchtime on Wednesday, I would be through the First Week, having realized that I was a wretched sinner, all the more ready to follow Jesus into the Second Week. On Friday morning, I’d launch into the Third Week and then finish up with the Fourth Week starting Saturday afternoon. I had my Rules, I had my structure, and I was ready to roll.

But then I got there, and on the first night, before the retreat had technically started, God spoke. I heard, very clearly, the phrase “Release the agenda.” I wasn’t in charge of this retreat—God was. My job was to sit in silence and wait.

MOVING FORWARD: Set aside a period of silence for each day this week.

Psalm 61, Psalm 62 * Psalm 68 | Eccles. 8:14-9:10 | Gal. 4:21-31 | Matt. 15:29-39

06/08/2026

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MONDAY, June 8 - Melania the Elder, Monastic, 410

Galatians 4:16. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

A few years ago, my husband and I wrote down our “Principles,” a set of values that we try to live by. We review them every few weeks, going down the list and discussing how we’ve lived up to—or fallen short of—these aspirations.

Principle #1 is “Be Truthful.” We strive to be truthful with each other, with others, and with ourselves. This is more than just being honest; it’s about caring enough to make an effort, to speak the truth, in love, even when it’s uncomfortable. Speaking the truth can be hard, and hearing the truth can be harder. I often have to work through a level of defensiveness before I can actually hear and digest feedback.

We usually review our Principles in the car. Something about that context works for us, maybe because it prevents us from jumping straight into problem-solving. No action is expected—only listening. Having this space to offer truthfulnesses to each other and to ourselves makes speaking them—and hearing them—a little easier.

MOVING FORWARD: How do you tell the truth with love? How do you react to being told an unpleasant truth?

Psalm 56, Psalm 57, Psalm 58 * Psalm 64, Psalm 65 | Eccles. 7:1-14 | Gal. 4:12-20 | Matt. 15:21-28

06/07/2026

06/05/2026

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FRIDAY, June 5 - Boniface, Bishop and Missionary, 754

Matthew 14:26. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear.

It was late, and I was tired, and I hadn’t seen a single other car on the drive up the mountain pass. There was no moon, but the stars were bright, silhouetting the mountain peaks against the Milky Way like a stock photo on a motivational poster. I pulled over and jumped out, planning to snap a quick picture—a pleasant diversion on a long, dark drive.

But it wasn’t pleasant. It was terrifying. I felt dizzy, disoriented. Looking up into the heavens was like looking down from a great height. My stomach lurched, and I swore I was falling. I backed up against the car, gripping the door handle because it was the only thing tethering me to earth. As I looked into the universe, I felt so, so small.

German theologian Rudolph Otto coined the term mysterium tremendum et fascinans: a mystery that is both terrifying and fascinating. It describes the numinous aspect of God that transcends our rational understanding. Standing there on that mountain pass, staring into the vastness of God’s creation, I was terrified… and fascinated.

MOVING FORWARD: Think of a place where you have viscerally experienced the majesty of God. Can you make plans to visit it again?

Psalm 40, Psalm 54 * Psalm 51 | Eccles. 5:1-7 | Gal. 3:15-22 | Matt. 14:22-36

06/04/2026

THURSDAY, June 4 - JOHN XXIII (ANGELO GIUSEPPE RONCALLI), Bishop, 1963

Psalm 84:1. How dear to me is your dwelling, O Lord of hosts! My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.

On the western tip of Wales, outside the city of St. David’s, there’s a windswept ruin of an ancient chapel dedicated to Saint Non. The stones still hold the semblance of structure: remnants of walls and a holy well. It’s so close to the ocean that the wind catches the spray and covers the site with a fine layer of mist. I was there in early March, and I was chilled to the bone.

The ruined chapel was, indeed, holy: austere, unfettered, clear, and thin. It was fully exposed—to the elements and to God. There was no place to hide, and the cold was invigorating.

Not far away, there’s a more modern chapel, constructed in 1934 from the stones of other ruins. I stepped inside and was struck by the stillness. This chapel was cold, but an orderly cold, without the wind or the seaspray or the mist. God was there, too, in that dwelling place: different, but just as holy.

MOVING FORWARD: Pay attention as you go about your day. Where do you sense God dwelling?

Psalm 50 * Psalm 59, Psalm 60 | Eccles. 3:16-4:3 | Gal. 3:1-14 | Mat. 14:13-21

06/03/2026

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WEDNESDAY, June 3 - The Martyrs of Uganda

Ecclesiastes 3:7. A time to tear and a time to sew; a time to keep silence and a time to speak.

My husband is hard on socks. He wears holes in them abnormally often, so once every few months, I gather up the torn ones and sit down to darn them. I’m not a gifted seamstress; in most cases, after I’m done, the socks look worse than they did before. Everything is mended with bright blue embroidery thread, because that’s all I have. When a hole is too big, I graft on a patch from an unsalvageable sock. My blanket stitch is large and garish; these “Frankensocks,” as we call them, aren’t pretty, but they have a certain monstrous charm.

I know that people don’t darn much anymore, and he could always just buy more socks. But I spend most of my days at the computer, so it’s nice to have something to do with my hands that isn’t typing. When I’m mending socks, my mind can wander; there’s no pressure, no urgency… just one stitch after another.

I don’t darn socks so that the socks are darned. There’s a time to speak, a time to tear, and a time to sit in silence and sew.

MOVING FORWARD: Find a bit of holy handiwork.

Psalm 119: Zayin, Psalm 119: Heth, Psalm 119: Teth * Psalm 49, Psalm 53 | Eccles. 3:1-15 | Gal. 2:11-21 | Matt. 14:1-12

06/02/2026

06/02/2026

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TUESDAY, June 2 - Blandina and Her Companions, the Martyrs of Lyons, 177

Galatians 1:23. They only heard it said, “The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy.”

Life would be easier if we could make decisions once and for all. It would be great if we could resolutely determine that this is how we live our lives, that this is what we’re called to do. But we know life doesn’t work like that.

Paul knew it, too. He had been completely convinced that he was right in persecuting Christians, right up until his conversion on the road to Damascus. After that—after the scales fell away—he knew the importance of keeping his eyes open.

Things change. The world around us changes. God doesn’t change, but we change, and thus the perspective from which we perceive God changes… so God may look different to us the next time we stop long enough to look.

We need to keep our eyes open, constantly watching for what lies ahead, even if it doesn’t match what we imagine, and even if we have to change course to get there.

MOVING FORWARD: Do you need to change course? Pray for strength and guidance.

Psalm 45 * Psalm 47, Psalm 48 | Eccles. 2:16-26 | Gal. 1:18-2:10 | Matt. 13:53-58

06/01/2026

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MONDAY, June 1 The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Luke 1:46-47. And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."

I grew up near Lake Superior, and even now, even though I live in landlocked Switzerland, I still love lighthouses. My favorite, the Split Rock Lighthouse, guided ships from 1910 to 1969, first by kerosene lamp and then by a thousand-watt bulb. While its official range was twenty-two miles, Split Rock’s beacon was sometimes spotted more than sixty miles away.

All this from a single light source. But it’s not just the light: it’s the light plus a lens. Split Rock had a third-order Fresnel lens, which uses concentric sections to refract and reflect. Its multiple prisms radiate outward to magnify the light inside.

We all have a light inside—the light of Christ, the spark of our Creator—and we all have a Fresnel lens. Like lighthouse keepers, it’s our duty to keep our lenses clean, to wipe away the soot and the grime, and to amplify Christ’s light so that it’s visible far and wide.

MOVING FORWARD: How do you keep your “lens” clean? What spiritual practices might help?

1 Samuel 2:1-10 | Psalm 113 | Romans 12:9-16b | Luke 1:39-57