Tag: evening prayer

Evening Prayer: St. Teresa of Avila & St. John of the Cross

Christ of st john of the cross DaliDuring evening prayers on Friday  3/17/17  at St. John’s in Aptos, CA —  hear about another dynamic duo:  St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross.

John of the Cross was asked by Teresa of Avila to follow her — which he did.  Both  Teresa and  John  were 16th century Catholic  mystics living in Spain.

St. Teresa of Avila was a writer, reformer and mystic who started the Carmelite order.

St. John of the Cross, famous for Spiritual Canticle, wrote Dark Night of the Soul while he was locked in a 6′ by 10′ cell. Both of these  were written in Spanish.  At that time,  the Bible was only available in Latin.

crucificion sketch by st john of the crossSt. John of the Cross made a drawing of Christ from above was  later was the basis of Dali’s famous painting.

At age 43, Teresa of Avila started her first convent  and later  several other convents for women. She created a rule for how the women  were to live, committed to a simple life of poverty based on love.

“The important thing is not to think much but to love much and so do that which best stirs you to love. Love is not great delight but desire to please God in everything.” (1)

John of the Cross created a similar way of life in  living together  for men.   John of the Cross  served as Teresa’s spiritual director and confessor.

Hear more about this  dynamic duo during evening prayer  5:30 – 6:00 pm,  Friday, March 17, 2017 .  Come to St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, Aptos, CA. Come for healing prayer and pray for others.

St. John’s is located near the entrance to Seacliff Beach in Aptos, CA. All are welcome.

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How Erin Grunwell’s unteachable students became the Freedom Writers …

This following is based  on an Evening Prayer service lead by Alliee DeArmond,  Friday, September 16,  2016 at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Aptos, CA.  Alliee leads the Friday Evening Prayer services which start  promptly at 5:30 pm and end around 6:00 pm. Come to 125 Canterbury, Aptos, CA.

As part of the service,  Alliee discussed a book about the Freedom Writers and Erin Grunwell.

For information about  Evening Prayer  and other services:       http://www.st-john-aptos.org/

For information about Alliee DeArmond’s The Word Shop.  visit website.   

Erin
Erin and  her students, the  Freedom Writers

Included is how  another woman helped:  Miep Gies a Dutch woman …   miep gries ccc

MiepvGries
MiepvGries

 

As an idealistic twenty-three-year-old English teacher at Wilson High School in Long beach, California, Erin Gruwell confronted a room of “unteachable, at-risk” students.

One day Erin  intercepted a note with an ugly racial caricature, and angrily declared that this was precisely the sort of thing that led to the Holocaust—only to be met by uncomprehending looks.

So Erin ….  and her students, using the treasured books Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl  and Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevos their guides, undertook a life-changing, eye-opening, spirit-raising odyssey against intolerance and misunderstanding.

Erin and her students …   learned to see the parallels in these books to their own lives, recording their thoughts and feelings in diaries and dubbing themselves the “Freedom Writers” in homage to the civil rights activists “The Freedom Riders.”

With funds raised by a “Read-a-thon for Tolerance,” they arranged for Miep Gies, the courageous Dutch woman who sheltered the Frank family, to visit them in California, where she declared that Erin Gruwell’s students were “the real heroes.” Their efforts have paid off spectacularly, both in terms of recognition—appearances on “Prime Time Live” and “All Things Considered,” coverage in Peoplemagazine, a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley—and educationally. All 150 Freedom Writers have graduated from high school and are now attending college.

With powerful entries from the students’ own diaries and a narrative text by Erin Gruwell, The Freedom Writers Diary is an uplifting, unforgettable example of how hard work, courage, and the spirit of determination changed the lives of a teacher and her students.

The authors’ proceeds from this book will be donated to The Tolerance Education Foundation, an organization set up to pay for the Freedom Writers’ college tuition. Erin Gruwell is now a visiting professor at California State University, Long Beach, where some of her students are Freedom Writers.

 

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