FLORILEGIUM - 29. The Woodland Mass, ft. Valerie Anthony

In Episode 29, Kate and her guest, poet Valerie Anthony, meander deep into the woods of metaphor, asking how the words a society stumbles into by misadventure shape the images we form of ourselves as humans. Discussing the gospel for the Feast of Saint Francis de Sales, 14th century poet Dafydd ap Gwilym's 'The Woodland Mass,' and choosing to replace machine metaphors with green metaphors, Val and Kate find hope in the small and fleeting, in naming the forgotten wildflowers, and in flashes of Christ's Light in dark places. With an original poem by Valerie Anthony called 'Everyday Miracles 1'.
Mentioned in the episode is Sarah de Nordwall's Bard School. See here for more information: www.sarahdenordwall.com
Music: Rock Bottom Riser by Bill Callahan (Smog)

Florilegium is a programme on Radio Maria which seeks to weave together liturgy, literature and  gardening in rambling, hopefully fruitful ways. It is written and presented by Kate Banks and Antonia Shack. You can follow them on SubStack at substack.com/@florilegiumpodcast 

About the Creators

Antonia leads a patchwork life with jobs including but not limited to mother, book designer, editor, actor and teacher. She and Kate began discussing poetry, liturgy and gardening at the Willibrord Fellowship reading group in London and are delighted to be continuing these conversations on Radio Maria. 

Kate is a teacher of Literature, Philosophy and Theology, with a particularly keen regard for the poet and artist David Jones around whom many of her studies and her teaching-subjects have been based. She also briefly worked as a gardener in London, though she now lives with her little boy on the river Exe in Devon.

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