The Pilgrim Soul

This month, we’re sharing a talk Sofi gave to the Word on Fire Institute on Our Lady as “The Certainty of Our Hope”. You can find a PDF of the paintings Sofi references on our website. //The great desire of the human heart is for perfect happiness, total love, lasting fulfillment—for union with God. This destiny is possible in Jesus Christ. But we can lose hope, stumbling or growing discouraged over the ordinary challenges of life. Mary, the Mother of God, gives certainty to our hope. Mary stands at the heart of salvation history as the one through whom God fulfills his promises. Throughout her pilgrimage of faith, from the Annunciation to the Cross to her Assumption, her virginal surrender to the Mystery gives form to His presence in the world and strength to those who believe in Him. In her, each member of the Church discovers a mother who accompanies, educates, and sustains us on our path to our destiny. //We’d love to hear from you! Write to us at pilgrimsoulpodcast@gmail.com or find us on Instagram at @pilgrimsoulpodcast.  Our website is www.pilgrimsoulpodcast.com. //Our theme music is Nich Lampson’s “Dolphin Kicks.”

Adrianna, Sofi, and Giuli have a conversation about mission. What is the communal task entrusted to the baptized? What does it look like to live our individual responsibility for the glory of Christ? How does God’s initiative of mercy enable us to embrace the slightest fragment of truth or goodness wherever we find it? //Our media recommendation is The Universal Call to Holiness, a relief in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC (virtual tour). And our monthly challenge is to reflect on the apocryphal story of Jesus and the dead dog (cited on page 117 of this PDF), and to ask, in whatever situation of death or emptiness comes to mind, to recognize and embrace the good present there as Christ does.  //We’d love to hear from you! Write to us at pilgrimsoulpodcast@gmail.com or find us on Instagram at @pilgrimsoulpodcast.  Our website is www.pilgrimsoulpodcast.com. //Other resources we mention:An excerpt from Generating Traces in the History of the World on mission and ecumenism The video The Faith of Fr. GiussaniA speech by Pope Pius XII cited in Pope St. John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation Christifidelis laici Bishop Erik Varden’s April 27 interview in The Pillar on the conclave Fr. Luigi Giussani’s letters to the first missionaries from Communion & Liberation to BrazilThe Ways of the Cross organized by Communion & Liberation throughout the USAPope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium Bishop Erik Varden’s recent talk on “Living with Wounds” at the University of Notre Dame The story of Elvira Parravicini’s work in neonatal palliative careLumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church //Our theme music is Nich Lampson’s “Dolphin Kicks.”

Join Sofia and Adrianna in praying the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary, guided by reflections from Father Luigi Giussani. We pray this Easter finds you "overcome with Paschal joy" at the presence of the Risen One.

Join Giuli, Sofi and Adrianna for an episode on baptism. Is it true that this is the defining event of our lives? How is baptism relevant to our every day? What are the marks of the new creature created in baptism, the one who belongs to the body of Christ? How can we grow in awareness of our baptism? //Our media recommendation is Brideshead Revisited, a novel by Evelyn Waugh. And our monthly challenge is to renew your baptismal promises, and reflecting on what has been given to you in your baptism. //We’d love to hear from you! Write to us at pilgrimsoulpodcast@gmail.com or find us on Instagram at @pilgrimsoulpodcast.  Our website is www.pilgrimsoulpodcast.com. //Other resources we mention:Fr. Luigi Giussani’s book Generating Traces in the History of the WorldFr. Luigi Giussani’s book The Religious SenseThe Rite of Baptism of the Catholic Church //Our theme music is Nich Lampson’s “Dolphin Kicks.”

Bishop Erik Varden, a Cistercian monk and the Bishop of Trondheim, discusses his book, "Healing Wounds," exploring the profound vulnerability of God in Christ. He delves into how understanding Christ's wounds fosters compassion for our own and others' suffering. The conversation highlights the paradox of self-improvement culture, emphasizing the essential spiritual connection required for true fulfillment. Varden also speaks on the healing power of community and liturgy, advocating for active participation in faith as a pathway to experiencing Christ's tenderness.

This month, Giuli, Sofi and Adrianna discuss compunction–a state of abiding sorrow for our sins. How can we distinguish compunction from what St. Paul calls “worldly grief”? What role does compunction play in our relationship with Christ? Have we seen this bear fruit, especially in hope and joy, in our lives? What practices help us beg for this gift from God? //Our media recommendation is Antonín Dvořák’s arrangement of the Stabat Mater, as conducted by Philippe Herreweghe. The verse we highlighted is the “Fac ut ardeat cor meum” (Spotify and YouTube). You can find the text and translation here. And our monthly challenge is to pray with Peter’s denial of Christ (Matthew 26:69-75) and subsequent reconciliation on the shore of Galilee (John 21), asking for the gift of compunction. //We’d love to hear from you! Write to us at pilgrimsoulpodcast@gmail.com or find us on Instagram at @pilgrimsoulpodcast.  Our website is www.pilgrimsoulpodcast.com. //Other resources we mention: Pope Francis’ homily for Holy Thursday 2024 Irénée Hausherr’s work The Doctrine of Compunction in the Christian East Dietrich Von Hildebrand’s book The Heart A dialogue with Fr. Luigi Giussani from 1978 entitled “What is Christianity?” Luigi Giussani’s book The Religious Sense  //For Lent this year, we will be reading Bishop Erik Varden’s new book together. Please join us! You can order Healing Wounds now through Bloomsbury or Amazon. //Our theme music is Nich Lampson’s “Dolphin Kicks.”

Join Giuli, Sofi and Adrianna for an episode on work. What is work, beyond our 9-to-5 job? How do instinctive and cultural approaches to work enslave us to our circumstances? Is it possible to instead start from friendship with Christ and obedience to the Father? What helps us approach work in this way? And what are the fruits? // Our media recommendation is an excerpt of Charles Peguy’s poem The Portal of the Mystery of Hope, entitled ‘Finding the Eternal in Our Daily Toil’. And our monthly challenge is to spend a day repeating the prayer, “Lord, I am not worthy,” as you go about your daily tasks. // We’d love to hear from you! Write to us at pilgrimsoulpodcast@gmail.com or find us on Instagram at @pilgrimsoulpodcast.  Our website is www.pilgrimsoulpodcast.com. // Other resources we mention: Fr. Luigi Giussani’s 1999 talk A New Man Pope St. John Paul II’s encyclical Laborem exercens  Fr. Walter Ciszek’s memoir He Leadeth Me Fr. Luigi Giussani’s 1975 talk God is Mercy  The Rule of St. Benedict // For Lent this year, we will be reading Bishop Erik Varden’s new book together. Please join us! You can pre-order Healing Wounds now through Bloomsbury. // Our theme music is Nich Lampson’s “Dolphin Kicks.”

Adrianna, Giuli, and Sofi discuss givenness, or God’s gift and entrustment of men and women to each other. What profound truth about God and the cosmos does this givenness reveal? How can a loving preference, or predilection, for one person help us discover the givenness of all others? In the face of the fallenness of our hearts, why does Pope St. John Paul II exhort us not to be afraid to receive this gift? // This episode draws on a meditation by Pope St. John Paul II. You can find the text at Communio: https://www.communio-icr.com/files/jpii41-4.pdf and an audio recording on Fr. Mike Cairnes' podcast: on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts. // Our media recommendation is the novel By What Authority? by Robert Hugh Benson, which is available for free online. And our monthly challenge is to think back to the last five people you spoke to or texted, and ask yourself how they might be a gift to you. // We’d love to hear from you! Write to us at pilgrimsoulpodcast@gmail.com or find us on Instagram at @pilgrimsoulpodcast.  Our website is www.pilgrimsoulpodcast.com. // Other resources we mention: Our episode on virginity: Ascending the Ladder of Love The story of Fr. Aldo Trento’s vocation, some of which you can find here: https://www.ilsussidiario.net/news/cronaca/2011/8/27/giussani-2-aldo-trento-la-sua-amicizia-una-domanda-che-fa-risorgere/203098/ The film “Of Gods and Men" St. Edith Stein’s writings “Essays On Woman” // Our theme music is Nich Lampson’s “Dolphin Kicks.”

Join all three hosts for a discussion of the invocation of the Holy Spirit, which takes place at Mass through the prayer called “epiclesis.” What does the Church beg of God at this moment, and why do we need this? Have we seen the epiclesis transform the way we live the rest of our daily lives? Who are models for us of living in the posture of a beggar? // Our media recommendation is the film The Taste of Things (or ‘La passion de Dodin Bouffant’ in the original French). And our monthly challenge is to pray with the Eucharistic prayers, which you can find at www.ibreviary.com/m2/messale.php?s=preghiera_eucaristica. // To help us enter into prayer this Advent, Sofia has made another playlist of sacred choral music. You can find it on Spotify at this link: www.tinyurl.com/ymdxma4w or by searching "O founding, unfound Wisdom." We’d love to hear from you! Write to us at pilgrimsoulpodcast@gmail.com or find us on Instagram at @pilgrimsoulpodcast.  Our website is www.pilgrimsoulpodcast.com. // Other resources we mention: Our episode on Creation: www.tinyurl.com/4wjsmxyh Communion & Liberation’s text for Beginning Day 2024: www.tinyurl.com/38k837cj The Rule of St Benedict The testimony of Jone Echarri about her experience of Guillain-Barré syndrome: www.tinyurl.com/mu26t5k8 Our episode on the Holy Spirit: www.tinyurl.com/mtca9vwt // Our theme music is Nich Lampson’s “Dolphin Kicks.”

Sofi, Adrianna, and Giuli have a conversation about Christian memory–or anamnesis. What is the difference between the secular and Christian conceptions of memory? How does the prayer of anamnesis in the Eucharistic liturgy take up the whole of the Christian life? What changes about our days when we are given the grace to live in the awareness of the continued presence of Christ? // Our media recommendation is Arvo Pärt’s setting of St. Patrick’s Breastplate, “The Deer’s Cry”: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir3htl3UlBk. And our monthly challenge is to choose a line from scripture in the morning to keep in mind throughout the day, possibly by writing it down. // We’d love to hear from you! Write to us at pilgrimsoulpodcast@gmail.com or find us on Instagram at @pilgrimsoulpodcast. Our website is www.pilgrimsoulpodcast.com. // Other resources we mention: An address by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger on Conscience and Truth The biography of St. Maximilian Kolbe Louis Bouyer’s book “Eucharist” // Our theme music is Nich Lampson’s “Dolphin Kicks.”