"Dayspring, my dictionary tells me, is an archaic word meaning 'dawn.' But I have chosen Daysprings as the title for this collection of meditations for the several meanings in the ancient word and its components. I hope these brief reflections shed new light on old, familiar passages and illuminate the way through new ones. I also hope these pieces will prove to be springboards to new and creative meditation for readers, pastors, and preachers, and that they will find within these pieces an extra buoyancy for each day. Lastly, I hope these thoughts will flow like fresh, living waters through days of fast and feast, bringing refreshment. -from the Preface In his accompanying volume to Brightest and Best: A Companion to the Lesser Feasts and Fasts, Sam Portaro offers meditations for each of the weekdays for the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, and Easter. Following the lectionary texts for each day, he focuses on the seasonal themes of incarnation, manifestation, suffering, redemption, and resurrection, showing how the eternal truths of the gospel shed light on the ordinary and extraordinary events of our lives. Solidly grounded in the prayers and scriptures of these seasonal liturgies, Portaro's meditations bring fresh and powerful-sometimes pointed-insights for those who follow the daily readings and prayers of these days of the weeks in the church year as found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
SAM PORTARO is the Episcopal chaplain to the University of Chicago and director of Brent House. He is the author of Conflict and a Christian Life, Crossing the Jordan: Meditations on Vocation, and Brightest and Best: A Companion to the Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
Part 1 THE WEEKDAYS OF ADVENT & CHRISTMASUNTIL THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST Chapter 2 The First Week of Advent Chapter 3 The Second Week of Advent Chapter 4 The Third Week of Advent Chapter 5 The Fourth Week of Advent Chapter 6 The Twelve Days of Christmas Chapter 7 The Week of Epiphany Chapter 9 The Beginning of Lent Chapter 10 The First Week of Lent Chapter 11 The Second Week of Lent Chapter 12 The Third Week of Lent Chapter 13 The Fourth Week of Lent Chapter 14 The Fifth Week of Lent Chapter 15 Holy Week Part 16 THE WEEKDAYS OF EASTER SEASON Chapter 17 The First Week of Easter Chapter 18 The Second Week of Easter Chapter 19 The Third Week of Easter Chapter 20 The Fourth Week of Easter Chapter 21 The Fifth Week of Easter Chapter 23 The Seventh Week of Easter
If you already know Fr. Portaro's writing skill and insights through Brightest and Best, you will, like me, be pleased to have this new book of meditations. The Living Church
