Beauty, Shoes, & Socks
by Erin Doom
Feast of the Holy Nine Martyrs of Cyzicus
Anno Domini 2020, April 28
Monastery of Simonos Petra on Mount Athos
I'M MAKING
a slight adjustment to the format of the Daily Synaxis, partly for your sake - so you can better digest the content - and partly for my sake - so I have more time to get to all the other pressing EDI work.
Thus far you've been receiving a daily feast with LOTS of content.
Henceforth, you'll receive daily appetizers on M-Th in the following format:
- Essays et al: one essay, reflection, homily, video, or something of the sort
- Books and Culture: a book review and or a poem
- Bible and the Fathers: daily bible readings and a Word from the Fathers
Then on Friday, you'll receive a feast for the weekend in the old format, i.e., the following eight pieces: 3 essays, 1 book review, 1 poem, Bible, Liturgy, and Fathers.
Please feel free to share feedback, as this new enterprise continues to evolve (it's now entering its fifth week).
Bon Appétit! Or maybe better put, given the nature of today's first appetizer, Salud!
1. Essays et al: Zapateria
by filmaker Travis Lee Ratcliff
If you care about beauty and craftsmanship, you've got to watch this short, three-minute documentary. It concisely and beautifully tells the story of Norman Vilalta, an Argentinian who gave up his career as an attorney at age 31 to become a shoemaking apprentice in Florence. Here are two short snippets from Vilalta in the film:
I make shoes because of beauty, not because of shoes.
In a shoe you will find all the metaphysical characteristics of everything that exists.
2. Books & Culture: Odes to Common Things
by Pablo Neruda
Neruda was in his late forties when he decided to begin writing one ode every week. Over the course of the next five years, between 1954 and 1959, the Chilean poet published four volumes of 225 odes to ordinary objects and substances, animals and plants, friends and people he admired, i.e., to anything and everything around him.
Back in 1994, Bulfinch Press published a beautiful cloth edition of selected and illustrated odes (25 of them). It's bilingual (Spanish and English) and still available. More recently, Farrar, Straus and Giroux released a single-volume paper edition of all the odes (also bilingual) in 896 pp. You can get a copy of either one at Eighth Day Books.
Here's the opening lines of an ode that goes well with the documentary on shoes: "Ode to My Socks" (you'll have to get the book for the original Spanish).
Maru Mori brought me
a pair
of socks
that she knit with her
shepherd's hands.
Two socks as soft
as rabbit fur.
I thrust my feet
inside them
as if they were
two
little boxes
knit
from threads
of sunset
and sheepskin.
3. Bible & Fathers: Beauty Will Save the World
Acts 4:1-10, Jn. 3:16-21. Online here.
Today's Word from the Fathers
comes from the Archimandrite Vasileios, Abbot of Iveron Monastery on Mount Athos. The Holy Mountain is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, as you'll read in the opening lines to this reflection on beauty. About half way through the reading, there is an echo of St Peter Chrysologus's sermon on Easter (published last week here):
In the new creation, again, a woman becomes the cause of salvation.
The Maiden of Nazareth, unknown and insignificant in worldly terms but humble and pure, is shown to be the one "blessed among women" who receives the Archangel’s greeting and conceives the Son and Word of God.
*If you’d like to receive the Daily Synaxis
in your inbox each Mon-Fri, you can subscribe here.
**All books (and icons) in print available from Eighth Day Books.
Please support an independent bookstore that believes in the eighth day resurrection of our God and Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Give them a call at 1.800.841.2541 or visit their website here. And don’t forget Eighth Day Members (Patrons+) receive 10% discount, plus many other perks! Learn more and become a member here.
Share this Post on Your Preferred Platform
Warrior, Shepherd, Penitent, and Type of Christ
The Church in the World
A reflection for Orthodox Great and Holy Friday
A reflection for Good Friday
The Character of the Early Church
The Sisters of Sophia will gather on the Commemoration of the Great Martyr Theodore, Anno Domini 2026, February 17. Rachel Garton will present The Battlefield of Compassion: Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton, and St Verena . Sisters of Sophia When Every third Tuesday Where The Ladder 2836 E Douglas, Wichita Parking available behind Eighth Day Books Schedule Food, drink, and fellowship at 6:30pm Eighth Day Convocation & Lecture at 7:20pm Membership Required? No, but do consider joining the community! Learn more and join here !
The Hall of Men will gather Thursday evening on the commemoration of St Meletius, Archbishop of Antioch, Anno Domini 2026, February 12. David Beutel will present on St. John Henry Newman. St. John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English Catholic theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer, and poet. He was previously an Anglican priest, and after his conversion to Catholicism, became a cardinal. Newman's beatification was proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI on 19 September 2010 during his visit to the United Kingdom. His canonization was officially approved by Pope Francis on 12 February 2019, and took place on 13 October 2019. Come and jo in us for the first toast of 2026 at the Hall of Men! If you haven’t seen a Catholic listen to the life story of John Wesley; if you haven’t watched a Protestant learn about Evagrius of Pontus; and if you haven’t seen Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant men sit around a table together and talk theology until midnight . . . then you need to come to the Hall of Men. When The commemoration of St Meletius, Archbishop of Antioch, Anno Domini 2026, February 12. Where The Ladder at 2836 E. Douglas, Wichita, KS 67214 Schedule Doors Open at 7 pm Food is served at 7:30pm Eighth Day Convocation at 8:30pm Presentation and toast by Derek Hale immediately following Convocation. Membership Required? No, but do consider joining the community! Learn more and join today here .
Reflections on the enduring validity of Malcolm Muggeridge's critiques of the media in the 1970s.
An Introduction to Charles Williams by Charles Hefling Commemoration of St Hosea the Prophet Anno Domini 2025, October 17
Commemoration of St Longinus the Centurion Anno Domini 2025, October 16
