When: October 12, 2025, 9 a.m.-11 a.m. (Montreal) / 2 p.m.-4 p.m. (London) / 3 p.m.-5 p.m. (Paris)
Where: Live videoconference from Ottawa, Canada
Cost: Voluntary contribution
Language: The conference will be given in English
Where: Live videoconference from Ottawa, Canada
Cost: Voluntary contribution
Language: The conference will be given in English
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Wordsworth defined poetry as “emotion recollected in tranquility.” It can be a grammar of wonder, a response to life as it feels when truly seen. Not surprisingly, great mystics have often turned to poetry to try to express their experience. Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich. John of the Cross, Francis of Assisi, and Thomas Merton are just some examples of those whose poetry aims at conveying their experience of the divine.
This presentation will consider the poetry of two priest-poets of the Anglican tradition. Thomas Traherne (1637-1674) is best known for his Centuries of Meditation, a series of short, dense paragraphs suffused with an ardent love of God, especially as encountered in nature. R.S. Thomas (1913-2000) was a poet and priest who spent his life serving parishes in remote rural areas of Wales. Much of his poetry is characterized by the modern quest for meaning and truth, and experiences of God that are as fleeting and elusive as they are compelling. These two poets are markedly different in their experience of the divine, yet both share some characteristic features of Anglican spirituality. |
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Kevin Flynn is a priest in the Anglican Church of Canada, serving as incumbent of la paroisse Saint-Bernard-de-Clairvaux, Ottawa, and as canon liturgist for the diocese of Ottawa. Previously, he was the director of the Anglican Studies Program in the Faculty of Theology, teaching in the areas of pastoral practice, homiletics, and liturgy. He taught as well in the graduate program in Contemplative Theology and Spiritual Mentorship. He is a longtime meditator and yoga practitioner.
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