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A
Given    Grace

an anthology
of christian poems

AN ESPECIAL ENDEAVOUR TO COMMEMORATE

THE PHILIPPINE QUINCENTENNIAL &

SINGAPORE BICENTENNIAL OF CATHOLICISM

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featuring one hundred writers from across the world 

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“From his fullness we have all received,
grace upon grace.”

John 1:16 

Chapter 1: Fellowship

What might an encounter be like if Jesus were to appear at our door? What would we do upon inviting Christ into our home?

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Chapter 2: Devotion

What manner of devotion does one build into one’s day? Is it quiet time in the morning, beginning with prayer... 

Chapter 3: Profession

What profession of faith do poets afford their lyric and narrative? What is buried or turned loose through metaphor? The poet might also be the sower, perhaps one of the two muted figures in Anton Mauve’s Farmer Behind the Plough. Or some other figure, hidden and farther afield, outside this painting.

What manner of tiller or picker—what gatherer, what gardener? Who among them will trek the narrow path towards abbey and steeple, and gladly find sanctuary within?

  

Paul Mariani yields several finely turned-out poems, ekphrastic pieces inspired by artists the likes of Caravaggio and Georges de la Tour. His same-titled poem on Van Gogh’s Wheat Field with Cypresses crisply relates the Parable of the Sower...

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Chapter 4: Striving

There is a chill in the morning air. All we get of a backdrop is the expanse of the Judaean wilderness. Ivan Kramskoi’s 1872 painting... 

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Chapter 5: Contemplation

How often we find within scripture everything we were looking for all along. Just opening up the Holy Bible may reveal a choice verse, completely unasked for and unanticipated, yet perfect and timely...

Chapter 6: Expectation

What might St. Peter and St. John have been thinking in this moment? What were they anticipating? Was there any doubt or skepticism? Was it relief and hopefulness, even elation?   
In Eugène Burnand’s most beloved 1898 oil on canvas, The Disciples Peter and John Running to the Sepulchre on the...​

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Chapter 7: Blessedness

Look at Mother Mary, front and centre, holding the stage. Her demeanour is calm and confident, her presence sublime. This is Pentecost, the 1732 painting by Jean Restout II. A significant feast day within the liturgical year, Pentecost marks the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Mother Mary and the twelve apostles...

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Chapter 8: Charity

How much do we give of ourselves to others, to the larger world that surrounds us? Is there a genuine love for the other... 

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“Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God,
serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.”

1 Peter 4:10

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Squircle Line Press

A boutique literary press that likes to bask in the chill zone, surfacing works of art on a whim, random sails into the wild blue yonder.

Email: squircleline@gmail.com

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