Lighting a candle today for Flannery O’Connor, who died on Aug 3 1964 at age 39, whose letters “The Habit of Being” changed my life. Faith, she showed, is not so much a matter of believing certain things but seeing the world in a certain way, living in the light of that vision.

Thanks to @BarbaraMahany for a beautiful review. “In ‘A Living Gospel,’ Robert Ellsberg finds the thread connecting the saintly chicagotribune.com/entertain…

Editing an anthology of writings by American abolitionists--stunned by their prophetic insight and courage. They occupied an America saturated in evil--justified by law and the Constitution, largely sanctioned by churches, regarded with indifference by most fellow citizens.

St. Basil the Blessed (d. 1552), a Muscovite whose status as a "holy fool" earned him the privilege of speaking uncomfortable truths. He would wander naked through the streets of Moscow, praying and bearing witness.

He would throw stones at the houses of people who made a display of their piety ("Devils lay siege to those") while kissing the pavement before houses of ills repute ("Angels weep over these"). Even Tsar Ivan the Terrible feared the holy man.

On Aug 1 1996 Pierre Claverie OP, bishop of Oran, Algeria, along with his Muslim driver, were killed by a bomb. He had pursued a mission of dialogue and solidarity, striving to "establish, develop, and enrich a relationship, always, everywhere, and with everyone." Beatified 2018.