Learning by Heart

Read Kate’s latest for The Tablet – Learning by Heart

When was the last time you learned something off by heart?

It’s something we have to do as children in school, with vocabulary lists, spelling and times tables, but we also absorb rhymes, poems and song lyrics without even working at it, just by familiarity and repetition. No one sits down to memorise nursery rhymes, but they take up residence in our heads; with early prayers, you learn them even before you can read, so it’s all about repetition and rhythm. With small children, you can use body language to help, and this is how you learn Heads, shoulders, knees and toes; and we learn the Sign of the Cross in exactly the same way.

Read the full article

Odours of Sanctity

Read Kate’s latest for The Tablet – Odours of Sanctity

I don’t remember when I first came across the expression “the odour of sanctity”, but I do remember being baffled by it.

I didn’t even know whether it was meant to be a good or a bad smell, because such holy people as John the Baptist away in the wilderness can’t have had the chance to wash very often, and I remember reading about medieval saints who deliberately didn’t, because it implied the pampering of the body. Later I discovered that it often refers to a pious mediaeval superstition that the deaths of saints can be attended by wafts of heavenly perfume, and I think that might be related to the notion of (some) saints having incorruptible bodies. So it’s meant positively, but it’s complicated. And it’s not just medieval; look at all the stories about St Therese of Lisieux and the roses.

Read the full article