Overview
Professor of literature, scholar, teacher of poets and poetry, convert to the Eastern Orthodox Church, man of prayer, Donald Sheehan wrote these wide-ranging essays with a common commitment to understanding the ways in which the ruining oppositions of our experience can be held within the disciplines of lyric art--held until God Himself can be seen in the ruins . . . and overwhelmingly and gratefully loved. That is what Sheehan means by the grace of incorruption. Part One weaves together themes from Sheehan's life and pilgrimages; the spiritual art of Orthodox Saints Gregory of Nyssa, Isaac and Ephraim of Syria, Sergius of Radonezh, Herman of Alaska; the literary art of Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Frost, Salinger, and contemporary poets Jane Kenyon, Sydney Lea, and Nicholas Samaras; the philosophy of Rene Girard--examining the nature of penitence, prayer, personhood, freedom, depression, and the right relationship to the earth. Part Two delves into the poetics of Psalms, especially LXX 118: a poetics of resurrection, a poetics that came to govern the lifework of an extraordinary man, blessed with faith, learning, and humility.
Reviews
This remarkable new publication, put out five years after the author's death, came into this reviewer's hands during Orthodox Christian Holy Passover (Easter) season. Indeed the collection of essays gathered in it has a common underlying theme: the overcoming of death in laying down our lives for others as the means to incorruption and resurrection life. Nowhere else have I yet met, within Orthodox literature in North America, this wonderful kind of poetic prose and this mystical from the inside out way of moving seamlessly between what might be considered secular and what might be considered religious aspects of life. Within one essay this seamless thread may include a personal experience, an event, a passage of literature or poetry, and a plunge into the deep waters of ancient spiritual writers. Moreover these details may re-appear unexpectedly in other essays, in a fresh way, without the least ripple of disturbance, as if they were a necessary part of the flow of the whole collection, as well as of each essay. Since this book is written by an accomplished teacher of literature, almost as poetic prose (especially part one), it is most engaging and effortless to read. Yet it keeps calling this reviewer back to re-read with more attention and to discover more depth and richness on the theme of the essays. The author seems to me to have experienced the Orthodox faith as an illumination and connection with the whole of existence, from which any subject, experience, or challenge which we might encounter in our human journey in this world and beyond, presents us with a bottomless well of Beauty, Wisdom, Love and Redemption upholding all. I owe a debt to the author, who seems, despite his death in 2010, more present than departed this life, through his life story and these writings. Also I commend his devoted wife, Xenia and others who felt that the labour was worth it to share with others her husband's life and his writings, in this very unique format. Personally, this book came as an unexpected gift to me.---Fr. Anthony Estabrooks, The Canadian Journal of Orthodox Christianity, Volume X, Number 2, Summer 2015
From start to finish, this beautiful book is a spiritual powerhouse, a grace-filled stream, a gift of joy - from the tender, perceptive heart and mind of the author, the lay poet-theologian Donald Sheehan (1940 - 2010), into our own hearts and minds! And it's a double labor of love: first, Don's very careful crafting of the articles, writing as a true wordsmith; and second, the superb editing work done by his beloved wife, Xenia, after his repose in the LORD. I use their first names, because I knew Don personally (though not real well), and Xenia is now part of our community at St. Tikhon's. Throughout the book the author interweaves brief accounts of particularly moving personal spiritual experiences, such as when he visited St. Herman's Spruce Island, and when he venerated the incorrupt relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh at his Holy Trinity Monastery in Russia. Glimpses into Don's last years fighting the depression that came with suffering from Lyme Disease are poignantly revealed through entries from his diary, and his final days and funeral are vividly described by his young goddaughter's mother. Acute pain, acute joy, moments of darkness, and moments of radiant, triumphant light all suffuse this truly remarkable book by a truly remarkable man - mystic, poet, teacher, translator, sage, and ardent lover of Christ. He is one who has already deeply touched the lives of many through his own unforgettable life. Now he lives on in a very real way in this book - through which, I'm sure, he will touch the lives of many more, by the grace of our LORD Jesus Christ. --Dr. David Ford, Professor of Church History, St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary
It's always a delight to find quality modern Orthodox books popping up on publishers' lists and I jumped at the chance to request a review copy of this. I had read a few articles by and about Donald Sheehan which had piqued my interest and I knew this was a book I needed as well as wanted to read. This collection of essays covers his writings on how his Orthodox faith has permeated every aspect of his life, including his career as an educator, as a professor of literature and as a man who loved poetry, a career which is reflected in his often lyrical prose. He describes his early life, living in a family affected by the violence and alcohol-fuelled aggression of his father, and how it was only after his father's death and a visit to the grave accompanied by his own family, that he was able to fully make his peace with his father and receive the wholly unexpected gift of the constant Jesus prayer. The prayer, Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner, was his constant companion, leading him to a conversation with a Benedictine monk and thence to Orthodoxy. The rest of the book leaves the reader in absolutely no doubt that he found his heart's true home within that Orthodox faith. An enormous range of topics are covered in these essays: from the obvious aspects of Orthodoxy found in Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, St Isaac the Syrian's depiction of the Chalcedonian use of the term hypostasis, depression and asceticism to the elements of Orthodoxy found in Shakespeare, Salinger and modern poetry too. The relationship between Orthodox Christians and the natural world, the loving respect for animals which characterizes so many of the great Saints and the bodily incorruptibility of some reposed souls are mentioned, and the second half of the book discusses Psalmody, especially Psalm 118, in great and enlightening depth. I would not describe the book an easy read; it requires the reader to concentrate hard, to think, to ponder deeply and above all to pray. For the reader keen to delve deep into the riches of the Orthodox tradition in the multi-faceted aspects of its glory, this will be a treasure, a source of joy, and a blessing to read. Elizabeth, The Garden Window
From start to finish, this beautiful book is a spiritual 'powerhouse, ' a grace-filled stream, a gift of joy - from the tender, perceptive heart and mind of the author, the lay poet-theologian Donald Sheehan (1940 - 2010), into our own hearts and minds! And it's a double labor of love: first, Don's very careful crafting of the articles, writing as a true wordsmith; and second, the superb editing work done by his beloved wife, Xenia, after his repose in the LORD...Acute pain, acute joy, moments of darkness, and moments of radiant, triumphant light all suffuse this truly remarkable book by a truly remarkable man - mystic, poet, teacher, translator, sage, and ardent lover of Christ. He is one who has already deeply touched the lives of many through his own unforgettable life. Now he lives on in a very real way in this book - through which, I'm sure, he will touch the lives of many more, by the grace of our LORD Jesus Christ. --Dr. David Ford, Professor of Church History, St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary Forgive the personalism of this comment, but I am dead certain that my response to this volume will chime with those of others whose work is held up to the light in The Grace of Incorruption. On beholding Donald Sheehan's elucidation of our efforts, in one beautiful sentence after another, we must share the uncanny sense of never having understood our own hearts -- not until we saw them reflected in the great heart (and mind) of this nonpareil commentator. Don Sheehan did not merely understand poetry; it was part and parcel of his own great soul. --Sydney Lea, Vermont Poet Laureate This was a very difficult book for me to read, as--now and again--my own tears blinded me to the page, and my own sobbing shook the papers in my hands. That is to say that Donald Sheehan's journey--through both brokenness and beauty--to a deep and healing calm is at once personal and universal. With a poet's visionary prose, a scholar's acuity, and a pilgrim's devotion, Donald Sheehan offers his reader access to the profound, compelling stillness at the heart of all things. He proves an exceedingly good guide along the way. --Scott Cairns, author of Slow Pilgrim: Collected Poems The overabundant sparseness of Don Sheehan's life grabbed my heart. From St. Ephraim and Shakespeare to Frost and Holy Scripture, this book illumines his truly ascetic struggle. Like the word of God, it is 'sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart' (Heb. 4.12). If you are willing to take the time, he will strip back every distraction to reveal the 'drama of intimacy' we sadly so often distractedly miss. --Archpriest Thomas Moore
This remarkable new publication, put out five years after the author's death, came into this reviewer's hands during Orthodox Christian Holy Passover (Easter) season. Indeed the collection of essays gathered in it has a common underlying theme: the overcoming of death in laying down our lives for others as the means to incorruption and resurrection life. Nowhere else have I yet met, within Orthodox literature in North America, this wonderful kind of poetic prose and this mystical from the inside out way of moving seamlessly between what might be considered secular and what might be considered religious aspects of life. Within one essay this seamless thread may include a personal experience, an event, a passage of literature or poetry, and a plunge into the deep waters of ancient spiritual writers. Moreover these details may re-appear unexpectedly in other essays, in a fresh way, without the least ripple of disturbance, as if they were a necessary part of the flow of the whole collection, as well as of each essay. Since this book is written by an accomplished teacher of literature, almost as poetic prose (especially part one), it is most engaging and effortless to read. Yet it keeps calling this reviewer back to re-read with more attention and to discover more depth and richness on the theme of the essays. The author seems to me to have experienced the Orthodox faith as an illumination and connection with the whole of existence, from which any subject, experience, or challenge which we might encounter in our human journey in this world and beyond, presents us with a bottomless well of Beauty, Wisdom, Love and Redemption upholding all. I owe a debt to the author, who seems, despite his death in 2010, more present than departed this life, through his life story and these writings. Also I commend his devoted wife, Xenia and others who felt that the labour was worth it to share with others her husband's life and his writings, in this very unique format. Personally, this book came as an unexpected gift to me.---Fr. Anthony Estabrooks, The Canadian Journal of Orthodox Christianity, Volume X, Number 2, Summer 2015 I highly recommend this book for those who regularly pray the psalter or who wish to enter into praying the psalter; for the casual reader, it may prove slow slogging. This is not negative criticism, but a truthful encouragement: pray the Psalms! Yet, had I not previously done so regularly prayed the Psalms I would not have appreciated this work in the same depth or light. It s deep. Which brings me round to the title of this reflection, particularly alchemical oratory: In making our approach to the subject of psalmic poetics, three points are important at the outset. First, psalmic poetics are aural and oral in the ear and mouth sung (chanted), not silently read. Second, psalmic poetics are communal, holding meaning for the entire Israelite community. Third, psalmic poetics are actions of blessedness, actions that secure whole communities from demonic human violence (p.120). That is to say, if I may, that the daily recitation of the Psalms, like the Jesus Prayer, is a way to stillness as in, Be still and know that I am God (Ps.45). Fr. Joseph Huneycutt, Patheos Read More Donald Sheehan, whom I knew in the last years of his life, truly lived and breathed liturgical poetry. He awoke long before dawn and prayed the psalter for hours each day, developing a rare an profound linguistic and spiritual understanding of it. Ultimately, he wrote his own translation, The Psalms of David, which was published in 2014. His last book, The Grace of Incorruption, has now also been published. We are pleased to post this review written by professor of English Gregg W. Heitschmidt: Donald Sheehan did not live to see his last work published. That publication we owe to his wife, who carefully edited both his collection of essays in Part I, and the in-process chapters in Part II, ably showing her husband s meticulous mind one carefully engaged in the process of living, both physically and spiritually. An obvious intellectual, scholar, and poet, these roles all inform his written work. What stands out in his writing is his strict effort to maintain a solid narrative bride that allows readers to travel back and forth between the temporal and spiritual world. Initially grounding the reader in the spatial world, Sheehan recounts his trip to Tennessee, where at the gravesite, he reads a letter and asks for forgiveness from his abusive father. The following morning he is spiritually awakened to the mysterious beginning, and mental repetition of, the Jesus Prayer, a powerful entreaty through which, by investigating its origins, he eventually discovers his new and true home in the Orthodox Church In the second half of the book, Sheehan s expertise as a scholar-poet, but mostly as a philologist, is most evident. Methodically, and with a hermeneutic exactitude, he traces the evolution of the 118th Psalm s uniqueness is its ability to absorb the nuances of every language, retaining its poetics of resurrection no matter the tongue. Sheehan s claims are powerful and thoughtfully felt and articulated. Unlike the chapters in Part I, these require assiduous attention. Whereas his in the first half of his work especially poignant are his chapters about the power of repentance and despair, empathy and hope his Orthodox poetics is philosophically challenging, quite often requiring the reader to wrestle with abstruse concepts and resolve difficult paradoxes that he long ago mastered. May the memory of Donald, Donatos as I briefly knew him, be eternal, and may the beauty he so earnestly sought be magnified in his soul. Glory to God for all things. Gregg W. Heitschmidt, Orthodox Arts Journal This was a very difficult book for me to read, as--now and again--my own tears blinded me to the page, and my own sobbing shook the papers in my hands. That is to say that Donald Sheehan's journey--through both brokenness and beauty--to a deep and healing calm is at once personal and universal. With a poet's visionary prose, a scholar's acuity, and a pilgrim's devotion, Donald Sheehan offers his reader access to the profound, compelling stillness at the heart of all things. He proves an exceedingly good guide along the way. Scott Cairns, author of Slow Pilgrim: Collected Poems Recently, Xenia Sheehan very kindly had Paraclete Press send me a review copy of The Grace of Incorruption: The Selected Essays of Donald Sheehan on Orthodox Faith & Poetics. What I wanted to focus on here, however, is a very specific aspect of Sheehan s perceptive mediation of a dialogue between Winter s Tale and J.D. Salinger s Franny & Zooey. He describes the plot of WT in some detail, focusing intently on Paulina s revelation of the living Hermione to her husband, Leontes, who has believed her dead for 16 years. Sheehan notes that this revelation is a response to, but also, by cultivating a spirit of stillness through beauty, further productive of Leontes s repentance for his destructive jealousy. He then suggests that the image of the Fat Lady that their older brother Seymour has inculcated in Franny and Zooey has taught Franny a similar wisdom born of beauty and stillness: This wisdom is above all iconic, for it reveals to the beholder--both to Franny and to Leontes--the way of beauty and stillness. In both Salinger and Shakespeare, this way opens through death: the [feigned] death of Hermione and the [actual] death of Seymour. For in both, death becomes the way in which both Hermione and Seymour can become iconic, and in so doing, they can become for Leontes and Franny the transforming experience of the boundary, that place between the worlds that simultaneously separates and reconciles. As Father Vasileios puts it: To die, to be buried, to depart so as to give another the ability to love life (Beauty, 9). Here is the light of beauty and stillness that shines in late Shakespeare and Salinger. [2] Aaron Taylor, Logismoi The overabundant sparseness of Don Sheehan's life grabbed my heart. From St. Ephraim and Shakespeare to Frost and Holy Scripture, this book illumines his truly ascetic struggle. Like the word of God, it is sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Heb. 4.12). If you are willing to take the time, he will strip back every distraction to reveal the drama of intimacy we sadly so often distractedly miss. Archpriest Thomas Moore It's always a delight to find quality modern Orthodox books popping up on publishers' lists and I jumped at the chance to request a review copy of this. I had read a few articles by and about Donald Sheehan which had piqued my interest and I knew this was a book I needed as well as wanted to read. This collection of essays covers his writings on how his Orthodox faith has permeated every aspect of his life, including his career as an educator, as a professor of literature and as a man who loved poetry, a career which is reflected in his often lyrical prose. He describes his early life, living in a family affected by the violence and alcohol-fuelled aggression of his father, and how it was only after his father's death and a visit to the grave accompanied by his own family, that he was able to fully make his peace with his father and receive the wholly unexpected gift of the constant Jesus prayer. The prayer, Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner, was his constant companion, leading him to a conversation with a Benedictine monk and thence to Orthodoxy. The rest of the book leaves the reader in absolutely no doubt that he found his heart's true home within that Orthodox faith. An enormous range of topics are covered in these essays: from the obvious aspects of Orthodoxy found in Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, St Isaac the Syrian's depiction of the Chalcedonian use of the term hypostasis, depression and asceticism to the elements of Orthodoxy found in Shakespeare, Salinger and modern poetry too. The relationship between Orthodox Christians and the natural world, the loving respect for animals which characterizes so many of the great Saints and the bodily incorruptibility of some reposed souls are mentioned, and the second half of the book discusses Psalmody, especially Psalm 118, in great and enlightening depth. I would not describe the book an easy read; it requires the reader to concentrate hard, to think, to ponder deeply and above all to pray. For the reader keen to delve deep into the riches of the Orthodox tradition in the multi-faceted aspects of its glory, this will be a treasure, a source of joy, and a blessing to read. Elizabeth, The Garden Window In this beautiful book, Dostoyevsky, Orthodox liturgy, and Holy Fathers ancient and modern converse with Shakespeare, Frost, Salinger, Jane Kenyon and Rene Girard, with insight into memory, violence, depression, stillness, self-emptying love, personhood, and the anthropology of the Cross. Don Sheehan was not only a fine interpreter of poetry, but a poet himself, working in the medium of prose. His spirit of loving attentiveness -- never lacking in form -- characterized his approach to art, to other people, and to God. Fr. Matthew Baker (of Blessed Memory!) From start to finish, this beautiful book is a spiritual powerhouse, a grace-filled stream, a gift of joy from the tender, perceptive heart and mind of the author, the lay poet-theologian Donald Sheehan (1940 2010), into our own hearts and minds! And it's a double labor of love: first, Don's very careful crafting of the articles, writing as a true wordsmith; and second, the superb editing work done by his beloved wife, Xenia, after his repose in the LORD. I use their first names, because I knew Don personally (though not real well), and Xenia is now part of our community at St. Tikhon's. Throughout the book the author interweaves brief accounts of particularly moving personal spiritual experiences, such as when he visited St. Herman's Spruce Island, and when he venerated the incorrupt relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh at his Holy Trinity Monastery in Russia. Glimpses into Don's last years fighting the depression that came with suffering from Lyme Disease are poignantly revealed through entries from his diary, and his final days and funeral are vividly described by his young goddaughter's mother. Acute pain, acute joy, moments of darkness, and moments of radiant, triumphant light all suffuse this truly remarkable book by a truly remarkable man mystic, poet, teacher, translator, sage, and ardent lover of Christ. He is one who has already deeply touched the lives of many through his own unforgettable life. Now he lives on in a very real way in this book through which, I'm sure, he will touch the lives of many more, by the grace of our LORD Jesus Christ. Dr. David Ford, Professor of Church History, St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary Forgive the personalism of this comment, but I am dead certain that my response to this volume will chime with those of others whose work is held up to the light in The Grace of Incorruption. On beholding Donald Sheehan's elucidation of our efforts, in one beautiful sentence after another, we must share the uncanny sense of never having understood our own hearts -- not until we saw them reflected in the great heart (and mind) of this nonpareil commentator. Don Sheehan did not merely understand poetry; it was part and parcel of his own great soul. Sydney Lea, Vermont Poet Laureate
