Martha Reeves (born 1941) is a vowed

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

solitary (or

anchorite In Christianity, an anchorite or anchoret (female: anchoress); () is someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, Asceticism , ascetic, or Eucharist-focused life. Anchorit ...

), author, and former professor of

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

. She has

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet, who served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012. Previously the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of W ...

, the former

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

, as bishop-protector.

Biography

She was educated at

Madeira School The Madeira School (simply referred to as Madeira School or Madeira) is an elite, Private school, private, Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding college-preparatory school for Single-sex education, girls in McLean, Virginia, United States ...

(Class of 1959), and then studied at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. She became professor of

who has written numerous articles and books under the name "Maggie Ross" as well as translated a number of Carthusian Novice Conferences. Reeves, at one time

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...

spiritual director Spiritual direction is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the divinity, divine, or to learn and grow in their personal spirituality. The person seeking direction shares stories of their encounters ...

, was Bell Distinguished Professor in Anglican and Ecumenical Studies appointed to the Department of Philosophy and Religion, Kendall College of Arts and Sciences,

The University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Go ...

. In 1995,
"A Rite for Contemplative Eucharist"
' emerged while being a theologian-in-residence in an Episcopal church in the Diocese of Southern Ohio. In March 2008, she donated '

silence Silence is the absence of ambient hearing, audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low sound intensity, intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be exten ...

' to the

Museum of Curiosity ''The Museum of Curiosity'' is a comedy talk show on BBC Radio 4 that was first broadcast on 20 February 2008. It is hosted by John Lloyd (Professor of Ignorance at the University of Buckingham, and later at Solent University). He acts as the ...

. The Museum of Curiosity#Series 1. Ross as an interviewee also shared about silence in the 2015 documentar
In Pursuit of Silence
directed by

Patrick Shen Patrick Shen (born 1975) is a Chinese writer, director, and producer. Shen is the founder of Transcendental Media. Documentaries Shen directed the Emmy-nominated documentary ''We Served With Pride: The Chinese American Experience in WWII''. This ...

. In October 2016, she gave the lectur
"Healing Silence
at Durham University for it
"Spirituality, Theology, and Health Seminar Series"
The

Hay Festival The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, better known as the Hay Festival (), is an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, for 10 days from May to June. Devised by Norman, Rhoda and Peter Florence in 1988, the festival was d ...

has been an event for presenting about th
'work of silence'
under the topic titl
"Maggie Ross Talks to Rachael Kerr"
She was an attendee of the 2018 Epiphany Conference on science and religion, a collaborative initiative between the Cambridge Epiphany Philosophers and the Oxford Monastic Institute. Th
'work of silence'
has touched grounds for many years now through the r''avenwilderness blogspot,'' and an index of posts from 2006 to 2013 can be viewed fro
here
and the entries from 2013 to 202
here.
The British & Irish Association for Practical Theology (BIAPT) had a planned inaugural event for its Spirituality Interest Special Group in 2020, with Ross as keynote speaker but was postponed. The keynote address "''Silent Ways of Knowing''" had been shared in four parts in Ross's blog. Reeves lives in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, where a number of sermons and talks had been shared through the years in churches and academia around the area.

Selected works

Books

*''The Fountain & the Furnace: The Way of Tears and Fire,'' Paulist Press (1987) *''Seasons of Death and Life: A Wilderness Memoir,'' HarperCollins (1990) *''Pillars of Flame: Power, Priesthood, and Spiritual Maturity,'' Seabury Books (1992, & 2007) *(translator from French) 'The Way of Silent Love: Carthusian Novice Conferences', A Carthusian, Cistercian Publications / Darton, Longman, & Todd (1993), *'(translator) 'The Wound of Love: A Carthusian Miscellany', A Carthusian, Cistercian Publications / Darton, Longman, & Todd (1994), *'(translator) 'The Call of Silent Love: Carthusian Novice Conferences', A Carthusian, Cistercian Publications / Darton, Longman, & Todd (1995), *''The Fire of Your Life,'' Seabury Books (2007) *''Writing the Icon of the Heart: In Silence Beholding,'' The Bible Reading Fellowship (BRF, 2011), *''The Fountain & the Furnace: The Way of Tears and Fire,'' Wipf & Stock (2014 Reprint Edition) *''Silence: A User's Guide: Volume 1: Process,'' Wipf & Stock/Darton, Longman, & Todd (2014), *''Seasons of Death and Life: A Wilderness Memoir'', Wipf & Stock (2016 Reprint Edition) *''Silence: A User's Guide: Volume 2: Application,'' Wipf & Stock/Darton, Longman, & Todd (2018),

Journal Articles/Reviews

* Ross, Maggie. "Tears and Fire: Recovering a Neglected Tradition," ''Sobornost'', 1987, Vol 9, Num 1, pp 14-23. * _____. Review of ''The Syriac Fathers on Prayer and the Spiritual Life by S. Brock; Harlots of the Desert: A Study of Repentance in Early Monastic Sources'' by B. Ward''. The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 80 (1990), p. 259.'' *_____"The Human Experience of God at Turning Points: A Theological Exposé of Spiritual Counterfeits," ''Vox Benedictina'' Vol. 7, Iss. 4, (Oct 1990): 393. * _____"The Apophatic Ordinary," ''Anglican Theological Review'', Volume: 74, Issue: 4, 1992) Pages: 456-464. * _____and Gillespie, Vincent, "The Apophatic Image: The Poetics of Effacement in Julian of Norwich," ''Medieval Mystical Tradition in England'': Exeter Symposium 5, ( 1992): Pages 53 – 77. * ____"Apophatic Prayer as a Theological Model: Seeking Coordinates in the Ineffable, Notes for a Quantum Theology," ''Literature and Theology'', Vol 7 Issue 4, December 1993. *____"Sexuality, Otherness and the Truth of the Self," ''Vox Benedictina,'' Vol. 10, Iss. 2, (Winter 1993): 334. *''____"''The Seven Devils of Women's Ordination''."'' ''Crossing the Boundary: What Will Women Priests Mean?'' Sue Walrond Skinner, ed. London: Mowbray, 1994, pp. 93-131. *____"Socrates and the Cheshire Cat, or, Abhorring ''Horror Vacui''," ''The Bell Lecture'', University of Tulsa, 2000. * ____& Gillespie, Vincent, ""With Mekeness Aske Perseverantly": On Reading Julian of Norwich," ''Mystics Quarterly'', Vol. 30, No. 3/4 (September/December 2004), pp. 126-141. *____"Simone Weil: Force, Fragility and the Art of Kenosis,” ''Colloquy XXIV'', American Weil Society, The Center for Theological Inquiry, Princeton, NJ, April 2004. * ____"Jesus in the Balance: Interpretation in the Twenty-First Century," ''Word & World'', Vol. 29 No. 2 Spring 2009. * ____"Behold Not the Cloud of Experience," in E.A. Jones, ed., ''The Medieval Mystical Tradition in England: Exeter Symposium''. D.S. Brewer, Cambridge, 2013. *____Review of the ''Soul recreation. The contemplative-mystical piety of Puritanism'' by Tom Schwanda. ''The Journal of Ecclesiastical History''; Cambridge Vol. 64, Iss. 2, (Apr 2013): 423-424. * ____"Silent witness," (Reform Interview) ''Reform Magazine'', June 2015. * ___
"Maggie Ross, solitary and theologian."
Interview by Terence Handley MacMath. ''Church Times'', January 16, 2015. *____"The Costliness of Commemoration," in ''On Commemoration: Global Reflections upon Remembering War'', Catherine Gilbert, Kate McLoughlin & Niall Munro, eds. Peter Lang Ltd, International Academic Publishers; 1st edition (August 11, 2020). *____Review, ''A History of Silence: From the Renaissance to the Present Day'' by Alain Corbin. ''Common Knowledge'', Duke University Press, Volume 27 Issue 1, January 2021. p.126.

References

External links

Voice in the Wilderness
a

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

by Reeves as Maggie Ross. {{DEFAULTSORT:Reeves, Martha 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American spiritual writers Christian ascetics 1941 births Living people Madeira School alumni Pseudonymous women writers American women non-fiction writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century American women