Series invites Catholics and fellow travelers to see the world, and faith, anew through the poetic imagination

Just as towering cathedrals and vivid paintings reveal the beauty of God, so does the written word.

In the fall of 2023, St. Gregory’s Hall began a Poetry & Faith reading series to explore the mystery and beauty of faith in contemporary poetry. Poets from across the country have been invited to read their work and explore how poetry both forms our faith and forms us in that faith.

David Mutschlecner reading his poetry.

From the psalms to the work of St. John of the Cross, poetry has always played a central role in the Catholic imagination. It expresses fundamental truths about who God is, who we are in relation to him, and what it is like to live the world as His creatures.

​“Catholics are deeply attuned to poetry,” said Michael O’Leary, a parishioner of Mary, Mother of God Parish and part of the team that created the series. “The language of the entirety of scripture is deeply poetic. Psalms are the heart of the liturgy, and they are poetry. Parables too.”
 
Visiting poets are asked to address the relationship between faith and their poetry and to read some of their work. The diverse array of readers has included Peter O’Leary, David Mutschlecner, Toby Martinez de las Rivas, and James Matthew Wilson.

Saint Thomas and teh Forbidden Birds (Word on Fire Press, 2024)

In May, Wilson, who is the Cullen Foundation Chair in English Literature and the founding director of the MFA program in Creative Writing at the University of Saint Thomas in Houston, read from his recent work Saint Thomas and the Hidden Birds. His reading including a poem inspired by Jacob of Serugh, the 5th century theologian who wrote entirely in poetic verse.
 
Through contemporary poetry, St. Gregory’s Hall hopes to encourage Catholics and fellow travelers to open themselves up to the possibility of faith encountered in the reading of poetry. The founders of the series wanted to offer a unique opportunity for audiences what was different from the traditional coffee shop or university readings.
 
“Obviously there are a lot of deeply spiritual questions in contemporary poetry,” O’Leary said. “And this is a place to share that. I hope this helps open people, especially the non-religious, up to this kind of conversation.”
 
The series has attracted parishioners and non-parishioners alike and fostered a convivial environment for anyone to come into. The size of the audiences has been far beyond expectations with close to 35 people attending one of the most recent readings. Patricia Peterson, a supporter of St. Gregory’s Hall, said she is excited by the response.
 
“St. Gregory’s Hall has embarked on a remarkable effort to engage parishioners and friends in art – cultural expression that offer connection to the spirit and the spiritual,” Peterson said.
 
Amy Alznauer, another member of the organizing team, experienced first-hand how poetry can awaken the senses to the beauty and mystery of faith in way that ideas cannot. The first time she set foot in St. Gregory the Great church was for the poetry and jazz series. She was not even Catholic at the time but was “blown away” by the beauty of the church which seemed to “infuse the poetry with a mean that went beyond itself.” Now, twenty years later, as a Catholic and long-time parishioner, she is thrilled that St. Gregory Hall has again initiated a poetry series.
 
An accomplished author in her own right, Alznauer has co-authored an award-winning memoir, written several children’s books, and has written extensively on Flannery O’Connor.
 
“Hearing poetry aloud, hearing how the author breaks the lines and emphasizes words and slows or speeds the cadence changes how we experience and understand it,” Alznauer said. “It’s something like the difference between being part of Mass and merely reading the Mass in a missalette.”
 
The organizers have approached the series with an open mind and said the process has been unexpectedly interesting and fun. Going into the new year, they plan to reach out to new poets to do readings and expand it to include novelists and contemporary poets reading and reflecting on great works from different historical periods. However, the aim of the series remains the interplay between artistic expression and the divine.
 
“In art, music, poetry, and literature we encounter a form of prayer – whether it be a prayer of longing and darkness or hope and celebration,” Alznauer said. “It can enlarge our perspective and return us to Mass, or to the Soup Kitchen, with a greater belief that far from walling us off from the world, our churches reveal the God who infuses all of our enterprises with beauty and love.”

Stay tuned for announcements as we reboot this series in 2025!

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