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1 - The Call

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2022

Zena Hitz
Affiliation:
St John's College, Annapolis
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Summary

      And all this comes to an end.
      And is not again to be met with.
    Ezra Pound, “Exile’s Letter” (after Rihaku)
Mother Walatta Petros, an Ethiopian noblewoman of the seventeenth century, had four children in a row who died shortly after childbirth. After that, writes her hagiographer, she “bore in mind the transience of the world.”1 Her husband still loved her, but she no longer wanted to stay with him. She spent her days in prayer and fasting, and her nights in vigils. At holidays she threw banquets to which all were invited, the poor and the wretched along with the townspeople and the priests. When her husband left on a military campaign, she saw her chance. She gave away all her possessions, including all of her jewelry, “eighty ounces weight of gold,” and with two monks and three servants walked all through the night.2 They traveled several days to the monastic settlement at Zade, where Walatta Petros shaved her head, took a nun’s cap, and swore to remain all her days.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • The Call
  • Zena Hitz, St John's College, Annapolis
  • Book: A Philosopher Looks at the Religious Life
  • Online publication: 23 December 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108993159.002
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  • The Call
  • Zena Hitz, St John's College, Annapolis
  • Book: A Philosopher Looks at the Religious Life
  • Online publication: 23 December 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108993159.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Call
  • Zena Hitz, St John's College, Annapolis
  • Book: A Philosopher Looks at the Religious Life
  • Online publication: 23 December 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108993159.002
Available formats
×