Author Archives: Micha Boyett Hohorst

About Micha Boyett Hohorst

Who is Mama Monk? I am Texan is sweetness (born and raised), Northeastern in skepticism (my twenties), and San Franciscan in location (four months). I am Southern Baptist nurtured, Anglican by choice, Presbyterian by current church, and in love with Roman Catholic monastic and contemplative practice. I am a wife and a stay at home mom who left full time youth ministry, moved thousands of miles away, and began my thirties in sudden succession. And since that rapid life shift, I’ve been in a constant longing to find God in the simplicity and ordinariness of my life with a toddler. Perhaps surprisingly, I’m finding more in common with the ancient Benedictine monks I’m reading than with the moms I meet at the park. I believe in feminism. I believe in a woman’s right to work and pursue her own gifts. I believe in husbands who come home from work and roast a chicken with lemons and salt and pepper, just as God intended chicken to be roasted. I believe a woman can stay home with her children without feeling like a failure of the women’s movement. I believe in prayer, compassion, relationships and evangelism—in that order. And, honestly, I believe St. Benedict and his Rule are teaching me how to live my motherhood and wifery and contemplative life in joy. Welcome to my brain.

Permanently Patheos!

Hopefully soon this site will be permanently redirected to the new and improved Mama: Monk at Patheos. Until then, I hope you’ll make your way there. Bookmark it and/or subscribe to the new site! From this point on, I’ll only … Continue reading

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{Practicing Benedict} The Finale: A Beginning

The purpose for which we have written this rule is to make it clear that by observing it in our monasteries we can at least achieve the first steps in virtue and good monastic practice. Anyone, however, who wished to … Continue reading

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Thankful Tuesday: A History. And the First Ever Thankful Tuesday Link-Up Partaaaaay!!!

You might be shocked to hear that Thankful Tuesday did not begin as a somewhat piously disguised platform through which to list my kids’ accomplishments. (“Brooksie loves to sign ‘Thank you!’ August understands the theory of gravity!” *Insert eye-roll here.* … Continue reading

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On Sweetness and Mother’s Day

It’s Mother’s Day morning and last night was one of those up and down kinds of sleeps. Chris and I are at the stage where we go to bed in the unknowing: will the boys sleep all night? Will they … Continue reading

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Poem-a-Day Friday: W.S. Merwin

This week I started Lauren F. Winner’s Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis. I love Lauren Winner. Girl Meets God was one of the first books that gave me hope that I could write about Jesus and actually be a … Continue reading

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Fresh flowers with dew: A Mother’s Day reflection

Today, because I spent last night exhausted and grumpy-it was one of those loooong days of mothering-I’m reposting what I wrote for Mother’s Day last year. As I reread this post, I was surprised that I had been thinking about … Continue reading

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{Practicing Benedict} The Good Spirit

“It is easy to recognize the bitter spirit of wickedness which creates a barrier to God’s grace and opens the way to the evil of hell. But equally there is a good spirit which frees us from evil ways and … Continue reading

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Thankful: thunderstorms, parties, and the (lack of) electricity

Oh, I’ve missed big spring thunderstorms in Texas, how they hit at 7:30 at night, the perfect time for mysteriousness when you’re a kid: Right after bathtime, right as you’ve stepped into pajamas. How, when the power goes out, nothing … Continue reading

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Melancholia: Why I wish I hadn’t seen it and why I’m sort of glad I did.

Three weeks ago my husband and I watched the movie Melancholia. If you haven’t heard of the film, I’ll say this: That was probably not a good idea. (At least for me.) It’s not a spoiler to explain that the … Continue reading

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For those of us who need Good News…

On Fridays I usually post a poem that I’ve read that week or that has moved me in same way. (It’s my effort to force you all to read poetry and like it! You’re allowed to roll your eyes now.) … Continue reading

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