Dear friend,
Welcome back.
Four stories to cover this month: The Chapel on the Caelian Hill, The Cell at Cartagena, The Study at the Roman College, and The Confessional at San Giovanni Rotondo. Rome in 596. Cartagena in 1625. Rome again in 1585. San Giovanni Rotondo in 1936. This was the month I had promised, at the end of August, would be different - the first month of Two Lamps deliberately without deathbeds. I want to say at the start that I’m relieved I was able to keep the promise. Twelve of the first seventeen issues had drifted into the same shape, and I was concerned that when it came to actually writing four consecutive stories in the other modes, the writing would not come easily. September proved to me that the project can do more than one thing. That’s worth something.
What follows is the back-room work: notes on what I cut or considered including in each of September’s stories, what surprised me while writing them, the historical sources behind each, and the theological argument that quietly emerged across all four. It runs about 3,100 words. Paid subscribers can read on. The Friday stories will always be free - this is the conversation around them, for those who want to sit in the back room. If you’d like to join us, you can upgrade below.