The Reed of God: A New Edition of a Spiritual Classic

The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander, British Catholic writer and artist, has been cherished by Catholics worldwide since its first publication in 1944. This spiritual classic invites readers to encounter Mary, the Mother of God, not as a distant, untouchable figure but as deeply human―one whose openness to God made divine love visible in the world.

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Caryll Houselander portrays Mary as a reed, hollow and open, through which God’s song could be played. With this powerful image, Houselander reveals how Mary gave her whole being to God’s plan and shows how we, too, can become instruments of divine love.

Years before the Second Vatican Council inspired renewed devotion to Mary, Houselander offered her own profound and approachable vision of the Mother of God―warm, intuitive, and accessible. She counters the stiff, idealized “Madonna of the Christmas card” with a portrait of Mary that is alive, intimate, and profoundly relevant for Christians seeking closeness with Christ. Drawing from centuries of theological tradition yet enriched by her keen understanding of the human condition and the modern hunger for meaning, Houselander gives flesh and spirit to the Church’s affirmations about Mary and presents her as a figure designed for contemplation and imitation.

Through essays and poems, divided into four parts, Houselander reflects on the mysteries of Mary’s life―her fiat, the finding of Jesus in the Temple, her assumption―and on themes of emptiness, fruitfulness, and the soul’s longing for union with God. In Mary’s humanity, Houselander finds the model for every believer: to carry Christ into the world.

As Houselander writes, “The one thing that she did and does is the one thing that we all have to do, namely, to bear Christ into the world. To this need, the imitation of Our Lady is the answer; in contemplating her we find intimacy with God, the law which is the lovely yoke of the one irresistible love.”

Mary was the reed through which Eternal Love was piped as a shepherd’s song. The question remains for us: Are we reed pipes? Is God waiting to live lyrically through us?

Caryll Houselander (1901–1954) was an English artist who became one of the most popular Catholic spiritual writers of modern times.

Although in poor health for most of her short life, her literary and artistic output was remarkable. Beginning in 1927 until her death in 1954, she wrote and published constantly. With the publication of This War Is the Passion in 1941, she became one of the most popular and highly respected religious writers of the period.

Marie Anne Mayeski is Professor Emeritus from the Department of Theology at Loyola Marymount University.