Mystery Madonna

Lory Widmer Hess — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 15:40:41 -0500

In Braided Way magazine, a chance sighting during a trip to the Italian part of Switzerland was cause for reflection and epiphany.

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Leaving the Labyrinth

Lory Widmer Hess — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 15:36:46 -0500

An essay in Vita Poetica magazine, exploring how a trip to Chartres cathedral brought me greater peace in my relationships with myself and my family.

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Three Lessons from My First Podcast Tour

Lory Widmer Hess — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 15:34:15 -0500

In this essay for Authors Publish magazine, I describe the unexpected, sometimes uncomfortable, and ultimately tremendously useful lessons I gleaned from my first podcast tour as an author.

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Lory Widmer Hess — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 15:41:35 -0500

Essays

"How beautiful are the feet" - essay in Story Sanctum
"Seven Healing Questions" - essay in Presence journal of Spiritual Directors International
"In God's Hands" - essay in the Upper Room Daily Devotional
“Leaving the Labyrinth” – essay in Vita Poetica – plus audio recording
“Three lessons from my first podcast tour” – essay in Authors Publish
“Mystery Madonna” – essay in Braided Way
“An Unexpected Journey” – essay in Authors Publish Magazine
“Losing My Language, Finding My Voice” – essay in Author Magazine
“Peace in Stillness” – essay in the Upper Room Daily Devotional
"To the Mountains” – essay in Pensive
“Weaving Lessons” – essay in BioStories
“Is an Un-publishable Book Worth Writing?” – essay in Authors Publish Magazine
“Relearning the Alphabet” – reprint of “Embodied in Air,” in Braided Way
“A Title Is Born” – essay in Authors Publish Magazine
“Why it’s important to read to our teenagers aloud” – essay in Motherwell Magazine
“A Cosmic Twist” – essay in Kosmos Journal
“7 Ways Blogging Helped My Writing” – essay in Authors Publish Magazine
“Name Calling” – essay in Braided Way Magazine
“Seeking the Honey of Life,” essay in Kosmos Journal
“World Beyond Words,” essay in Red Letter Christians
“Spinning a Tale,” essay in Cabinet des Fees
“Beyond the Happy Ending,” essay in Enchanted Conversation

Book Reviews

Review of The Virtue of Dialogue at Reformed Journal
Review of A Map to Mercy at Amethyst Review
Review of Letters from an Imaginary Country at Shiny New Books
More book reviews for Shiny New Books
Review of Nervous in Vita Poetica – plus podcast recording
Review of Life After Doom in Vita Poetica – plus podcast recording
Review of The Release in Vita Poetica – plus podcast recording
Review of The Sixth Extinction in Ruminate: The Waking

Poems

Five poems in Agape Review
“Opening a Pomegranate” – poem in Untold Volumes
Three poems in Soul Forte
“What the Rich Young Man Said” and “Advent/Lent” – Two poems in Kosmeo Magazine
“Geode” – poem in Ekstasis
“To Speak” and “Time Change” – poems in Amethyst Review
“Mother” – a poem in The Way Back To Ourselves, reprinted in Verse-Virtual
“Reunion” – prose poem in Verse-Virtual
“Annunciation” – poem in Solum Journal
“Caught” – poem in Heart of Flesh Literary Journal, reprinted in Radix Magazine
“Witness” – poem in Verse-Virtual
“Announcement” – poem in Reformed Journal. Also read on the Reformed Journal Podcast.
“Advent” and “Labyrinth” – poems in Amethyst Review
“we cover up the roots” – poem in Poetry Breakfast
“Sacra Conversazione” – poem in Amethyst Review
Three poems in Soul Forte

Print-only Publications

“Embodied in Air,” essay in Parabola
“Knitting a Life Together,” essay in Interweave Knits
“Sacred Movement,” “Baking Day,” “Spinning Straw into Gold,” essays in LILIPOH
“Magic of Our Hands,” article in The Wheel
“The Fire of Love” – essay in Christian Community Perspectives
“Weaving a Fabric of Connection” – essay in Handwoven
“I Am the Stone: The Life and Poetry of Conrad Ferdinand Meyer” – essay in New View
“Holy Listening: The Peaceful Promise of Spiritual Direction” – essay in Perspectives, UK Journal of The Christian Community
“Talitha, Koum,” poem in Perspectives
“A Poem’s Not a Thing” and “A Story,” – two poems in Time of Singing
“St. John’s Fire” – poem in Anglican Theological Review
Untitled poem (“It’s like”) – poem in The Windhover
“In a Garden” – poem in Thin Places and Sacred Spaces anthology
“Just Listen” – article in LILIPOH
“Looking Toward Liberation with the Prophet Isaiah” – essay in Perspectives
“The Unraveling” – essay in Awakenings Review, Fall 2025
“It Didn’t Start With Us” – essay in Perspectives

Prizes and Nominations

Honorable mention, Helen Schaible International Sonnet Contest for “St. John’s Fire”
Pushcart Prize nomination for “Relearning the Alphabet”
Finalist, Women on Writing Creative Nonfiction contest Q2 2024

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Lory Widmer Hess | Updates

Mystery Madonna

Leaving the Labyrinth

Three Lessons from My First Podcast Tour

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