Buon giorno, amici.
I think it's time for a new sonnet. One of my favorites, actually. Number four of the "Seven Sonnets Through the Dark:"
Nox luna inlustris
(a moonlit night)
“…to you I stretch out my hands. Like a parched land my soul thirsts for you.” Psalm 143
Left alone to contemplate the absence of my love,
Lie apostles on Ascension Friday morn;
Confusion skulking vaguely in the blood,
A longlost fear and brackish grief reborn.
With eyes new-bright to the meaning of this cross,
I see the blood He gave first came from her;
Mother-love is balm for souls deep rent by loss –
Like the eleven I draw near for her myrrh.
She proves that to ascend, we must bow down,
The way to rush toward Him is to be still;
She tills spirit for the Spirit, suffusing sterile ground
With fountains from two hearts pierced on a hill.
Anointed by this gentle light I rise,
Lead by a mother who renews and fructifies.
posted by KathrynTherese at 9:05 AM
73 Comments:
Beatiful :-) It is possible one takes much away from her, whenever one fails to mention her. I trust, however, that as is so for many mothers, intercession does not depend upon my knowing her as mother. Before the Tabernacle, one senses her near, and I marvel that I didn't always. But overall, I pray the Rosary for the same reason that I go to Mass, receive Sacramental grace, and otherwise listen to the Church. My heart has heard she is mother, my soul tells me we were given into her care, "Behold thy mother," and thus, I trust her to be ever working for the good of all His church, which is more than me, but which is also me. I've said more Aves than any other prayer.. "pray for us now, and at the hour of our death." So many see someone marvelous when that hour comes, and reach out arms. I'm thinking it might well be Mother to whom we reach, having been carried all this time, as in a pregnancy. But I am truly fetal in thinking and knowing, and need time, as do many more than me. I just go on trusting in wonderful surprises. Meanwhile, I consecrate others into her care.
"having been carried all this time, as in a pregnancy"
That's exactly how I heard this life we are living now described once. We will be borne into our true life one day, and She will "give us to the Light" - "dare alla luce",as birth is sometimes called in Italan.
Fecund.. yes.. even Paul labored to give birth to children of God.
My pastor likens bodily death to being the Third Stage of Life. First is fetal, where we thought we had it all.. the Second stage is life outside the womb -- how it flowered and grew..no way would we return to the womb from this life. And then comes the door through which we pass to the Third and final stage. Again, as in the womb, we cannot for a second imagine what the next stage could be like, so it is scary to leave this one. But once There, free from the constaints of flesh and bone and natural forces and time, etc. not to even mention no longer veiled off from those we love, from Him Who loves, unless it is only Purgatorial, from where we can still see and can have every hope.. there is no way we'd come back to this life. Pardon me if that strays.. I embellished a bit.
You "interpreted", you did not embellish. Do you think your pastor knows mine? He says it in almost the same terms.
I've just been meditating for a while, on drawing near to Mary's myrrh. Myrrh - healing ointment, perfume, incense, embalming fluid. I've just been thinking about Mary, and myrrh.
Mary, and myrrh.
That is a good meditation.
And mothers are like that, aren't they? Motherhood is about soothing, healing, nurturing. And Mary is the best Mother.
She is a good teacher too. The first Follower of the Word. And always, she is working to advance the Kingdom of her Son, to help the Fire that He came to set burn brightly within souls. This, really, is the essence of her universal Motherhood - her desire to see the Mystical Body of her Son become whole and perfect by helping His Kingdom take deep root within each soul.
And here I am, always feeling so badly that St. Joseph gets such short shrift throughout the Faith. The darkness of the moment of finding that he would have to put Mary away quietly, couldn't be approached by us. He was a just and humble man, but not stupid. There was no way his Mary could've fallen, so something out of the ordinary had happened, yet he did not know what to do. He laid it all at the feet of God and did what he could. He did that, surely, all his life. Here he is, the very foster-father of Jesus the Saviour, and yet, how often does anyone think of him, except those who have a special devotion to him?
But Joseph only had to face the world, whereas Mary was confronted by hell itself. And so, Mary's "pondering" was done in the darkness of the Cross that loomed over her Son and Saviour every day of their lives, and there was no one to share that with, except Jesus. I have a feeling she did not burden Joseph with her heartache. From even before the moment of His first shedding of Blood, she lived with His upcoming total Sacrifice. There is no horror or heartache or suffering on this earth with which the Holy Family is unacquainted.
Honora, you are right. Joseph DOES get "short-shrifted," and yet he is the very one of the Holy Family with which we should be able to identify the most easily. He was not "immaculately conceived" or born without sin; he was very much like every one of us who are simply trying to do our best in difficult circumstances. Of course, he lived with perfect people, and we do not. But still.
St. Joseph is very dear to me. In fact, I took his name as a Carmelite, and he has always helped me through difficult issues, in his own characteristic way - quiet, subtle, but firm. And I pray to him every day. He is a good father.
:'-)
I suddenly feel less badly!
7rUa71 write more, thanks.
Please write anything else!
Good job!
Good job!
Hello all!
Magnific!
Magnific!
actually, that's brilliant. Thank you. I'm going to pass that on to a couple of people.
Magnific!
Please write anything else!
actually, that's brilliant. Thank you. I'm going to pass that on to a couple of people.
Thanks to author.
Calvin, we will not have an anatomically correct snowman!
Please write anything else!
C++ should have been called B
Beam me aboard, Scotty..... Sure. Will a 2x10 do?
Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
C++ should have been called B
Hello all!
Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
Thanks to author.
Calvin, we will not have an anatomically correct snowman!
Calvin, we will not have an anatomically correct snowman!
Nice Article.
A flashlight is a case for holding dead batteries.
Save the whales, collect the whole set
What is a free gift ? Aren't all gifts free?
A flashlight is a case for holding dead batteries.
A flashlight is a case for holding dead batteries.
Clap on! , Clap off! clap@#&$NO CARRIER
Energizer Bunny Arrested! Charged with battery.
I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it.
What is a free gift ? Aren't all gifts free?
Please write anything else!
I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it.
Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies.
640K ought to be enough for anybody. - Bill Gates 81
A flashlight is a case for holding dead batteries.
Lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math.
640K ought to be enough for anybody. - Bill Gates 81
Build a watch in 179 easy steps - by C. Forsberg.
What is a free gift ? Aren't all gifts free?
640K ought to be enough for anybody. - Bill Gates 81
Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
Hello all!
Oops. My brain just hit a bad sector.
Please write anything else!
Build a watch in 179 easy steps - by C. Forsberg.
When there's a will, I want to be in it.
Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
Magnific!
Lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math.
A flashlight is a case for holding dead batteries.
I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!
Thanks to author.
Suicidal twin kills sister by mistake!
Thanks to author.
Good job!
Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
What is a free gift ? Aren't all gifts free?
Oops. My brain just hit a bad sector.
Clap on! , Clap off! clap@#&$NO CARRIER
When there's a will, I want to be in it.
Calvin, we will not have an anatomically correct snowman!
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