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Wednesday, March 23, 2022

INSPIRATIONS

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.

Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;

I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord

Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;

Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;

Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;

Thou my soul's Shelter, Thou my high Tow’r:

Raise Thou me heav’nward, O Pow’r of my pow’r.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,

Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,

High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,

May I reach Heaven's joys, O bright Heav’n's Sun!

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,

Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

~ old Irish hymn by St. Dallan, trans. by Mary Bryne; into verse by Eleanor Hull

Lord God of power and might, nothing is good which is against your will, and all is of value which comes from your hand. Place in our hearts a desire to please you and fill our minds with insight into your love, so that every thought may grow in wisdom and all our efforts may be filled with your peace. ~ from the Collect, Week 22, Ordinary Time

Almighty and ever-present Father, your watchful care reaches from end to end and orders all things in such power that even the tensions and tragedies of sin cannot frustrate your loving plans. Help us to embrace your will, give us the strength to follow your call, so that your truth may live in our hearts and reflect peace to those who believe in your love. ~ from the Collect, Week 2, Ordinary Time

And in this he showed me a little thing, the quantity of a hazel nut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed. And it was as round as any ball. I looked upon it with the eye of my understanding, and thought, ‘What may this be?’ And it was answered generally thus, ‘It is all that is made.’ I marveled how it might last, for I thought it might suddenly have fallen to nothing for littleness. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasts and ever shall, for God loves it. And so have all things their beginning by the love of God.

In this little thing I saw three properties. The first is that God made it. The second that God loves it. And the third, that God keeps it. ~ Dame Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love

My Lord and my God, take from me everything that keeps me from you. My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you. My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to bring me nearer to you. ~ St. Nicholas of Flüe

You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you. ~ St. Augustine, Confessions Bk.1, Ch.1:1

interior intimo meo et superior summo meo, You were more inward to me than my most inward part; and higher than my highest. ~ St. Augustine, Confessions Bk.3, Ch.6:11

You are everywhere whom no place encompasses, You alone are near even to those that remove far from You. ~ St. Augustine, Confessions Bk.5, Ch.2:2

You are there in their hearts, in the hearts of those who confess to You ... Thou, Lord, who made, remakest and comfortest them. And where was I when I was seeking You? And You were before me, but I had gone away even from myself; nor did I find myself, much less You! ~ St. Augustine, Confessions Bk.5, Ch.2:2

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

CANDLE IN THE WINDOW - 2

DOXOLOGY

Glory to the Lord, God the Father Almighty,

Who into clay vessel breathed me:

Anima mea, immortal soul.

Gloria Patri Domino.

Glory to the Lord Jesus, Love of God,

Verbum caro factum est,

Transforming our clay, saving our souls.

Gloria Jesu Christe, qui a mortuis surrexit.

Glory to God, the Promised One,

Comforter, Wisdom, Love’s life-giving Fire;

my spirit he guides to choose life over death.

Gloria Spiritui Sancto.

ENVOI

The triune God is a mystery

I seek not to explain.

How shall a creature’s mortal eye see

Into the Maker’s mind - a pursuit vain?

With God’s breath I live,

Illumined by his fire,

To his love all mine I give,

Being with him is all my desire.

PRESENTATION

Rejoicing they went up to the Temple,

to present the Father his Son;

expecting a fulfilment -

the Lord’s anointed one

come to enlighten all nations -

to the Temple rejoicing he went.

Simeon spoke as the Spirit prompted,

no longer need he here abide;

Joseph heard, ever silent, listening

for the word that would him guide.

Lancing through her soul to her heart,

Mary heard words assigning her a part

in Jesus’ way to the cross whereon, rejected

by his own he died - that they be redeemèd.

So was the Son to his Father presented,

the Father who gave him to save us all;

both for love, the offering, the giving,

- such love will not fail us when we fall.

UNBIND HIM!

Lord, enlighten me about Lazarus,

allowed to die, raised to life. What did you mean

by the glory of your Father, and your glory?

It seems contrived – but you contriving?

I’ll not believe that, Lord; besides,

you wept, you suffered. Why?

Daughter, my time was near, the time of trial,

the refiner’s fire:

gold feels it not, but you are not metal,

nor my friends, nor I.

They forgot, for a while, my friends, as you do:

from a tomb my Father could raise the dead to

life

through me; and I

who raised Lazarus by a word would rise myself,

even as I foretold.

You forget when you panic, crying out to me

who am right beside you.

“Unbind him,” I said; I say it to you, let go

of shackles you placed yourself

on the spirit I gave you as guide.

You have locked it away like a heathen charm

to rub when you have need;

telling me what to do,

instructing your Teacher. Child,

beloved sheep, precious one washed in my

blood,

can you not trust me to know? To do

what’s best for you, though four days

entombed you must lie, even so,

since to new life, everlasting

I have raised you?

Paul understood this well, my errant sheep,

now and forever my champion fearless.

Most of all the mother I gave you, my own,

dearest and best, all human,

for you a model,

always prepared to embrace you.

Hers was a longer waiting than days,

than you have known, or Martha, or Mary.

From her first “fiat”, she waited

upon the One to whom she said:

“Be it done unto me”.

Hearing Simeon’s words

she awaited the sword,

in silence.

Before she saw me new-risen,

she understood

the dying and return to life of Lazarus.

THE POET

Incipe. parve puer, risu cognoscere matrem ~ Virgil, Eclogue IV

Under the hill, sheltered in a cave,

her son, whose hands shaped all,

the child who was a father, *

smiled up into her eyes.

The mother who was a child, *

gazed down upon him

cradled in her arms.

Upon the hill, on a wooden scaffold,

the only son was sacrificed

to save his father’s flock.

No ram took his place, for he

died to give life to the sheep.

From the side of him crucified

flowed blood and water redeeming

even as the day waned.

From the rock-cut tomb in the side

of the hill, the Risen One

strode out as the day was born,

leading the way to life eternal.

So God makes a poem:

if his children can read it

* ref The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton

HARD WON

To learn how much folly and wrong

Stain my life, needed plague to disclose it;

Years have passed, rolled along, rolled along,

No way left, little time, to amend it;

That is how my soul has found gain,

Repentance, reparation, in the pain.

LUCERNA PEDIBUS MEIS

… verbum tuum, et lumen semitis meis.

Humiliatus sum usquequaque, Domine:

vivifica me secundum verbum tuum.~ Ps. 118

Thou, O my God, hast taught me

That by my mind Thou mayst not be

Knowable ever.

It is not alone for thy Majesty,

Nor that Thou art All Mighty

I must Thee honour.

It is that Thou art Love so wholly,

All must I learn from pondering Thee,

In Jesus nailed to the Cross.

Through wasted decades, patiently,

In utmost need now, Thou leadest me

To gain from loss.

From end to end, Thou dost see -

Prevailing o'er sin's tragedy -

Thy loving plans succeed.

Ever present, watchfully,

Dost guide them who look to Thee

For light, for peace, yea all our need.

LOVE OF GOD

My love must be an ever-burning fire;

Feed my flame.

My love must be an ever-flowing stream;

Feed my spring.

My love must be a hunger ever-growing;

Feed me, Lord,

With thy Word,

With thy Body;

Filling and refilling,

Till in thy Presence

Forever I may be.

ON RECEIVING THE EUCHARIST

How do I love Thee, Lord?

Never as Thou lovest me.

From my heart remains to clear

Earthly goods, shedding no tear;

Sweep from mind cobwebbed dreams,

Let in those heavenly beams

Drawing fruit from barren vine;

Filling heart with heady wine

Of love for Thee; longing ever to be

In Thy presence, Thy face to see.

So should, so would, so shall I love Thee

An Thou, my dear Lord, abide with me.

DIFFERENT WAYS

Not one soul lives, so laden with sin

That Jesus’ love may not burst in,

Working such instant transformation

As is most like a resurrection.

Not many such a gift receive;

Some fail a slow change to perceive.

One sinner on a cross to the light was open;

My journey is slow, yet leads to heaven.

In body and spirit, with much pain,

Do I move, my true home to gain.

THE PRICE

Not all the tears that from me flow

To my soul shall restore the glow

Of lamp lit by first love's oil;

Not any thought of mine, nor toil.

From Your sacred heart pierced for me,

As You hung on a cross at Calvary,

Flow that water, flow that blood,

Alone can wash me in their flood.

Lord, from my mind You move

Stone of my pride; of my lack-love;

My shoulders wrenched, knees broken,

Of penance due are but a token.

So my soul's release by such pain

Be won, I shall count it my gain.

Passio Christi, conforta me.

O bone Jesu, exaudi me.

GLEANINGS

ad J.R

Ut sit benedictus

PRELUDE

Reflections of an old sheep

who blundered off the cliff’s edge,

caught by thorn bushes on a ledge,

rescued by the Shepherd.

The road she cannot walk or see,

but cradled in his arms,

she learns from his heartbeat.

LOVE

Son and Father, God leaned down,

bending over that earth

Love the Spirit had made,

spreading his light-filled cloud.

Ark awaited the Covenant, unaware;

angels’ breath bated, one descended

to a maiden at love-filled prayer.

“Rejoice!” to the virgin he said,

“the Lord your heart now holds

would that you give his Son birth

in time, the longed-for Saviour,

David’s heir, to reign forever.”

Held by love to the cross Christ in glory

leaned low; Mary bowed humble acceptance;

embraced him, nails, cross - sword in her heart too;

she bore His new Covenant lovingly.

FAITH

Blind, Faith is not; soul turns to the Light,

sees the Way, ponders Truth, in the night

holds firm to Hope; answers Love with love;

heart lifts to mind, they rise above,

on the wings of the Dove ascending.

Each day, each night, itself renewing,

faith in hope must grow, in love express

itself, or die. The Lord asks no less

Who gave much more, nor ceases giving.

I gain eternal peace by painful striving.

LIFE

Death is not easy: science measured the strain,

recorded response in a dying man’s brain.

The struggle of soul to live is no less,

repeated failures daily I confess;

yet only through effort, pain enduring,

can the bird with strengthened wing,

my soul, in flight reach further, far above,

to Him, by whom I live, whom I love.

I NO LONGER LIVE

But Christ lives in me. ~ Gal. 2:20

Yours, not mine, my Lord,

is life. Until I give

my self to the Word

in truth I may not live.

How shall I your Truth know

from self-deception?

“Self fulfillment you must now yield –

works of your hand and mind –

prepare your self as a field;

in its harvest you will find

Me, the Truth. Peace will grow

in you with Truth’s perception.”

In the heart of my heart

deep within my very self,

heart of mind, mind of heart

Thou art, Lord. Buried seed,

Word of Truth, grow in me

faith, hope, love, till my soul

rise from earth reaching up

to Thee Above.

LENT

Forty years, forty days, three days

entombed; so in faith, in prayer,

in patience, the time be spent,

Christ in glory rising

shall end my Lent.

PRAYER

Touch my heart

with thy Word

O God, Holy Spirit.

Fill my body, Lord,

Jesus Christ, bread of life;

life eternal, joy unending,

saving Truth. Amen.

REDEMPTION

I was born because You loved me,

knowing me with all my flaws.

Free to choose, blessed so lovingly,

I gave but a nod to Your Laws.

You told me that Your yoke was light;

I paid no heed to Your import.

‘To be myself’ I took as right,

not seeing the price it would extort.

Self, not given as You bade me,

coffins the soul with the body.

Your yoke is light, if only I could see:

You carry half, are near - to support me.

Smug, conceited, blind, as the Pharisee

You spoke of, I let years slip away;

now come to the edge of eternity,

in my soul’s dark night You bring a

bright day:

“Love me as I love you, in Me your first self see,

as that self you shall love, all others loved must be.”

Ruth Heredia is the originator and holds the copyright to all material on this blog unless credited to some source. Please do not use it or pass it off as your own work. That is theft. If you wish to link it, quote it, or reprint in whole or in part, please be courteous enough to seek my permission.

CANDLE IN THE WINDOW - 1

These poems are arranged in the order of their writing, from 2007 to 2022. Some have appeared on this blog before.

Like many long journeys through terrain not traversed before, this pilgrim's path has passed through pleasant, sun-filled scenery and shadowy sections, stone-strewn and choked with thorn bushes. Then the pilgrim grasps the hand of the Comforter, who lifts high the lamp of the Word.

May He do so for all pilgrims who reach out for Him.

THROUGH NO DARKER ROOM *

Why, Lord, do you permit the blows to fall

Relentlessly upon a single head?

Even the blacksmith shoeing a horse

Strikes once on the anvil, once on the hoof,

But you allow untimely death to seize

Fruit, flower, branch, tree – all

From one sad soul, pitilessly.

Why, Lord, should this be?

He raised his bloodied, thorn-crowned head

And spoke:

"My child, I love thee."

* The title quotes from a hymn in the Anglican Hymnal:

Christ leads me through no darker rooms

Than he went through before. ~ R. Baxter

CREDO

Like diamond dewdrops, dreams disappear;

Hopes, like flames, leap, flicker and fail;

Flesh slackens, bones crumble,

Fear shadows day, pain troubles night.

Yet, so the heart, mind, soul be chained

Willing to a Rock,

Nothing is lost that seemed to be,

Nothing will fail at day and night’s end,

For the Rock is Love, and Love is Life

For all eternity.

VENI SANCTE SPIRITUS

From my mouth to God’s ear:

May Divinity brush my cheek,

Grip my shoulder,

Lay a finger on my heart;

Envelop me in flame

Cool as the drop of rain

Which refreshes my soul,

Now and forever. Amen.

PRAYER

Let me nest in the rafters of your dwelling,

One sparrow among many;

Warmed by your never-failing love,

Lit by your never-fading light,

Seeing your face,

Knowing you see mine, O Lord.

Amen.

TETELESTAI

They raised him to look

on a city of stone

and a stony people:

He burst through the rock

and rose.

DIALOGUE

Child, born in a borrowed shelter,

laid in a borrowed crib,

Man, stowed away in a borrowed tomb,

Word, leaping down from royal throne

to be swaddled moveless, wordless,

on the breast of her you gave life to,

what gift may I lay in the straw beside

gold, myrrh and frankincense?

Set down the needless burdens, daughter.

Regret for past follies; harboured hurts

not merited; sorrow for that

which you can never mend.

Borrowing is for me: flesh like yours,

to hunger, grow weary, be wounded,

hung upon a tree. For you

here are gifts: my mother,

my body, my blood, my love

unending. Your acceptance,

daughter, is all I seek.

SILENCE AND PEACE

May my mind be at rest

in silence and peace;

Leave foolish ways and strife,

for silence and peace.

May my heart turn to Thee

in silence and peace;

Trustingly heed Thy call,

in silence know peace.

May my soul feel the balm

of silence and peace;

With Love Eternal share

His silence, His peace.

LESSON

Lord, why do You let the wicked flourish?

Can the Almighty not do justice if men fail?

Child, I gave you my Spirit to discern, and so

arrive at good counsel. Would you have

the wheat pulled out with the darnel?

But, Lord, it is hard to suffer injustice.

Harder than it was for me on the cross?

Daughter, I made no distinction when I pleaded:

Forgive them, for they know not what they do.

I am sorry, Lord, I fall so often –

This road is strewn with obstacles.

My child, three times I fell, but I reached

my journey’s end,

- The cross! No fit reward.

No? Don’t you remember my teachings at all?

Wasn’t the cross my triumph? Lord,

I am still a child, but I will learn.

Of such is my Kingdom.

PRAYER ON THE ROAD

A pure he art create for me, O God,

not as You made Man out of clay,

but as the Cosmos, out of nothing;

my heart is not fit in Your Presence to stand.

Far must I go before I can see

the door to Your Light open for me;

set in me a steadfast spirit.

MEDITATION

‘Twixt night and day

A star shone bright,

When leapt God’s Word:

Unto us, He is the Light.

‘Twixt ox and ass

On a bed of hay,

The Pearl of great price

Sleeping lay.

Among the beasts why didst thou stay,

That might in silken bed have slept?

A silken robed man sought me to slay,

Alas, and many mothers wept.

A man of my own did me betray;

How many were they their promise kept?

My heart, my treasure,

I would I might know

That love without measure

Which I to thee owe.

May I that strive ‘twixt soul and beast,

Find through the Way my singleness;

That when I come to thee, Orient Star,

My soul be clad in robes for thy feast.

A PLAINT AND A PROMISE

Lord, why may I never find

One single soul to whom my mind

I may lay bare, and know it must be

Perceived with perfect clarity?

Do you not speak to me, child dear,

And have you said aught I did not hear?

Leave other minds, and turn to me;

I never fail to hear or see.

I know, Lord, that from nothing I was made,

And to nothing shall my body come

When in the earth I’m laid;

Yet my soul to thee shall home.

All I have is by thee given;

If thou shouldst ask it of me again,

All shall from me be riven,

Thou shalt not ask in vain.

For, Lord, I do bethink me well

Of thy sacrifice which saved me from hell.

If I must today be plunged in sorrow,

My soul shall rise to thee tomorrow.

VIA CRUCIS

It’s not the flesh alone that can be scourged,

Or the head crowned with thorns.

The spirit, too, can be so used and must accept,

Humbly, such usage in Jesus’ name.

For how shall the soul rise on Easter morn,

That has known no Passion,

And no surrender, totally, of the self?

Aye so, by Christ’s grace and his going before,

Must I abandon ego, and naked to lash and thorn,

By the blood and water from Christ’s side,

Be reborn.

PENSIERO

Truth is a mountain

Whose peak’s concealed in heaven.

Life’s road about it climbing goes

And each new level to me shows

The same vista yet quite new,

When fresh perspective comes into view.

Truth is not simple or got without pains

Until a pilgrim the summit gains.

WASTE

How hungry is youth for ownership;

Impatient for freedom to decide;

Rushing headstrong after mirages,

While Time fleets by her side.

Time passes unseen, mirages subside,

Possessions become obstacles;

How welcome would be a guide

On a dark road to enlighten choice.

The pain of age is vision

When the time for it is past;

And to see a prized possession

Is only a handful of dust.

PRAYER TO THE CHRIST CHILD

Jesus, make Thy cradle in my heart,

Though hard it is, unworthy of Thee.

Forgive my faults, of Thy great mercy,

Forgive my sins of yore and unyore,

Though Thou knowest there will be more.

Dazzle my dull eyes, set my heart alight,

Compassionate my sorry plight –

Too readily I stop, when scarcely I start.

Abounding grace I received from Thee,

Thy gift of words inspired me,

Yet my soul lies barren, its springs dried;

Leave me not, Lord, who for me died.

Each year Thou comest on Christmas Day,

This year, abide with me, Christ Child I pray.

Amen.

INTERPRETED BY LOVE

The silence of eternity

Interpreted by love! (J. Greenleaf Whittier)

No prophet, mystic, saint can I ever be,

Voices I hear not, nor visions see;

How shall I interpret the silence of my Lord,

The silence of eternity?

His love is eloquent in wounded hands and feet;

From His piercèd heart love flows so free

That spite of being no mystic,

I must enlightened be.

If self-love bar the door

Or doubt hold fast the key,

The silence of eternity

Shall ever silent be.

IN LENT

Fiery serpent raised on a standard,

symbol of sin and its sentence;

become the source of life to sinners,

wiping out sin and its consequence.

This was the promise long forgotten,

Lost with the Ark and the Covenant.

Into the world God sent his Son

Not to condemn it but to save.

The Father, silent, saw his Son sweat blood,

praying in cruellest agony;

in silence heard Christ’s desolate cry:

“Why hast Thou, my God, forsaken me?”

The Son, true King, true Shepherd, willingly

went to the sacrifice for his flock;

upon himself, God and Man, took the stain

of my sins; with his blood washed me free.

Yet I sin again, failing him, nailing him

to the cross, Christ who slew Death for me.

Every day I resume my stumbling climb

up the hill of Calvary.

On my final ascent of that well-worn road

from sin’s menace I shall be free;

not by the falls will I be judged

but my climb to him nailed to the tree.

Miserere mei, Domine.

PENTECOST I

Love, that took me captive, hold me fast:

the errant sheep that’s apt to lose its way.

Wound deep a heart too soon mended:

may I not rest when from Thee I stray.

Spirit of Light, irradiate me, burn clean

my mind of thought Thou find’st unworthy;

Fount of Life, renew old bones, strengthen

weak flesh, that I may do what Thou bidst me.

Giver of Speech, teach my tongue to be

a channel of the Word which makes us free;

joy in all its fullness shall I never know

until Thy face to me Thou dost show.

PENTECOST II

Come Truth, clear my sight;

the tangle in my mind repair,

its threads reset, that there

Thou mayst abide always.

Fix Thy lamp, Holy Wisdom,

in my soul for evermore,

that the Way I may follow,

not my own as before.

Thy seven gifts bestow,

that thereby, Holy Spirit,

all I need I may know

of the Father, Son and Thee.

Advocate, Comforter,

life’s fount, love’s fire,

to live in Thee, Thou in me,

is all my desire.