LINES TO OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

LINES TO OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE[1]

“Am I not here who am thy Mother –

what dost thou fear?”

Deep in the tangled brushwood of my hours,

you are a sudden clearing, Madre mia,[2]

amid the choke of thorn,

incredible rose.

And where my fears sit huddled in their trembling

you are a soft word spoken, O Maria,

in heart’s cacophony, a splendid chord!

Brave alabaster out of hope-shards builded,

what need I dream of beauty, I who know

curve of your cheek, the raven hair low-winging,

soft swell of lip, the delicate flight of brow!

Exuberance, be hedged in Christ Oh! Sweetly

by this rumorous smile’s so wistful bands;

and sorrow, find your meaning, find your haven

in this gentle fold of olive hands.

Authentic glimpse of heaven, Madre mia,

your image my supernal dividend

on sorrow, and my pledge past all devising

of paradisal day.  What shall I fear

of pain, of death, of diverse ignominy

when you are here, Maria, when you are here.

Mother Mary Francis PCC

Friars.  September 1968

Used with permission

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[1] According to Catholic teaching, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to an Indian convert, Juan Diego, on 9 December 1531 in Guadalupe near Mexico City, leaving a picture of herself imprinted on the inside of his cloak.  The picture has been enshrined in Guadalupe, which has become a place of pilgrimage, visited each year by millions of pilgrims.

[2] My mother.