Friday, April 18, 2008

Easter Thoughts

EASTER THOUGHTS

I.

The wind howls, the snow falls.

Still prim (and proper) roses, “primeverts”,
Nestle snugly in the ground.
Their joyful faces lifted up to the sky
Gaily proclaim Re-birth
On this Easter Day.

II.
The First Elegy
Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the angels' hierarchies?
and even if one of them pressed me suddenly against his heart:I would be consumed in that overwhelming existence.For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror, which we are still just able to endure,
and we are so awed because it serenely disdains to annihilate us.Every angel is terrifying.And so I hold myself back and swallow the call-note of my dark sobbing.Ah, whom can we ever turn to in our need?

Rainer Maria Rilke

Entertaining Angels unawares …
Hebrews 13

Each angel in our home and in our lives
A member of the
Body….

Each knowing Gethsemane,
Each crying out, “I thirst.”

Each reaching out, arms stretched wide,
For the Promise of New Life.

***
Ah, Yes,
How easy it is to show
Brotherly and sisterly
Love on this
Feast of Love—
La Fête de l’Amour
As the priest proclaimed.

How easy and comfortable to recognize and
Be present with
Friendly Angels.

Not so easy
With
Rilke’s Terrifying Angels.

But here is what I understood today.

It is the Terrifying Ones
Who show us our Selves,
Leading us to the Dark Places,
To the Shadows in our
Souls—our own Terror and Error—
The Terrifying Ones hold the mirror.

And so it is from the Terrifying Angels
That we must learn
To minister.

It is the Terrifying Angels
Who teach us the most about our Selves and
Who walk with us into
The Light.

Let us entertain them.

“Walk in Love.”

5 : 00 p.m.

Note on my Easter thoughts—

During Mass at the Abbaye de Notre Dame de Timadeuc (Cistercian/Trappist), I remembered parts of St. Patrick’s Breast-plate. Here is the prayer that I have just copied here and that I have not even read in its entirety yet….

ST PATRICK’S BREAST-PLATE


I bind to myself todayThe strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:I believe the Trinity in the UnityThe Creator of the Universe.I bind to myself todayThe virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.I bind to myself todayThe virtue of the love of seraphim,In the obedience of angels,In the hope of resurrection unto reward,In prayers of Patriarchs,In predictions of Prophets,In preaching of Apostles,In faith of Confessors,In purity of holy Virgins,In deeds of righteous men.I bind to myself todayThe power of Heaven,The light of the sun,The brightness of the moon,The splendour of fire,The flashing of lightning,The swiftness of wind,The depth of sea,The stability of earth,The compactness of rocks.I bind to myself todayGod's Power to guide me,God's Might to uphold me,God's Wisdom to teach me,God's Eye to watch over me,God's Ear to hear me,God's Word to give me speech,God's Hand to guide me,God's Way to lie before me,God's Shield to shelter me,God's Host to secure me,Against the snares of demons,Against the seductions of vices,Against the lusts of nature,Against everyone who meditates injury to me,Whether far or near,Whether few or with many.I invoke today all these virtuesAgainst every hostile merciless powerWhich may assail my body and my soul,Against the incantations of false prophets,Against the black laws of heathenism,Against the false laws of heresy,Against the deceits of idolatry,Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.Christ, protect me todayAgainst every poison, against burning,Against drowning, against death-wound,That I may receive abundant reward.Christ with me, Christ before me,Christ behind me, Christ within me,Christ beneath me, Christ above me,Christ at my right, Christ at my left,Christ in the fort,Christ in the chariot seat,Christ in the poop [deck],Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,Christ in every eye that sees me,Christ in every ear that hears me.I bind to myself todayThe strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,I believe the Trinity in the UnityThe Creator of the Universe.

May it be so.

Blessèd Easter.

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