« O Crux
Ave
Spes Unica »
For my Mother
« If I keep a green bough in my heart,
The singing bird will come.”
Chinese proverb
I stood today
At the foot of the
Cross.
Christ crucified.
Suffered, died, was buried.
Mary wept.
On this day 1992
Weeping, I stood at another crossroads.
The Calvary of my mother, Mary,
Fresh upon my heart.
Two
Breton Calvaries in
My village.
One just outside
Our bedroom window.
At night illuminated.
Today I stop and stand.
I pray.
Thanking God for the
Resurrection and the Life.
Thanking God for Mary’s life and laughter.
For Mary’s tears.
For my mother
Who taught me
That green is the color of hope, yellow the color of happiness.
Whose nightly thought before sleep
Was
Of the green bough
And the singing bird.
Ave Maria.
“O Crux
Ave
Spes Unica.”
1 April 2008
Ave
Spes Unica »
For my Mother
« If I keep a green bough in my heart,
The singing bird will come.”
Chinese proverb
I stood today
At the foot of the
Cross.
Christ crucified.
Suffered, died, was buried.
Mary wept.
On this day 1992
Weeping, I stood at another crossroads.
The Calvary of my mother, Mary,
Fresh upon my heart.
Two
Breton Calvaries in
My village.
One just outside
Our bedroom window.
At night illuminated.
Today I stop and stand.
I pray.
Thanking God for the
Resurrection and the Life.
Thanking God for Mary’s life and laughter.
For Mary’s tears.
For my mother
Who taught me
That green is the color of hope, yellow the color of happiness.
Whose nightly thought before sleep
Was
Of the green bough
And the singing bird.
Ave Maria.
“O Crux
Ave
Spes Unica.”
1 April 2008
Notes
Note 1 :
One of the St. Caradec Calvaries is inscribed with
“O Crux
Ave
Spes Unica.”
And I just learned that
O crux ave is the sixth verse of Vexilla regis, a hymn to the cross by Venantius Fortunatus (6th-7th cent.).
Latin text
O crux ave spes unicahoc passionis temporeauge piis justitiamreisque dona veniam.
English translation
O cross, our only hopein this time of suffering,grant justice to the faithfuland mercy to those awaiting judgment.
Note 2:
After my mother’s death, one of my dearest friends shared this with me. It is from "Diary of an Old Soul" and was illustrated by her grandfather, Arnold Flaten.
Note 1 :
One of the St. Caradec Calvaries is inscribed with
“O Crux
Ave
Spes Unica.”
And I just learned that
O crux ave is the sixth verse of Vexilla regis, a hymn to the cross by Venantius Fortunatus (6th-7th cent.).
Latin text
O crux ave spes unicahoc passionis temporeauge piis justitiamreisque dona veniam.
English translation
O cross, our only hopein this time of suffering,grant justice to the faithfuland mercy to those awaiting judgment.
Note 2:
After my mother’s death, one of my dearest friends shared this with me. It is from "Diary of an Old Soul" and was illustrated by her grandfather, Arnold Flaten.
Sometimes, hard-trying
It seems I cannot pray
For doubt and pain
And anger and all strife
Yet some half-fledged
Prayer-bird from the nest
May fall, flit, fly, perch—
Crouch in the bowery breast
Of the large, nation-healing
Tree of life.
Moveless there sit thru the
Burning day and on my heart
At night a fresh leaf cooling
Lay.
It seems I cannot pray
For doubt and pain
And anger and all strife
Yet some half-fledged
Prayer-bird from the nest
May fall, flit, fly, perch—
Crouch in the bowery breast
Of the large, nation-healing
Tree of life.
Moveless there sit thru the
Burning day and on my heart
At night a fresh leaf cooling
Lay.
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