Sing, daughter; Your enemies come across the hills Resplendent in all of their power, But they will not come near to you; They will balk at this fortress. Dance, Israel; The battle is not over, yet The heralds run across the hills, The message of the victory bright In their hearts to tell you. Rejoice,Continue reading “The Lord Our Stronghold (Third Sunday of Advent)”
Category Archives: Devotional
Dark and Precious, the Night (For John of the Cross, Mystic and Teacher)
I have known this night, beyond my day-time Clutching at my heart and hope; I have known the anguish of the night-time, Dark unfolding, clutching me; I have known the hope of loving fingers Reaching out with dawn to me; I have known the mustard seed of morning And hope’s smallest glimmers; I have seenContinue reading “Dark and Precious, the Night (For John of the Cross, Mystic and Teacher)”
Light (For Lucy, Martyr)
…for I consider that our briefest light is a beacon to glory far beyond our sight and our longest pain is a comma within the vast, hopeful story of Your love’s refrain.
Unfolding the Year – a selection of liturgical poems
In celebration of reaching my 150th poem for the liturgical calendar, I have put together a collection of 15 of my favourites from the poems I have written so far. For those of you who have joined the project recently, I hope you enjoy discovering some of the earlier poems. And for those who haveContinue reading “Unfolding the Year – a selection of liturgical poems”
The Lord Our Redeemer (Second Sunday of Advent)
Make way, make way In the desert, make way In your desert hearts, make way Prepare the way, make straight the path For the Righteous King is here Prepare your hearts Your sullied hearts Present your hearts; He comes with flame To burn right through our sullied hearts; Who can stand before His flame? TheContinue reading “The Lord Our Redeemer (Second Sunday of Advent)”
The Call (For Richard Baxter, Pastor and Spiritual Writer)
He seeth and pitieth you, while you are drowned in worldly cares and pleasures, and eagerly following childish toys, and wasting that short and precious time for a thing of nought, in which you should make ready for an everlasting life. (Richard Baxter, A Call to the Unconverted to Turn and Live) Wars are waged,Continue reading “The Call (For Richard Baxter, Pastor and Spiritual Writer)”
Our Flesh (For Ambrose of Milan, Bishop and Teacher)
Of wondrous purpose took He our flesh, to the end that He might show that the law of the flesh had been subjected to the law of the mind. He was incarnate, that He, the teacher of men, might overcome as man. (Ambrose of Milan, Exposition of the Christian Faith) Minds explode to hear theContinue reading “Our Flesh (For Ambrose of Milan, Bishop and Teacher)”
Window Gifts (For Nicholas of Myra)
Passing by these open panes, Window-shopping with the lives Of those whose dreams are not like ours, Whose hopes lie closer to the ground And do not shop with us, We cannot know, cannot conceive, The endings that their evenings fear, Can only walk by window-sills And guess at reasons for those looks Of sullenContinue reading “Window Gifts (For Nicholas of Myra)”
Nonnet for Nicholas Ferrar
If you came at night like a broken king… what you thought you came for Is only a shell, a husk of meaning From which the purpose breaks only when it is fulfilled If at all. (T.S. Eliot, “Little Gidding”) A broken king takes silent refuge In this house of softly waiting, Binding truths intoContinue reading “Nonnet for Nicholas Ferrar”
Tercets For Francis Xavier
And we must also strengthen ourselves with the saying of the Lord that says: “He that loves his life in this world will lose it, and he who loses it for the sake of God will find it,” which is in keeping with what Christ our Lord also says: “He who puts his hand toContinue reading “Tercets For Francis Xavier”
The Consolations of Writing 