As we move closer to the time of remembering Jesus’ death, this week’s poem comes from Ukrainian-born poet Anna Akhmatova, whose poem sequence “Requiem” explores the grief that she and others witnessed of the height of Stalinist rule. One striking image that Akhmatova returns to continually throughout the sequence is that of a mother mourningContinue reading “40 Days of Mercy Week 6: Mercy at the Cross”
Tag Archives: crucifixion
Love (Lent 39)
Lent: Man of Sorrows 6
And keep – keep me, keep watch, keep hope. The pains that crush me are like pricks beside Your agony, and yet You hold arms out as though to gather in more pain, more shame, and thus more me. Man of sorrows, what a name, what a scheme thatContinue reading “Lent: Man of Sorrows 6”
Lent 45: Good Friday
They took him down to Golgotha, to Golgotha, the place of skulls; they set him in between two thieves and hurled disease on him. They struck his face and speared his side at Golgotha, at Golgotha; they called him king and laughed at him and cursed him on the tree. The earth, it shookContinue reading “Lent 45: Good Friday”
Lent 39: Saturday of Fifth Week
Sit with Him; eat with Him; dip the bread, by His side – Surely Lord not I? Walk with Him through olive trees; fall asleep and fail to pray; watch as one of you betrays – Surely Lord not I? Warm yourself by cosy fires; answer truth with spitting lies; listen as theContinue reading “Lent 39: Saturday of Fifth Week”
Lent 38: Friday of Fifth Week
Look: see the woman with her oil and hair; see His feet (they’re not yet scarred); see the gasp upon your face; see His searching eyes. Listen: He spoke to you of the Son of Man; He spoke of death and burial; He spoke of Passover, exodus; He spoke; you did not hear. Learn: HeContinue reading “Lent 38: Friday of Fifth Week”
Lent 12: Second Sunday of Lent
Do the hills bring comfort? Soon He will ascend His penultimate hill, crown on brow, chest weighed down, wrath upon His soul. From where will come His aid? He leaves the tabernacle, the comfort of union, the certainty of feet which cannot stumble. I lift up mine eyes… The glorious handiwork of handsContinue reading “Lent 12: Second Sunday of Lent”
“Were you there…?” – Streaming Page CXVI Day Three
Were you there when they crucified my Lord? None of us today can answer “yes”. Yet the truth and power of that moment is never diminished, how much time stretches between us and it. Today’s track from Page CXVI’s “Lent to Maundy Thursday” combines two old hymns: “Were You There?” and “O The Deep, Deep LoveContinue reading ““Were you there…?” – Streaming Page CXVI Day Three”
Crux
Yesterday I posted my own poem written in response to Peter Steele’s heartbreaking “Crux”. Here, as an additional kind of tribute to my old teacher, is a musical setting of the poem that I wrote and recorded. Steele’s words, from his liturgical sequence, “A Season in Retreat”, are included below for you to read asContinue reading “Crux”
What He Meant (After Peter Steele’s “Crux”)
The third poem written in response to Peter Steele comes from his very moving work, “Crux”, possibly one of his best poems. You can read the original poem here. Like Steele’s poem, mine is written from the perspective of one of Jesus’ followers immediately after His death, and ponders how Jesus’ words may have seemedContinue reading “What He Meant (After Peter Steele’s “Crux”)”
The Consolations of Writing 