Host upon the Altar Pristine the whiteness Engulfed in radiant flame, Golden the rays, Set about Your throne upon the altar. For all the beauty of the monstrance, You outshine the artist’s creation, Just as You outshine Creation. Give me eyes to see the Reality. My eyes are designed to apprehend matter. Here, You give […]
Waiting Room A young man With a sparkling earring And clothes that reek Of sickening smoke, The kind that dulls All the senses And makes me choke He’s tapping his foot, A jerking rhythm Of uneasiness The smoke is in his mind; I know it is His eyes are glazed They dart as if watching […]
Here I am, Lord, ready to listen, ready to pray, ready to watch You and be amazed, ready to thank You and give You praise. Mary Harwell Sayler, © 2016
Unknown Martyr Each night, she scrubs tile floors after waiting tables all day: her hands and knees raw, exhaustion bringing her one day closer to death. Her only thought, a son and daughter— how to keep them fed with a roof over head, how to survive another month, how to pray in the midst of […]
on st. henry walpole’s martyrdom beauty in itself is a useless thing like the lilies of a summer’s field or the light of a winter’s moon useless, too, was your priesthood toward the salvation of even one english soul yet such beauty was not lost after the seeds of your severed body were buried for […]
A Bard’s Prayer “As an author and artists who greatly appreciates the Celtic Bardic tradition, I felt inspired to write this prayer for those who seek to enlighten through their art.“ Let me catch the flame Golden, glittering, glaring So my fingers may glow as I hold the pen Let me taste the wine Sweet, […]
Empty You eat from my table, And leave me nothing. Then you lay upon my form This weighty cauldron, Dank and empty. It presses mightily, Withholding air that gives rhyme and reason to life Destroying my frame. I show you the door But you raise your brow and smirk Then folding your arms, you lean […]
Beaded Waves The sand waits for the waves to come home. But they cannot stay. The horizon calls them back to the edge of the world closest to heaven but first they must do the work God asks and exchange brine for the healing balm they carry in each beaded roll. Philip C. Kolin
Praise Christ our Purifier Who filters the spite from our souls and decontaminates our spirits, Who cleanses us from all dross and removes anything ill or gross from our memories and old ways of doing things. Christ we praise for bathing us with His Blood on His cross of wood, cleansing us from sin, and […]
O Eternal Spring O Eternal Spring O sweet refreshment of my soul Look on me And draw me ever nearer Thee. In the furnace of Your Heart Make me like unto Thee, That my mortal frame May melt and meld, To be of Thee, eternally. © 2016 Joann Nelander
I Am: The Divine Mystery of the Triduum (Note: As a Catholic Christian, I have just recently celebrated the Triduum marking the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ. As a student of Celtic literature, I have always been drawn to the style of the ancient Druidic bards, on which this poem is based.) I Am […]
The Baptist by the River Jordan This one is like a comet Long ago promised A white force sent from the heavens To sear the earth- He roams in leather and camel’s hair Set in a wilderness mist Skin black as the fishermen of summer No earthly prince, and yet In droves they gather From every […]
On the Pages Before Me In the evening hours, When the night is still. Comes the Lord my God, To his servant. There he sits awaiting, The God of all Glory. And wonders, wonders, wonders, How is this so? Where in his life, Had he been so good? How in his life could he, Achieve […]
Reaching Eyes A hand reaches out, with eyes behind and yet I may not glance, to avoid the dance of charity not felt for I am a judge in motion ever ready to drop my gavel deciding who is true or false when in reality it is I who should be the first defendant resplendent […]
$cientist$ $cientist$ $eeker$, $age$, $avior$ $ervant$, $oldier$, $lave$, $keleton$, $oul$, $cientist$ Guy McClung Copyright © 2016
I Recognize You, Lord When we walk together, discussing scripture as though we’re on the Emmaus Road. I recognize You in the breaking of communal bread at communion, family suppers, and potluck dinners when we talk of You around the table. Your peace, I recognize within – and without as trouble stirs when I forgot […]
Keep Me Not From the Battlefield O my Lord of Wisdom and Grace, Take hold of me and set me in my place. Therein I shall be for You, All that You wanted from me. Take me now and do me this service, That You may begin Your work in me. Let me be the […]
Note: This is taken from a time when I was going through a spell of severe spiritual dryness. However, playing my bodhran drum for a studio recording helped me remember the Divine Order that is all around me, as exemplified by the rhythm of the drum beats. Bodhran I feel the skin of the drum […]
Your Will I reach For Your Will But I only wave my will instead I seek Your Answers But my answers are the ones I choose I ask For Your Help Yet I insist on telling You what that help should be I decide Your credit Yet I only credit You when […]
Heaven Glow Mr. Lee looked at the child moments old. “Sirius is his name,” said he. Mrs. Lee, cuddling the boy, truth be told, Said “Yes, Sirius Lee” he will be. But he wasn’t. Eyes twinkling stellar was he, Not dark, dismal or dull. Shimmering sparkling was he, Not Sirius Lee at all. Because he […]
My God, my God, why have You forsaken Your life for mine? Why are You so far from helping Your own holiness by taking on my sins? You magnetized crowds with Your love and prayers and healing touch, only to draw sin from us – like a magnet cast in iron nails that tear away […]
(I was inspired to write this after reading an ancient legend about the sun dying every night so that the moon might draw breath. As it was Holy Week for Christians, this inspired me to try my hand on a comparative allusion about how Christ died so that humanity might draw new life) “The Sun […]
Microcosmos When we first started looking through microscopes a cold fear blew and it’s still blowing. Life hitherto had been frantic enough in all its shapes and dimensions. Which is why it created small-scale creatures, assorted tiny worms and flies, but at least the naked human eye could see them. But then suddenly beneath the […]
With the Sun on Our Backs My hand is upon you, As you well know. I walk with you daily In the sand and the snow. Together we are bound, For the journey we take. To serve My Father in this place. Days will come, When life will be hard. And others shall be, As […]
