April 19

Jesus: O Mother dear, didst thou but hear My plaint of desolation, Thy tender heart would burst apart With grief of separation!

I am not stone, yet all alone I hush My soul’s outcrying, -- Alone to tread the wine-press red, To bear the pain of dying.

My lips are dumb, the night has come; Ah! Solace I might borrow Had I but thee to bide with Me In this wild waste of sorrow.

Mary: “Gentle moon and start of midnight, Golden apples born of sunshine, Precious pearls and jewels rare, -- All things glorious, all things shining,” Thus the sorrowing Mother spake; “E’en ye bright, transfigured faces, Mourn with me for Jesus’ sake.

“Sparkle, gleam, and glow no longer: Only moan and mourn for Him. Shine not, shine not, weep forever, Till your thousand eyes are dim; For the mighty One has fallen, And my Beautiful is slain; In the dense wood pierced, my Shepherd, -- Weep ye, weep ye for my pain! O most oppressed of all oppressed, Heart of my heart, my all, my Son! Grief’s keenest sword doth pierce my breast: I die with Thee, my only one! Alas! the pain is all too great, Since, living, still I share Thy fate.

“Yes, mine Thou wert to bear and rear Through life and light, and pain and loss; And now, ten thousand times more dear, I yield Thee to the cruel cross!”

-“Dialogue at the Cross,” Frederick Spee, S. J. (1591-1635) translated from the German by Mary E. Mannix

Today's Reflection

Today I stand at the foot of the Cross with Mary my mother. What pain, sorrow, suffering, trial, and contradiction do I yield to the “cruel cross”? How does Mary give me guidance in this surrender?