Good Friday

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

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