Thursday, July 20, 2006
O Mother of Sorrows
O Mother of Sorrows, well acquainted with tears,
Who knows what a grief it is when one soul dies
because of the violence of another,
to thee we cry, O Mother of mercy,
who feels the sorrow of the loss when one life is twisted
for the gain of another,
when the word that leads a soul to sin
is spoken by another,
when one life is taken in expdiency for the comfort of another.
To Thee to we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping,
O Mater Dolorosa,
You who stood at the foot of the cross
and watched what your Son was willing to suffer
for each of these hurt and broken and cast-off lives,
lives betrayed,
lives wrecke by the wages of sin.
O Sorrowful Mother, Help of Christians,
Teach us to join our tears with yours,
here at the foot of the cross,
our heartache with yours,
our compassion and our prayers with yours,
learning as you taught, "to do whatever He tells you to,"
to say with you, "Be it done to me according to Your word,"
until we may learn to see the world as your Son would have us see it,
to see each soul as a child of the Father,
to become the tool in His hand open to the call of mercy.
and may we spread his message by our lives, ours hearts, and our lips,
for the glory of His name.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
Pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our deaths, Amen.
Susan E. Stone, 2006
Who knows what a grief it is when one soul dies
because of the violence of another,
to thee we cry, O Mother of mercy,
who feels the sorrow of the loss when one life is twisted
for the gain of another,
when the word that leads a soul to sin
is spoken by another,
when one life is taken in expdiency for the comfort of another.
To Thee to we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping,
O Mater Dolorosa,
You who stood at the foot of the cross
and watched what your Son was willing to suffer
for each of these hurt and broken and cast-off lives,
lives betrayed,
lives wrecke by the wages of sin.
O Sorrowful Mother, Help of Christians,
Teach us to join our tears with yours,
here at the foot of the cross,
our heartache with yours,
our compassion and our prayers with yours,
learning as you taught, "to do whatever He tells you to,"
to say with you, "Be it done to me according to Your word,"
until we may learn to see the world as your Son would have us see it,
to see each soul as a child of the Father,
to become the tool in His hand open to the call of mercy.
and may we spread his message by our lives, ours hearts, and our lips,
for the glory of His name.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
Pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our deaths, Amen.
Susan E. Stone, 2006
Labels: Help, Mary, Mother of Sorrows, Passion of Christ
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Lord, Forgive Us
Lord,
forgive us,
a wayward and sin-stained mankind,
for the sin of letting angry people
rise among us,
setting them free
to kill the innocent
for love or lust,
for greed,
for self-righteousness,
for power,
for the sake of politcal stance,
for honor,
out of impatience and frustration,
expedience,
sometimes, even, in your name.
O Lord,
how the blood of Abel calls out,
joined by so many others,
such a loud cacaphony of human darkness.
Today, O Lord,
I offer up my remorse to you,
my tears,
for each life snuffed short,
each family twisted,
each mournful keening
echoing through the millenia,
the sackcloth and ashes of my lone heart
in repentance and sorrow at what we have wrought.
O Lord,
on this dark day,
I pray for your voice to touch each and every heart,
and show us what we do in truth,
help us to recoil from the blacknes we have wrought,
until we repudiate the darkness
and choose your light.
Susan E. Stone
forgive us,
a wayward and sin-stained mankind,
for the sin of letting angry people
rise among us,
setting them free
to kill the innocent
for love or lust,
for greed,
for self-righteousness,
for power,
for the sake of politcal stance,
for honor,
out of impatience and frustration,
expedience,
sometimes, even, in your name.
O Lord,
how the blood of Abel calls out,
joined by so many others,
such a loud cacaphony of human darkness.
Today, O Lord,
I offer up my remorse to you,
my tears,
for each life snuffed short,
each family twisted,
each mournful keening
echoing through the millenia,
the sackcloth and ashes of my lone heart
in repentance and sorrow at what we have wrought.
O Lord,
on this dark day,
I pray for your voice to touch each and every heart,
and show us what we do in truth,
help us to recoil from the blacknes we have wrought,
until we repudiate the darkness
and choose your light.
Susan E. Stone
Labels: current evils, Need for God, Penitence
Monday, July 17, 2006
Mother of Consolation
O Mother of Consolation,
who understands the shape of our tears,
each round drop,
like a minature world holding our grief,
sorrow,
hurt,
anger.
O Mother of Consolation,
who has drank so deeply of the well of sorrow,
listen to the aching of our hearts,
the hearts torn by sin,
ours or others,
hot pain at the sudden death
that can rain out of the sky unearned and unseen,
the loneliest grief,
shut up in a room that even in bright sunlight
seems to have no windows,
the wracking pain of a hard death,
the knowledge of wrong done that haunts
and refuses to go away,
the helplessness of watching a child die
and all the other pains and griefs and sorrows
we pour into your lap.
O Mother of Consolation,
Pray for us
when we are lost in our darkness,
blinded by our pain,
tormented by what we have done
or what was done to us,
and turn to you,
whom we know has plunged
into the very depths of grief and loss,
you, who in your mercy,
has never left anyone unaided.
Remember those especially
who are so wrapped up in their pain
and the events which overwhelm them
that they do not know who to turn to,
that they do not know who will aid them,
but cry out with their wounded hearts,
"Help me!"
O Mother of Consolation,
Ask your dear Son to forgive us
for all those times when the greed of our hearts,
the desire of our minds,
the grasping of our hands
causes that pain,
and ask Him to give us hearts like his, like yours,
filled with love even when
the darkness seems overwhelming.
O Mother of our Lord,
thank you for loving,
for being our mother,
for always saying yes to God,
for being with us in our miseries.
O Mother of Consolation,
Mother of the word incarnate,
pray for us now,
and at the hour of our deaths, Amen..
Susan E. Stone, 2006
who understands the shape of our tears,
each round drop,
like a minature world holding our grief,
sorrow,
hurt,
anger.
O Mother of Consolation,
who has drank so deeply of the well of sorrow,
listen to the aching of our hearts,
the hearts torn by sin,
ours or others,
hot pain at the sudden death
that can rain out of the sky unearned and unseen,
the loneliest grief,
shut up in a room that even in bright sunlight
seems to have no windows,
the wracking pain of a hard death,
the knowledge of wrong done that haunts
and refuses to go away,
the helplessness of watching a child die
and all the other pains and griefs and sorrows
we pour into your lap.
O Mother of Consolation,
Pray for us
when we are lost in our darkness,
blinded by our pain,
tormented by what we have done
or what was done to us,
and turn to you,
whom we know has plunged
into the very depths of grief and loss,
you, who in your mercy,
has never left anyone unaided.
Remember those especially
who are so wrapped up in their pain
and the events which overwhelm them
that they do not know who to turn to,
that they do not know who will aid them,
but cry out with their wounded hearts,
"Help me!"
O Mother of Consolation,
Ask your dear Son to forgive us
for all those times when the greed of our hearts,
the desire of our minds,
the grasping of our hands
causes that pain,
and ask Him to give us hearts like his, like yours,
filled with love even when
the darkness seems overwhelming.
O Mother of our Lord,
thank you for loving,
for being our mother,
for always saying yes to God,
for being with us in our miseries.
O Mother of Consolation,
Mother of the word incarnate,
pray for us now,
and at the hour of our deaths, Amen..
Susan E. Stone, 2006
Labels: Help, Mary, Mother of Consolation, Suffering
