Friday, January 1, 2016

Birthsong (David Haas)

   Her baby newly breathing,
               with wailing, needful cry,
               by Mary kissed and cradled,
               is lulled in lullaby.
               Long months of hope and waiting,
               the thrill and fear of birth,
               are crowned with exultation,
               and God is on the earth.
          
               The eyes that gaze at Mary 
   have yet to name or trace 
   the world of shape and color, 
   or recognize a face, 
   yet Holiness Eternal 
   is perfectly expressed 
   in hands that clutch unthinking 
   and lips that tug the breast. 
                           
   The milk of life is flowing 
   as Mary guides and feeds 
   her wordless Word, embodied 
   in infant joys and needs. 
   Enormous, formless strivings, 
   and yearnings deep and wide, 
   becradled in communion, 
   are fed and satisfied. 
                           
   How mother-like the Wisdom 
   that carried and gave birth 
   to all things, seen and unseen, 
   and nurtured infant earth, 
   unstinting, unprotected, 
   prepared for nail and thorn, 
   constricted into maleness, 
   and of a woman born. 

   January 1st is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God!

You can hear this beautiful Christmas song by the Catholic composer David Haas on his CD 
Star Child -- just click on the video below:






Image source (1):  Andrea Solario, Virgin of the Green Cushion (1507-1510)

Image source (2):  Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco.  Photo credit:  Fr. Patrick Michaels


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