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

Music source

Video source