Template for Eucharist for Native American Heritage Month 2025 (All Saints' Readings)

Hunger, Walter Ufer, 1919

    

Acknowledgement for the Land ^{standing as able}    adapted from All Saints’ Church, Minneapolis

 

Presider      Creator, you made all people of every land. It is our responsibility to give thanks and respect to those who first occupied this land we are upon. We give thanks to the Missouria, the Osage, the Ioway, the Illiniwek, the O-Gah-Pah, and the Mound Builders, the First Peoples of this land. We offer our respect to those ancestors who may be interred in this land. We are also thankful for the gifts of the People of the land. 

All           Creator, let us be of good mind to reconcile the mistreatment of this land and to those who have been displaced. Let us seek relationship and reconciliation in action as well as words. With thankful and respectful hearts we pray in your Name, Your Son the peacemaker, and the Sacred Spirit. Amen.

 

 

Opening Acclamation ^{standing as able}    "Canticle of the North Shore," the Rev. Howard Anderson

Presider      O give thanks to our Creator who is good

              Whose love endures forever.

All           You sun, moon, and stars and the northern lights 

                  give to our Creator thanks and praise.

Presider      Sunrise and sunset, night and day 

              give to our Creator thanks and praise.

All           Hills, valleys, wetlands and lakes, fog, rain, mist, and snow 

                  give to our Creator thanks and praise. 

Presider      Birch, pine, spruce and maple, moss and ferns

              give to our Creator thanks and praise.

All           Lake trout and walleye, bass and northern,

                  loons and herons, ducks and geese 

                  give to our Creator thanks and praise.

Presider      Deer, moose, cats and dogs, 

              eagle and sparrow, grouse and hawk

              give to our Creator thanks and praise.

All           Young and old, women and men, 

                  saints and faithful of the Great Northern Woods 

                  give to our Creator thanks and praise. 

 

Gathering Prayer ^seated                                       Ojibwe, The Rt. Rev. Mark McDonald

Presider      Creator, we give you thanks for all you are and all you bring to us for our visit within your creation. In Jesus, you place the gospel in the Center of this Sacred Circle through which all of creation is related. You show us the way to live a generous and compassionate life.

All           Give us your strength to live together with respect and commitment as we grow in your spirit, for you are God, now and forever. Amen.

 

The Collect ^seated

Presider      God be with you.

People        And also with you.

Presider      Let us pray. 

All              Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

 

First Reading ^seated                                                               Luke 6:20-31, NRSV

Leader        A reading from the Gospel according to Luke.

 

Leader        Jesus looked up at his disciples and said:

              “Blessed are you who are poor,

All                                                        for yours is the kingdom of God.

Leader        “Blessed are you who are hungry now,

All                                                        for you will be filled. 

Leader        “Blessed are you who are poor,

All                                                        for yours is the kingdom of God.

 

Leader        “Blessed are you who weep now,

All                                                        for you will be filled. 

Leader        “Blessed are you when people hate you, 

                  and when they exclude you, 

                  revile you, 

                  and defame you on account of the Son of Man.

All                                                        Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, 

                                             for surely your reward is great in heaven; 

                                             for that is what their ancestors did 

                                             to the prophets." 

Leader        "But woe to you who are rich,

All                                                        for you have received your consolation.

Leader        "Woe to you who are full now,

All                                                        for you will be hungry.

Leader        "Woe to you who are laughing now,

All                                                        for you will mourn and weep.

Leader        "Woe to you when all speak well of you,

All                                                        for that is what their ancestors did 

                                             to the false prophets.

Leader        "But I say to you that listen,

All                                                        Love your enemies, 

                                              do good to those who hate you, 

                                              bless those who curse you, 

                                              pray for those who abuse you.

Leader        If anyone strikes you on the cheek, 

                  offer the other also; 

              and from anyone who takes away your coat 

                  do not withhold even your shirt. 

              Give to everyone who begs from you; 

                  and if anyone takes away your goods, 

                  do not ask for them again.

All                                                        Do to others 

                                             as you would have them do to you.

                  Pause. Breathe.

 

Leader        Hear what the Spirit is saying to the people.

All              Thanks be to God.

 

The Gospel:   Proclaiming the Good News! ^seated  Luke 6:20-31, First Nations Version of the New Testament

Leader        The Holy Gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ according to Luke.

People        Glory to you, Lord Christ.

We will now hear the same gospel passage from the First Nations Version of the New Testament. See what new meaning arises. Let the precious words take root within you. In each section, see which word claims your mind or heart. Say it aloud in the pause afterward.

 

Leader        Creator Sets Free (Jesus) looked out over the crowd of his followers and began to teach them about 

              the ways of Creator’s good road. 

              “Creator’s blessing rests on you who are poor and in need.

All                                                        The good road is yours to walk.

Leader        “Creator’s blessing rests on you who hunger now,

All                                                        for you will be filled to the full.

Leader        Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who weep now,

All                                                        for your sorrow will turn into laughter.

Leader        “Creator’s blessing rests on you 

                  when you are hated and rejected, 

                  looked down on and treated as worthless, 

                  all because you have chosen to walk the good road 

                  with the True Human Being.

All                                                        “When this happens,  

                                             let your hearts be glad and jump for joy!

                                             The spirit-world above will honor you,

                                             for this is the same way your ancestors

                                             treated the prophets of their day.

                                             You are walking in their moccasins now!”

W ~~Pause; Breathe; Name the word or phrase that rings for you.~~ W

Leader        Here is what he said to the privileged among the people: 

              “Sorrow and trouble will be the end of you 

                   who store up possessions for yourselves,

All                                                        for you have already had a life of ease.

Leader        “Sorrow and trouble will be the end 

              of you who eat your fill now.

All                                                        You will go hungry later.

Leader        “Sorrow and trouble will be the end 

              of you who are laughing about this now,

All                                                        for your own trail of tears is coming.

Leader        “Sorrow and trouble will be your end, 

              when others say only good things about you,

All                                                        for that is what our ancestors said

                                             about the prophets who told lies.

W ~~Pause; Breathe; Name the word or phrase that rings for you.~~ W

Leader        “Hear me, you who are listening now,

All                                                        I am telling you to love your enemies,

                                              do good to the ones who look down on you,

                                              return blessing for cursing,

                                              and send up good prayers for the ones 

                                             who give you trouble and pain.

Leader        “If someone slaps you on the side of your face, 

                  show the strength of your heart and offer the other side. 

              In the same way, if a thief takes your coat, 

                  offer your shirt also. 

              “When someone in need asks, 

                  do not hold back. 

              Do what you can to help. 

              If someone takes what is yours, 

                  let them keep it.

All                                                        “Here is another way to see what I am saying:

                                                            Help others in the same way 

                                             you would want them to help you.

W ~~Pause; Breathe; Name the word or phrase that rings for you.~~ W

 

Leader        The Gospel of the Lord.

All              Thanks be to God.

 

The Homily: Inviting the Word Into Our Lives                            Presider

 

Prayers of the People for Ordinary Time                70^th General Convention, 1991

Leader        Let us pray to our Creator in the name of Jesus Christ our Brother. Let us remember that everything a Native American does is in a circle, and that is because the Great Spirit always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In the old days it was believed that all our power came to the Indian from the sacred hoop of the nation and tribe, and so long as the hoop was unbroken the people flourished. Therefore let us pray together, saying 

All              Lord, mend the hoop of your people.

Leader        Everything the Great Spirit does is done in a circle. The canopy of the sky is round and the earth is round like a ball and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same and both are round.

All              Lord, mend the hoop of your people.

Leader        Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a person is a circle from childhood to adulthood and so it is in everything where power moves. Hogans, teepees, and igloos are round like the nests of birds and they are always set in a circle and therefore the nation's hoop is a nest of many nests.

All              Lord, mend the hoop of your people.

Leader        The hoop, the circle, has been broken by hurts, wars, massacres, discrimination, and racial jokes, by stereotypes and mean words and suspicious stares. All the people have hurt others and been hurt by others. It is time to say “I'm sorry” to each other and to our Creator and again make our hoop, our circle, strong.

All              Lord, mend the hoop of your people.

Leader        God be with you.

All              And also with you.

Leader        Let us pray. 

                  Lord Jesus, you told your people: if you bring your gift to the altar and there recall that someone has anything against you, leave your gift at the altar, go first to be reconciled, make friends with that person again, and come and offer your gift. We come now to you as a family in need of your mercy and love. We ask you to bring peace to our conflicts with charity to those we have offended.

All              Lord, mend the hoop of your people.

Leader        For the times we have failed to love and forgive others,

All              Lord, mend the hoop of your people.

Leader        For the times we have failed to ask forgiveness,

All              Lord, mend the hoop of your people.

Leader        For the times we have made fun of others, especially because of racial and cultural difference,

All              Lord, mend the hoop of your people.

Leader        In intercession for those who are part of this Christian community and yet not present with us this day, we pray for the sick and the infirm; for those who have departed this life; and for the unevangelized. We give you thanks for making us one in the spirit through prayer.

All              Lord Christ, we thank you for having mended the hoop of your people.

Leader        We offer up these petitions and thanksgivings in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ even as we pray together:

Silence

X

(Leader reads names of those on our prayer list: 

please add your own concerns and thanksgivings)

X

All              Lord God, Creator of all things and all peoples, may we now walk in a circle of love and power. Let us be like rays of light, like flowers bright with light, like a great tree mighty in the roots, mighty in the top, that reaches the sky where the leaves catch the light, and sing with the wind a song of the circle. Let our life be like the rainbows whose colors teach us unity. Let us, Almighty God, follow the great circle, the roundness of power, and be at one with the moon and the sun and the circling ripples of water. We ask it in Jesus’ name. AMEN.

 

The Peace ^{standing as able, then greet each other with a bow or wave or anjali mudra}

Presider      The peace of God be always with you,

People        And also with you.

{{Greet one another in the name of Christ. {{

 

Offering

As the table is prepared for Holy Communion, gifts of bread and wine are brought up by members of the congregation to the chapel altar. At this time, we also pass the offering plate to present our monetary offerings to God out of gratitude. Once the table is prepared, we ask the congregation to rise and acknowledge our gratitude and offerings to God with these words:

Presider     All things come from you, O Lord.

People       We offer our gifts in return 

just as our elders and ancestors teach us. 

It is through this sharing of what we have to give 

              that we have found strength beyond imagining. Amen.

THE HOLY COMMUNION 

(written by the Rev. Canon Debbie Royals, Pasca Yaqui, or the Diocese of Arizona, who holds the copyright but has granted us her gracious permission for its use).

(Children are always welcome to come forward to see.)

 

The Great Thanksgiving ^{standing as able}

Presider      Creator God be with you.

People        And also with you.

Presider      Let your hearts sing.

People        We lift our voices in preparation for this ceremony.

Presider      Let us give thanks to Creator.

People        It is right to give our thanks and praise.

 

The people may sit. The Presider continues

From the place of the rising sun in the East 

to the South where the warm winds blow, 

from the West where soft rain comes

and to the coldness of the North 

we unite with all creation from the four directions 

to join our voices 

in songs of thanksgiving and praise 

for the gift of your son, Jesus Christ, 

our Elder Brother. 

With hearts lifted, we join with our ancestors

who taught us to pray as they have prayed 

since the beginning of time:

 

ALL            Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might. 

              Heaven and earth are full of your glory. 

              Hosanna in the highest. 

              Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. 

              Hosanna in the highest.

Presider

O Great Spirit, Our Creator, 

you gave us the gift of ceremony; 

you taught us that everything is sacred 

and you asked us to walk with you 

on a path towards peace and love. 

Just as in generations past,

like our grandfathers grandmothers, 

we come humbly 

with arms outstretched 

to honor you 

and all that you have created 

for all of creation. 

Together with all creation 

we live interdependently,

and marveling that when we do, 

creation serves as its best reflection 

of the awesome wonder that you are in our eyes.

 

You have always cared for us, 

even when it seemed that there was no way 

to save our misuse of creation and mistreatment of each other. 

Many years ago, 

you came to us as a human being 

so that we might understand you 

in a way that would help us find the path you had intended for us. 

Our Elder Brother, Jesus, as he was called, 

came into creation in the same way that all humanity is born 

because people had turned away from you 

and no longer loved each other, 

bringing death and destruction to all. 

Sharing our living and dying, 

our Elder Brother Jesus opened our eyes and our hearts 

to understand that we are all relatives 

and that you, our Creator, love us all.

 

Jesus lived in a good way. 

He rejected no one, 

fed the hungry, 

gave water to the thirsty, 

and broke down the barriers that had been created 

between race, class, and sex. 

But, he paid a price for his loving ways. 

When it was his time, 

he stretched out his arms upon the cross and died. 

In this sacrifice 

our Elder Brother Jesus united us in all that is beauty, 

with all that has been and all that will ever be.

 

(At these words the Presider holds the bread and says)

On the night before He died, 

he gave us another ceremony. 

He gathered those who had been closest to him for a meal. 

During the meal our Elder Brother Jesus took bread, 

gave thanks to you, blessed it, broke it, 

and gave it to his friends, and said:

“Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. 
                  Do this for the remembrance of ME.”

R bells ring R

 

(At these words the Presider lifts the cup and says)

After supper our Elder Brother Jesus took the cup of wine, 

gave thanks to you, blessed it, 

gave it to his friends, and said: 

“Drink this, all of you:

This cup is the new Covenant in my Blood,
poured out for you and for all 

for the forgiveness of sins.  

Do this for the remembrance of me.”

R bells ring R

 

We found it hard to understand these words and actions, 

but we followed the path celebrating this ceremony 

from that time until now. 

Through our experiences then we proclaim this mystery of faith:

All              Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

 

In this ceremony that our Elder Brother Jesus gave us, 

we have experienced a transformation of our spirits. 

We have been brought into the death of Jesus 

and raised into his resurrection, 

and we eat and drink with him in his new life. 

We have noticed that when we come together for this ceremony, 

we all leave nurtured and nourished 

no matter how lost we feel 

and no matter how hungry we have been. 

 

Presider (touching bread and wine)

We also offer our gifts in return 

just as our elders and ancestors teach us. 

It is through this sharing of what we have to give 

that we have found strength beyond imagining.

 

All

So, now once again, 

we humbly call upon your spirit, 

we cry for a vision.

Feed us, quench our thirst, 

make these simple elements from your creation 

to be Christ's body and Christ's blood. 

We cry for the vision 

that will help us to be your holy people 

in all that we do, 

in all that we see, 

in all that we hear, 

in all that we breathe 

and in all that we speak.

U Come Creator Spirit. 

Come now and be for us the holy food and drink 

that your people cry out for in this ceremony. 

 

Surrounded now by our ancestor spirits, 

we celebrate with all of creation – 

the two legged, the four legged, the winged, 

those that crawl and those that swim, 

those that give shade and those that offer us pleasing aromas – 

for together we see the awesome nature of all creation, 

the need to be one family living in relationship, 

interdependently and yet as one. 

May we be this unity and live as relatives to all. 

Through Jesus the Christ 

and with Jesus the Christ 

and in Jesus the Christ, 

made possible by your Holy Spirit, 

we join with you our God and Creator 

as a community of relatives.

All              Blessed are you now and for ever. AMEN.

R bells ring R

Presider

And now, as Jesus taught us, we pray:

 

The Lord’s Prayer ^{(Standing, in unison)}                                                  Nez Perce

O Great Spirit, Creator of the Universe,

You are our Shepherd Chief in the most high place

Whose home is everywhere, even beyond the stars and moon.

Whatever you want done, let it be done everywhere.

Give us your gift of bread day by day.

Forgive our wrongs as we forgive those who wrong us.

Take us away from wrong doings.

Free us from all evil, for everything belongs to you. 

Let your power and glory shine forever. Amen.

 

Fraction Anthem

Presider      Alleluia. We break this bread to share in the Body.

All              We who are many are one Body,

For we all share in the one bread. Alleluia.

 

At Communion, all are invited to come forward. If you would like the host to be intincted, please indicate so and it will be placed in your hand. Communion in one kind is a complete sacrament.

 

 

Prayer After Communion

Presider      Let us pray. 

All              We thank you, Creator God, for feeding us, 

nurturing us and reminding us 

that you are ever present, our companion. 

As we leave this Sacred Circle, 

may we carry away the memory of this time together 

so that we may continue in the risen life of Christ, 

the one who comes 

that all people might live with dignity and in peace.  AMEN.

 

Announcements- Birthdays-- Anniversaries

 

Benediction                                                                              Shinnecock

Presider

O Great Spirit, who has filled the world with beauty,

open our eyes to behold thy gracious hand,

in all thy work keep our hearts thankful and our vision clear,

as we seek to fulfill your blessings.
And the blessing of God Almighty,

U the Creator, the Sanctifier, and the Inspirer,U

rest upon you, this day and every day. Amen.

Fungus on Fallen Alder at Lookout Creek

     

Florid, fluted, flowery petal, flounce

of a girl’s dress, ruffled fan,
striped in what seems to my simple eye
an excess of extravagance,
intricately ribboned like a secret
code, a colorist’s vision of DNA.
At the outermost edge a scallop
of ivory, then a tweedy russet,
then mouse gray, a crescent
of celadon velvet, a streak of sleek seal brown,
a dark arc of copper, then butter,
then celadon again, again butter, again
copper and on into the center, striped thinner
and thinner to the green, green moss-furry heart.
How can this be necessary?
Yet it grows and is making more
of itself, dozens and dozens of tiny starts, stars
no bigger than a baby’s thumbnail,
all of them sucking one young dead tree
on a gravel bank that will be washed away
in the next flooding winter. But isn’t the air here
cool and wet and almost unbearably sweet?

-- Ellen Bass (1947- ) American poet and  Chancellor Emeritus of the American Academy of Poets

Faith

When I cannot believe,
The brown herds still move across green fields
Into the tufty hills, and I was born
Higher, where I could watch them as a bird might.
When even memory seems imagined, what
Can I bring to prayer? A pair of knees.
The great faith that built a stair to heaven
As now my memory tries to climb a hill,
Becomes an old stone building, a deaf priest
Whose hand is in the pockets of his parish,
Who longs to buy a bell he'll never hear.
The water in the font is cold, I trace
A circle on my brow and not a cross.

-- Michael Schmidt (1947- ) British poet, novelist, and professor

Jesus Feeds the Birds

And it’s not always pretty.

Those lilies clothed in Solomon’s splendor
splotch with the leftover tufts

of field mice. For every hummingbird
darting at an orchid, every goldfinch
nibbling a quivering primrose stalk,

is an osprey disemboweling a flounder
or a golden eagle snapping
a badger’s neck midair. They do not

sow or heap seed heads in barns.
They swoop and pluck
in the moment, just as their meals

suddenly find themselves
sliding down a gullet. Of course I can’t
forget them, the ragged spirits of prey,

the grains and spores that never
had a chance to germinate. The dead
scamper and bloom in the shadow

of my wings, spreading and trailing
in a train of many colors, and oh,
the conversations we have.

-----Tania Runyan, NEA fellow, and poet

Scripture reference: Luke 12:22-31, 11th Sunday after Pentecost C

Easter

Lent gathers up her cloak of sombre shading

   In her reluctant hands.

Her beauty heightens, fairest in its fading,
   As pensively she stands
Awaiting Easter’s benediction falling,
   Like silver stars at night,
Before she can obey the summons calling
   Her to her upward flight,
Awaiting Easter’s wings that she must borrow
   Ere she can hope to fly—
Those glorious wings that we shall see to-morrow
   Against the far, blue sky.
Has not the purple of her vesture’s lining
   Brought calm and rest to all?
Has her dark robe had naught of golden shining
   Been naught but pleasure’s pall?
Who knows? Perhaps when to the world returning
   In youth’s light joyousness,
We’ll wear some rarer jewels we found burning
   In Lent’s black-bordered dress.
So hand in hand with fitful March she lingers
   To beg the crowning grace
Of lifting with her pure and holy fingers
   The veil from April’s face.
Sweet, rosy April—laughing, sighing, waiting
   Until the gateway swings,
And she and Lent can kiss between the grating
   Of Easter’s tissue wings.
Too brief the bliss—the parting comes with sorrow.
   Good-bye dear Lent, good-bye!
We’ll watch your fading wings outlined to-morrow
   Against the far blue sky.

---Tekahionwake (Emily Pauline Johnson) (1961-1913), Canadian-Mohawk poet, Chautauqua speaker, journalist, storyteller, and Indigenous advocate.

Like Jesus to the Crows

    

that gathered there along his arms,
upon the invitation of a slender limb.
And not oblivious to human violence
perhaps needed rest or needed to offer
the succor of presence, despite the
stiff collar of their feathers, despite
each one being no less the children
of a father who claimed an upper realm.

It is not true they pecked his eyes. Nor
did they consider his wounds
their own. They were neither irreverent
nor quiet. They spoke in the tongues
they knew. They cawed full voiced
and would have released him from his
bindings had their beaks held the power
and had there been time in that place.

Like them, I have sought to comfort and
so be comforted. Like them
I have seen the failure of miracles when
they were most needed. Like Him, I
have called upon those so unlike myself
when my father failed to answer.

--- Vievee Francis, poet, professor, and associate  editor of Cullaloo, from Forest Primeval, 2016

Image: Jesus, by Tamàs Kerti, Hungarian artist and 3-D animator

St. Dismas

 

St. Dismas

I think of you as the prince carried home, lord, lion
With a thorn mane riding on the thumbs
Of hunters in the black air smiling,
So hungry. You’re bleeding. I need to believe in
So I believe in your blood, the long down-rivers of your waist.
Listen, is this how fathers love?
I hear your chest try to escape its ruined field,
I hear how your cheek lolls in the dark
Of your neck. Forgive parts the dry lips, lord,
Can we all live in that murmur, the slight press of tooth
To tongue. Do we speak to them, down there? Spit and split
The moonlight. Your mother’s hands float on our feet like water.
I want that you remember me when you get there,
Take me through the shock, roped by biceps,
Already part way up the sky.
Who dies first. Who dies in the lanternlight swinging.
I begin to love you deep
In the valve your father pinned
In my heart

-- Eve Jones, poet, photographer, and professor at Lindenwood University (MFA UMSL), from Dappled Things journal

39One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" 40But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong." 42Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." 43He replied, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."-- Luke 23:39-43

Scripture Reference: Luke 22:14-23:56 (The Passion Narrative), Palm/Passion Sunday, Good Friday; Reign of Christ C Proper 29C

Image: Remember Me, Barbara de Reus Kamma, New Guinean/Dutch, chamois leather and scrap wood, story can be found here at artway.eu.

Taize: "Jesus, Remember Me..."

Her Stations of the Cross

I.

Here mothers move more than others

into Mary’s mourning, each chorus

a soul full of crosses, weighted

with her child dying

continuously in the contemplation

of our contrition.


II. 

That once-upon-a-time angel’s voice

stretching anew her middle-aged womb,

she who once sang Magnify, O Magnify,

when all she screams for now

is mercy in her urgent rebirth

of sorrow.

III. 

When he stumbles,

she cannot fix his fall,

cannot cradle the boyhood

scrapes and bruises bleeding

into crowd-sanctioned murder.

No cock crows; she hears his groans

as if the world’s bones

are splintering within her.

 

IV. 

Besides the tree, he carries

the tears of the one who carried him

beneath her Eve ribs, lifted him

into a world he breathed as good,

gone now into this God-crucified-

as-her-son catastrophe

for salvation’s sake.

V. 

Simon of Cyrene stands close

Understanding too well the two sorrows—

mother and son helpless to comfort the other—

he heaves up and shoulders

the burdens of both,

his back the black tablet

of Moses’ commandments fulfilled

to the jot and tittle.

VI. 

Veronica—eyes swollen

for the Madonna and Child

wrenched from their rightful honor—

lifts her veil to cool the Savior’s pain,

alleviate, however slightly, a mother’s anguish.

VII. 

Thorns gouge the brow she stroked. 

The sweat-caked man that came out of her 

stumbles again. Already,

the sharp nails gnaw her own palms.

VIII. 

Oh, daughters of Jerusalem,

your tears sweep the streets,

wet the weary soles of Mary.

Weep for your own children

forever dashing away from Yahweh.

 

IX. 

Wretched stones that tip her sinless child,

dirt that drives down the innocent son.

His own earth hurts him more each tumble.

Three times he trips,

crashes to the dust we are,

mortal muscles turning their backs

on Man and his Mother.


X. 

Threads twisted by her own fingers,

tugged carefully through cloth:

this is the tunic they rip from him,

fabric tattooed with red;

she remembers his baby body

blood-splattered and matted.

XI. 

Her soul stabbed by the tree

that slays her son. Her heart nailed.

She swears his life spurts

from her barely breathing body.

XII. 

Death is indigo and indelible, 

the Roman sky collapsed and re-scribbled

on the shreds of her memories.

She cannot bear to look upon his face

when breath forgets its maker.

XIII. 

Ten thousand stillborns better

than this: his torso in her arms, 

icon of the inconsolable,

the flesh Pietà with its nails of pain, 

pounding, pounding. 

XIV. 

The hewn tomb seals her grief.

She remembers his first words,

his final prayer. All else rots

within her. They swaddle him,

implant him quickly behind stone. 


-- Marjorie Maddox (1959- ), American poet, editor, children's book and short story author, and teacher,  from Weeknights at the Cathedral (2006)