TO ST. TERESA OF AVILA

As a strong spiritual mother,

You reliably and respectably

Reformed the Carmelite order,

And your holy friendship

With St. John of the Cross

Helped your soul spiral upwards

Towards the Heavenly Kingdom;

Then, you closed your eyes and

Your spirit penetrated into the heart

Of the Interior Castle of prayer,

And there, during the dark night,

You discovered the true Light.

THE LIGHT OF THE WORD

“When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.” (Matthew 7:28-29)

“Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword….” (Hebrews 4:12)

It is before mass,

Quiet and still,

And I wholeheartedly pray

As I prepare to proclaim

The magnificent Word of God,

For I am a lector today,

And so I sit in the third pew,

Close to the beautiful ambo,

Which stands in stately majesty,

High in the sanctuary.

The sonorous bell

Awakens me from prayer,

And I stand as the mass begins,

Then, after the relatively brief

Opening prayers of holy mass,

I walk towards the sanctuary

And slowly ascend the steps

Near the ambo,

The Dark One intensifies

His attacks upon me,

Vociferously and maliciously

Accusing me and taunting me.

I feel like Peter, stepping out of the boat,

Approaching Jesus on the water,

Because I know for a certainty

That if I take my eyes off the Lord,

I will swiftly sink and drown

In this insidious Sea of Lies.

But Our Lady takes me by the hand,

And leads me up the marble steps,

Urging me to strive for divine union

With the most holy Word of God,

And although I don’t see anything,

I can feel the warmth of His Love,

And the closer I get to His Word,

The more my heart leaps with joy.

Finally, I stand before His throne,

The throne of His Word,

And as I begin to proclaim

The Sacred Scriptures --

The Good, the True, the Beautiful --

I feel transformed by the fruit of the Spirit.

Then the Light of the World

Brilliantly and dazzlingly shines forth

From His Holy Word,

Filling the entire nave of the church

With the unfathomable Light of Divine Mercy,

And the unimaginably beautiful Light of Love.

And, thus, He generously opens

Our blind eyes and deaf ears,

And we recognize the presence

Of Our Savior and King,

The King of the Universe,

Who generously pours His wisdom

Into our weak, troubled minds,

And, lo, we too are now filled

With the Lord’s light.

But, to speak honestly,

I, a poor miserable sinner,

Recognize my own unworthiness;

For just as a donkey

Cannot take credit for the riches

Of gold and silver

That his good master

Piles upon his back,

I too can take no credit

For the shining forth

Of this great heavenly light.

After this holy encounter,

I don’t feel like the same person,

Indeed, my poor miserable life

Has been transformed by the Transfigured,

And, behold, my life --

Indeed all of our lives --

Are now a new creation!

TO ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS

A mystical priest, you are paradoxical:

Hated, you encountered Love,

Suffering, you experienced joy,

In trouble, you found peace,

Isolated, you surrendered in patience,

Maltreated, you felt kindness,

Kidnapped, you were generous,

Abandoned, you kept faith,

Abused, you replied with mildness,

Unknown, you became famous,

Imprisoned, you found freedom,

In the dark night, you discovered Light.

TO ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA

It took a cannonball

For God to get your attention,

To teach you what it is 

To be a true knight --

A knight of Christ;

And so He guided you

In founding the Jesuit order,

And as the Light shone through

The colorful prism of your mind,

You discovered God’s beauty,

God’s goodness, God’s truth;

May your Spiritual Exercises

Draw us more deeply into

The Sacred Heart of Jesus,

To be intellectually illumined,

To be socially sympathetic,

To be aesthetically alive,

To be spiritually strong.

TO SAN JUAN DIEGO

Humility was your middle name,

So at Tepeyac to you she came;

You really didn’t know what to say,

Your only thought was to stop and pray;

You became Our Lady’s holy slave,

Always trustworthy, and very brave;

You saw sweet roses out of season,

The Virgin gave them for a reason;

Then you brought them to the bishop’s place,

The people filled with God’s dazzling grace;

As at your tilma everyone gazed,

The most wondrous sign left all amazed.

TO ST. THOMAS MORE

You were the Lord High Chancellor

  Under the infamous Henry the Eight,

At first you tasted the king’s friendship,

  But later on the sovereign’s hate;

You were a right honorable gentleman,

  With an intellectually sharp mind,

With courage you stood against the crown,

  For, sadly, it was spiritually blind;

So you were put in the Tower of London,

  A place that vile criminals dreaded,

You faithfully served the good God first,

  Thus, the monarch had you beheaded;

In this world, you bravely battled for truth,

  The people, you’d never mislead ‘em,

Now from Heaven you pray for us all,

  As the patron of religious freedom.

TO ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA

Inspired by the writing of this great saint

You stand atop a holy bridge,

A bridge that has several levels,

Like the historic Ponte Vecchio,

And the waves of the worldly waters

Are swarming with sea demons who

Obsessively seek souls to rip open

With their blade-like bloody teeth,

And their cold cadaverous claws,

To torture them in The Endless Death;

But some souls, through God’s grace, 

Cling to the edge of the first level

Of the bridge, dripping wet and

Shivering, terrified of going to hell,

So they clutch tightly to the bridge,

Fearing that they will fall back into

The turbulent black river of doom;

Other souls, through God’s strength, 

Climb up higher to the second level

Where they are safe from the evil

Threat below, in a place of serene

Consolation, where happiness can

Finally reign in their grateful hearts;

However, there are still others who

Through their passionate prayers 

And through total surrender

To Jesus’ most Holy Cross,

Climb to the top of the bridge,

And there -- yes, there! -- they are

Pierced by the overwhelming beauty

Of the magnificent heavenly realm,

Where Jesus’ peace surrounds them, 

Where Jesus’ joy enthralls them, 

Where Jesus’ love embraces them.

UNIVERSITEE EDUKATION

I’m gettin’ a good edukation,

Full o’ lots o’ rekreation;

Critical thinkin’ is not fer me,

Yet my grades ‘r’ ne’er below a “B”;

Pop’s big bucks send me here,

Mebbe I can stay another year;

I go to all the parties and football games,

Then I get drunk with the guys and dames;

The beautiful, good, and true???

Who cares! Just gimme a brew!

TO SANT' ANGELA DI FOLIGNO

Forty years in pursuit of 

Wealth and worldly respect,

Before you realized

It was all totally worthless;

But you made up for lost time

As the Wonder Counselor

Graciously removed the

Dead weight out of your life

So that you would be free,

Free to follow Him forever;

You generously gave away

Almost all you owned,

And Jesus sweetly filled you

With the fruit of the Spirit;

Like Augustine, too late

Did you know Him, but

Thanks to The Divine Mercy,

It’s never, ever too late

To finally find The Beautiful,

To finally find The Good,

To finally find The True:

God is love.

TO SANTA MARGHERITA DI CORTONA

You had a bewitching beauty,

And an intoxicating charm,

Their seductive magical spell

Gave you great power,

Power over the hearts of men,

Who fell head over heels in

Lust with you.

You loved it,

You loved the attention,

You loved the sense of control,

But, one day, as you walked

In the woods, your life was

Changed forever through

God’s mystical divine mercy.

You stumbled across the corpse

Of your dear beloved Arsenio,

And what fears then whirled

Through your agitated mind!

You reflected on the horrors of hell,

The suffering of unspeakable torments,

The wailing, lamentation, and despair!

Pricked by the pitchforks of

Painful recollection and also

Fear of the Living Death,

You fell to your knees and,

Like the penitent Magdalene,

You allowed the good God

To make you a new creation.

You became a Franciscan tertiary,

Serving the needs of the poor

In holy purity and simplicity,

Loving your holy Lord oh so

Deeply and passionately,

Wanting others to know the

Sweetness of intimacy with Him.

TO ST. BONAVENTURE

You were the genius blessed by God

Who spoke of the holy marriage of

Faith and reason, and, indeed,

What a fruitful couple they make.

You were the teacher blessed by God

Who showed that everything we do,

No matter how great or how small,

Should point us towards Heaven.

You were the diplomat blessed by God

Who brought Light to the Franciscan order, 

And as the sagacious Seraphic Doctor,

You were an instrument of God’s peace.

TO SANT' ANTONIO DI PADOVA

They knew you as a Franciscan friar,

And your wise words lit in them a fire;

You preached to the fish when men wouldn’t hear,

They leaped from the water, filled with good cheer;

Then some envious men poisoned your cup,

They stared, aghast, when you drank it all up;

Before you heretics always cower,

Since through you God shows His mighty power;

When we really feel we have lost our mind,

Your passionate prayers help us Jesus find.

TO ST. CLARE OF ASSISI

Your exquisite bright blue eyes

   are soft and serene,

 Beholding the remarkable

   richness of God’s creation;

Your honey hair cascades

   over your shoulders like a

Wonderful waterfall of God’s

   ineffable, indelible love;

Yet you choose to be a

   princess of holy poverty,

And your only wish is to

   sweetly serve in simplicity;

You are a faithful friend to

   the good Saint Francis,

As you both sacrificially surrender

   to Jesus the Just;

You are a merciful mother

   to the nuns of San Damiano,

As you guide them in purity

   and prudence and peace;

You are a beauteous bride

   to Christ the Courageous,

And your soul is bedecked with

   the precious pearls of virtue;

As you fervently follow in the

   footsteps of Our Loving Lord,

May we too live on in

   the laudable light of Christ.

TO ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

Your jolly, joyful eyes dreamily dance

  to the sublime, saintly symphony

Of the unimaginably beautiful creations

  of the Most High Lord God;

Your pious, prayerful persistence

  and earnest embrace transform the

Leprous lechery of our lives into

  the radiant Son-shine of lasting love;

Your voice, like a melodious and

  musical church bell, resonates and

Reverberates throughout the ages

  with the clarity and purity of truth;

Your simple, kindly actions speak

  louder than the sonic boom of the

Ghastly gossip and eloquently

  empty chatter of the world.

TO ST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX

Good St. Bernard, you love

Our Lord and Our Lady so much:

You were a sincere confessor,

But in the confessional, 

You were too severe,

Far far too severe,

And so the Spirit taught you

Gentleness, sweet gentleness;

Maybe it was from you that

St. Francis de Sales learned,

For he so famously said that

We will catch more flies 

With a spoonful of honey

Than with a barrelful of vinegar.

PRAYER OF SUFFERING IN THE DARK NIGHT

O Jesus,

Where are you, my Lord?

How suddenly I have lost sight

Of you, my sweet sweet love;

I long for holy union with you,

Yet I cannot feel your presence;

I suffer for weeks and weeks,

But there is no remedy for me;

I wholeheartedly long for you,

But I am stranded in the desert,

Hungry for you, thirsty for you;

Though your light ever shines,

I am surrounded by gloom

In the dark night of unknowing;

Dearest Jesus,

Help me to be courageous,

Like good St. Joseph;

Sweetest Jesus,

Help me to have great trust,

Like Our Lady of Love;

I surrender myself completely

Into your most holy hands.

Amen.

TO ST. AUGUSTINE

You were the man

with the brilliant mind,

Yet our sweet Savior

you simply couldn’t find;

Intelligence and power

are what you admired,

Because that’s the way

your brain was wired;

So your mother introduced you

to bishop Ambrose the Wise,

And thus pride in your heart

very suddenly dies;

You were forever changed

when you encountered Love,

From then on your writings

spoke of the Way of the Dove.

TO ST. PATRICK

You’re a stout lad from the big Scottish isle,

A future bishop without any guile;

Kidnappers take you away from your home,

Across a sea that ripples with white foam;

In Ireland you are made a poor slave,

Life is rough, though you try hard to be brave;

You draw close to God and He sets you free,

At last with your eyes your homeland you see;

You return to Ireland so smart, so wise,

And clearly reveal all the devil’s lies;

You pray “Christ on my left, Christ on my right,”

And you help the Irish find the true Light.

TO ST. MONICA

You agreed to marry Patricius the pagan,

  Humbly submitting to your parents’ will,

You were very kind and generous to him,

  Though he responded by treating you ill;

But about a year before leaving this world,

  He finally accepted the Nicene Creed,

Through your example of faith and love,

  His stubborn soul was finally freed.

However, you still had much work to do,

  For your son Augustine broke your heart,

He was a teacher who was very arrogant,

  And he strutted because he was smart;

But you vigorously persisted in prayer,

  Fasting with tears over his empty life,

When he met the great Bishop Ambrose,

  The Spirit pierced your son like a knife.

It was on Easter that the saintly Ambrose

  Joyfully baptized your prodigal son,

Who went on to become a Church Father,

  And many victories over heretics won;

The end of your life was so very sweet,

  As Augustine treated you like gold,

You’re the patroness of motherhood,

  And of your story many have been told.

TO ST. NICHOLAS

You are the merry Christmas saint,

You tried to live without complaint;

A bishop with a cheerful heart,

Your words pierced like a loving dart;

Your gift of gold saved three sweet maids,

Who always feared the Roman raids;

With holiness you beat the foe,

Your jolly laugh goes ho, ho, ho.