Thursday, April 25, 2013

The Loveliest Rose of the Vale, Mary

THE LAMB CATHOLIC WORKER, Columbus - As we are praying one of Pope Francis' favorite devotions, the "Our Lady Undoer of Knots" novena, toward the committing day of May 1st, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker and 80th anniversary of the Catholic Worker Movement, we also include Mother Mary on that first day of the month honoring her.  We will begin a tradition of crowning Mary (with flowers) on this yearly anniversary of our founding. It is not surprising that over 30 million people per year visit Marian sights the world over, and how much influence she still has in opening hearts to the love of God through her powerful intercessory prayers for all people!
I enclose my feeble attempt at a poem to honor Mary:

Mother of the Word Made Flesh
By Monica Siemer

What can we offer you, Mary,
Conceived of
And contemplated
Before being conceived?
Great elbow nudger in the sky,
Who, at Cana, urged onward
Your Son,
Our Lord and Savior,
To take a leap of faith
For His first public miracle

Our Lady Undoer of Knots
O Mother of mothers,
God's choice
For a feminine,
Approachable being,
Grasped by our limited
Human minds,
Pray for our knots, snarls,
And tangledness
In our souls
And in our lives


Oh, true Ark of the
Covenant Word,
You have gathered
So many
Entwined sorrows
To bring to your Son, Jesus,
And to your Spouse,
The Holy Spirit,
For love of us.
May we love you in return
And trust in your sweet, gentle
And firm prayers
as you tenderly help to
make our ribbons smooth 

Catholic Worker Art
  













Bring Flowers of the Fairest
Bring flowers of the fairest
Bring flowers of the rarest
From garden and woodland
And hillside and vale
Our full hearts are swelling.                                      
Our glad voices telling
The praise of the loveliest
Rose of the vale
O Mary! we crown thee with blossoms today
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May
O Mary! we crown thee with blossoms today
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May

Our voices ascending,
In harmony blending
Oh! Thus may our hearts turn
Dear Mother, to thee
Oh! Thus shall we prove thee
How truly we love thee
How dark without Mary
Life's journey would be

O Mary! we crown thee with blossoms today
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May
O Mary! we crown thee with blossoms today
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May