Two Sonnets to Our Lady

One is an acrostic. One is not. The first was written two or three days ago, the second tonight, for the Queenship of Mary. May her name be praised!

Virgo Maria, Audi

Virgin above all Virgins far most fair
In anguish now we cry and call on thee,
Repeating, "Mary, aid us, hear our plea;
God will forgive, if thou dost join our prayer."
Over the mists of years dissolved in air,
Many the soul that cries in agony
And, saved by its recourse, O Queen, to thee,
Repeats its praises unto thee fore'er.
Iniquity and sin our souls o'er-stain
And in this valley dark of tears and pain
All men, here born to weep, cry in their fear,
"Unless thou aid us, Mother, we must burn;
Defend us from the ire we well did earn,
In mercy, Mother, Virgin Mary, hear!"

Mariae Reginae
O Queen of earth, upon this earth wast made
To grace it with a presence half-divine,
To bring to us the Son of God and thine,
And being Mother, still remained a Maid.
O Queen of heaven, see, we are afraid,
For we deserve all pain, by just design;
But, Mary, by thy plea our prayers refine
That God's great wrath in mercy may be stayed.
O Queen that rises as the rising dawn,
More fair than sun or moon to look upon,
Terrible as an army in array,
Be unto us a Queen, but Mother, too;
And while thy foemen fade as morning dew,
Lead us, thy children, to the light of day.

Weasels!

This is posted under my name, but it is not mine: it is the work of CECILIA!!!!

THE WEASEL, by CECILIA!!!

The weasel is tall and thin
And you must not let it get in
To your house, and if it does, beware,
For it can hide 'most anywhere!
It eats your chickens and roosters too,
And it must be very close to you
For you to catch this animal,
Who can be as furious as a bull!

Corpus Christi Eve

This was written yesterday after we made the usual huge sawdust paintings on the sidewalk. The vibrant colors fairly shimmered even under the street-lamps and this evening's procession was lovely. If I can get Father Young to send me the pictures I will post some.

The Sidewalk-Painters' Ballad

The afternoon is sunny,
No cloud is in the sky,
And underneath the heavens
Bright colors catch the eye,

Scarlet and green and azure,
Gay gold and creamy white
Are spread across the sidewalk
In bands of rainbow light.

The Host and Chalice form there
Between the grapes and wheat,
The fleur-de-lys is shining
Beside the lambkin sweet,

And all the pictures shimmer
In colors bright and gay
To do the Master honor
On Corpus Christi Day.

Tomorrow is the feastday
When every knee is bent
To honor Christ our Savior,
The Holy Sacrament,

And so for Him to tread on
We make the sidewalk fair
And for the great procession
A carpet we prepare;

In honor of our Jesus,
With song and laughter gay,
We make our sawdust paintings
For Corpus Christi Day.

Be Prepared!

Anyone who is a fan of Tom Lehrer, with his extremely pointed wit and knack for hilarious songs (although some you have to look out for), will know what this is a parody of, and therefore what tune belongs to it. Anyone who isn't has to look him up.

Be prepared!
That's the trad-cat's marching song,
Be prepared
As through life you march along;
Be prepared to fight to prove the Faith is true,
Don't forget to pray and give Our Lord His due;
Be prepared
And behave extremely well,
To be sure
That you won't end up in hell,
If a devil comes to tempt you on a jolly summer day
Sign the Cross and say "Begone!" and he will scream and run away,
And you'll laugh to just remember how he stared...
Be prepared!

Be prepared!
That's the trad-cat's solemn creed,
Be prepared
And be clean in word and deed,
Go to Mass and say your Rosary each day,
So after death you'll have no stops along the way!
Be prepared
To be called for any time,
Be prepared,
Keep your soul all free of grime,
So that when the Master calls you on the final Judgment Day
You can dash right up to meet Him with a smile bright and gay, --
Won't be nervous, won't be flustered, won't be scared --
Be prepared!

Prayer to the Holy Family

This one is very old indeed; one of the oldest I actually kept. I was probably nine or ten at the oldest when I wrote it.

Prayer to the Holy Family

Jesus Christ, my loving Lord,
Son of Mary, Joseph's Ward,
Lead me, Truth and Way and Light,
All the day and all the night.

Mary, Mother of my God,
Help my soul in its onward plod
Towards thy heaven from my earth,
From the world of thy Son's birth.

Joseph, Mary's holy spouse,
Protect my family and my house;
Spouse of the Virgin ever pure,
Lead my soul on the path all-sure

Which leads to heaven ever bright,
Where angels dwell in eternal light;
Where Jesus and Mary dwell, so dear,
Enthroned with thee in eternal cheer.

Of Rabbits

Michelle discovered an adorable baby bunny in the parking lot of Walgreens the other day and, seeing him nearly run over by a car, determined to save him from an inevitable fate. The poor little guy wasn't even big enough to jump up on the curb, so she scooped him up and carried him with her to Mass at school; where, as he could not be in the chapel, she put him in one of Gloria's cleaning buckets, under the pew in the hall. Thence came his name, and this poem.

Bucket Underpew

O hear and I will sing to you
The Bunny Bucket Underpew,
A little rabbit brave and bold,
Who, being but a few weeks old,
Did from his great ancestral home
Into a Walgreens parking roam,
And there, where many dangers are,
Was nearly flattened by a car,
But (as I do to you relate,)
Was rescued from that dreadful fate,
For pity in the heart did swell
Of Miss Michelle-y Mik-e-sell,
And so this rabbit that did roam
Was picked right up and carried home;
And as to Mass she went her way
She hid him 'neath a pew, they say,
And so she named him, it is true,
The Bunny Bucket Underpew.

Sanctity + Attitude =...?

So, Michelle and I were having lunch together the other day, and we were talking about martyrdom. Michelle remarked cheerfully, "You know, I wouldn't mind being martyred, but I don't want to be all scared and meek; I want to go out with a 'tude!" I had to laugh at her idea, and laughed even more when she said, "Yeah, I want to tell the Communists "One-way ticket to heaven? Bring it on! No layovers!"

The idea brought a rhyme into my head at once and as we walked back to school I started spouting off lines that made her choke with laughter. When we reached the school I sat down and wrote this poem, with all Michelle's lively Californian flavor.
Note that "sick", in Michelle's California-verse, is equivalent to "cool..."

Sanctity + Attitude =...

Oh, I will sing to you today
A girl from Cali-for-ni-ay,
Who with her wit and humor great
Made all the Commies quite irate.
Her name, my friend, to you I'll tell,
As I've been told, it was Michelle.
She mocked the mindless modernists,
She mocked the evolutionists,
And when it came to Communists
She laughed and made all sorts of jists...
Her hair was long, her eyes were blue,
Her cheeks were pink as rose in dew,
And sure she was a lovely lass,
Who loved her prayers and Holy Mass.
The Commies watched her every day
With wrathful eye as she would pray
For every Commie to convert,
And oh, they swore they'd make her hurt!
They called her into court one day,
And unto her these words did say:
"You, girl, are very vehement
Against the people's government;
Are you a Catholic, Michelle?"
She answered coolly, "Can't ya tell?"
With rage they smacked her in the head,
She smiled, though her cheek was red,
But when her life they swore to snatch,
Grinned, "Throw me in that brier patch!"
"Your death," they warned, "will not be quick!"
"Slow martyrdom?" she chuckled."Sick!
A one-way pass to heaven's gate?
Bring it on, homie, I can't wait!"
They pulled her hair and beat her hard,
But never was she off her guard;
She laughed and teased and never feared,
And firmly thus she persevered.
At last they said, "You must be shot!"
She crossed herself and saddened not;
But as they signalled with a drum,
She called out, "Yo Lord -- here I come!"
And so to heaven she flew away,
So to Michelle now let us pray;
The Commies thought her very rude,
But I would call it -- sancti-'tude.

Acrostic of the Name of Mary

Mary, what can I say in praise of thee?
All words fail to describe thy holiness;
Royal scion of David's noble tree,
Your beauty doth surpass all loveliness.

Many have sought to praise thee worthily
And better poets than I have fallen short;
Repeatedly I fail to praise enough,
Yet still I strive to praise thee as I ought.

Mother above all Mothers loving, sweet,
Above the Angels brilliant white in grace,
Rose of the world, Lily of purity,
Your glory glorifies the human race!

Mary, O hear my prayer, my Mother dear,
As thou art pure, help me to stay unstained,
Remember me, help me, till by thy aid
Your side, and your Son's footstool, I have gained.

Bonjour.

Good morning, all ye posters and readers,

Here is a great joke to brighten up your day!

A man and his wife were sitting in the living room discussing a"Living Will"

The husband after reflecting sincerely on the matter, told his wife,
"Just so you know, I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug."

His most faithful wife, wanting to comply with his wishes, reflected a moment as well.
Then she got up, unplugged the TV and threw out all the beer.

:)

Happy Ascension!

And here is the Introit, versified in a record minute (not counting the time it took me to look up the Introit online because I didn't remember it all!) :)

Why stand ye looking upward thus,
O men of Galilee?
As ye have seen the Lord ascend,
Returning ye will see.
O nations, clap your hands, and cry
With joyful voice to God on high!