By Kindly Light (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, a previously written poem, revisited January 24, 2021, feast day of Our Lady of Damascus, Our Lady of Tears, Saint Francis de Sales (above), Blessed Paula Gambara Costa, Saint Xenia of Rome, and Blessed Xenia of St Petersburg.)

By Kindly Light

(through the Hours)

Lead, Kindly Light…

Keep Thou my feet;

I do not ask to see the distant scene;

one step enough for me.

–Saint John Henry Newman

1. Lauds (morning prayer)

They say voices shape a place.

His voice carries in the morning.

No matter the sleepless night or

frantic dream, voice of prayer

now. Anchor. He's 

at the benediction:*

We thank you, O Lord,

for bringing us to this day in safety.

Take us by the hand today on Your Good Red Road.

Help us to treat this day with reverence and holiness.

And bless us, O Lord, through the prayers of

Your Saints. Amen.

2. Vespers (evening prayer)

Voice inside now, sun's waning. Day's

mulling. The waters have smoothed a 

stone. What was it he said? 

Saint Francis de Sales. Something about the 

between. God's everywhere. Yet simpler, vaster. 

So must look between. He is both our 

deepest longing and hard reality. But He'll

show you deeper, where they meet. Between.**

Where the medicine lies. Where didn't look.

Where regret’s a jagged

edge. For that road turned from, Yours.

Road so pure, so gentle, I thought they'd

never want me. And You Lord, so 

pure, so gentle, I thought could You

forgive me. But I'm asking. And for that 

road again too. If only,

O  Lord, would You

show me now?

3. Compline (night prayer)

His voice again, softer at night. Untier 

of knots. Evening prayer, he's

at the benediction now:

Lord, watch over us as we sleep.

May Your angels surround and protect us.

May we dream of Your Holiness, and

Of Your Holy Name.

And may we be allowed to reach

another day in safety, to praise

Your Holy Name. Amen.

4. Matins (prayer between night and morning)

Voice inside again.

They say you can pray without ceasing.

Even in sleep. 

I sleep but my heart

waketh.***

When the body waketh too, listens,

you can feel the lay of the land. It's the 

nature of the between. 

Between night and day regroup, repair. Where

the jagged edge, the jump, the scatter,

glare. There the stranger's voice. Pray for

me when stuck here. And I'll pray for

you. Because our only hope is the Shepard.

Know His voice but it gets buried. So to

spindle, to unravel. Where it last

quivered was it in a verse?

A kindness perhaps?

These small stones, must be in here

somewhere. To hold, to turn, over

and over. The ones for rebuilding the Wall.

The ones because they sing. And voices

they say shape a place. And the

place between, there

sounds can narrow

to a single note.

Deepest quiet, never silent.

And tomorrow, God willing, will

dawn another day.

Amen. 

*The Hours are an ancient tradition of praying throughout one’s day/night. The benedictions here, at Lauds and Compline, were prayed out loud by Joseph for us during the High Holidays some years ago. His benedictions are formed spontaneously, vary.

**See theme II (in the introduction) of Frances de Sales, Jane de Chantal: Letters of Spiritual Direction. Paulist Press, New Jersey, 1988. 

*** Song of Solomon (Canticles) 5:2