In Welcome (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, February 28, 2021, feast day of the Devpeteruv Icon of the Mother of God. Image from here. )

In Welcome

Home is the place, can see under

all my disguises. It's door, seals 

cracks in fragilest eggs. Takes

warmth, you know, for an 

egg to hatch. And these walls

to touch, know inside 

I wait. Not for

a heart freed from its skin, which

ceases. Clothed about, it sings, 

amidst candlelight, and teabrew, 

clears a space. Picks up knitting, editing,

sorts pages. To re-concile. Re-ligament.

Till Mercy finds her ground: Give, 

forgive, give, forgive. The only hope really, 

what with hearts and eggs breaking

so easily.

*From prompt: I believe this was spurred by something (perhaps to begin a poem with above first line?) from Dr. Kayleen Asbo’s Lenten series Anchored in the Heart: The Quest for Virtue and a Path of Peace (St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia).

Solut (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, February 26, 2021, feast day of Purim, whose heroine Esther is above. Image from here.)

Solut

(age two’s celebratory walk after several months in cast from broken femur)

The Latin root solv and its variant solut both 

mean "loosen"... --  from Membean, “Solved by a Root Solution”

Hurray, hurray, it is today! The Sun it spills on

sidewalk gray, as white shoes dance on feet at

play, while dear old Bonnie* leads the way, and

things with wings around me sway. And,

"Mom, do you hear that pretty sound? Of trees, 

and wind, and O wow! rain. And never to be 

in that cast again, not trapped, but out, and 

Sun my frame",

Hurray, hurray, it is today! 

"Time to go" , says Mom.

"Till next time!" , I say.

*Faithful collie Bonnie, memory eternal

**From prompt: Freewrite after the post-war celebratory walk in Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway–a giddy, flowing, moving, interactive-with-surroundings type of joy– (in this case it’s my childhood walk above). From Esther Linn's Quarantine Write-in (Hugo House, Seattle), February 25, 2021.

Daily Divina (WC)

  

(Wendy Cabell, February 25, 2021, feast day of Saint Walburga, whose tradition of miraculous healing oil inspired the above image.)

February 25, 2021, after encountering the Blanchernae Icon of the Mother of God through Spiritual Tools For Artists (Pastor Evan Clendenin, Janice Ariza), Saint Placid’s Priory, Washington* 

under one Spring sun, 

some soft broken bread–-simply 

showing up is prayer

* Also inspired by: "It's rhythm again, isn't it? We've lost our sense of creating rhythm in our daily encounter with God. We think sometimes that real encounter with God has to be exceptional, exciting, different, dramatic, and we don't think of it as simply turning up --and simply turning up in the sense of opening the Bible, reciting a Psalm. Simply turning up in the quiet we give to God." --Rowan Williams, interview with The Christian Century (Faith, Imagination and the Glory of Ordinary Life)

Anointing Prayer (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, February 18, 2021, feast day of Blessed Fra Angelica, whose image of Saint Mary Magdalene kissing the feet of Christ is above, from here. Today is also 6 Adar on the Jewish calendar, when Holy Prophet Moses, in 1273 BC, completed the Torah, ie first five books of the Bible; also the day before his birth and death, which both happened on 7 Adar.)

Anointing Prayer

(a short variation on Novena to Saint Mary Magdalene, original is here)

 Holy Magdalene please send 

       Holy Oil from above.

Heal this heart to flow its love.

Help me in my intentions this day,

  anoint each       

                      step            

                         along 

                            the way.

                      Amen.

Dramatis Personae of Left Hand (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, February 11, 2021, feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes, Saint Caedmon (above), Saint Theodora the Empress, World Day of the Sick, and eve of Rosh Chodesh/new moon, for Hebrew month of Adar. Image from  here.)

Dramatis Personae of Left Hand

(after Charles Simic)

Thumb curls, like a nursing cat.

Re -members Mother's milk, midst 

chilly world. Aches for something to

hold, maybe ever.

The second one holds a Rosary, ie

pilgrim's staff. Horizon will provide. 

A yearning to travel light.

The middle one is a weary soul. 

Was it ever? Tension, ache in throat. 

Doesn't know where to belong. 

Can a pilgrimage last forever?

The fourth is a big ol' travelogue. 

Piled journals, notes. A few pictures. 

Bursting to open a window, 

Somewhere.    

The fifth finds its way to heart. 

Listens. Lights a candle. Makes small 

offering. Doesn't realize the piggyback, 

other four must tag along. Doesn't

realize she's brought them Home.

*From prompt: Freewrite as inspired by Charles Simic's Bestiary For the Fingers of My Right Hand; from Esther Lin's Quarantine Write-in (Hugo House, Seattle, WA), February 11, 2021.

Provision (WC)

   

(Wendy Cabell, February 11, 2021, feast day of Lady of Lourdes, Saint Theodora the Empress (above), Saint Caedmon, World Day of the Sick, and eve of Rosh Chodesh/new moon, for Hebrew month of Adar. Image from here.)

Provision

(after Jane Kenyon)

I slid out of bed today,

strolled 'round these our walls.

It might have been otherwise. 

Feasted on quinoa porridge, its

nutbutter, squash, swirled. 

It might have been otherwise. 

Prayed in Ireland, phoned to Portland, 

read to France, studied in Seattle, wrote to

rhyme, with lay-overs on cozy bedsheets, 

         cycling in space.

It might have been otherwise.

Even at night's mulling it's sensed: it might 

have been otherwise. But it's warm here by the 

heat with Joseph. Fresh bread, tea, incense and 

yes, chocolate. And candlelight. And it's this last

one catches. Croons "stop now, hold to heart", 

safekeeping for day the rest 

might be otherwise.

*From prompt: Freewrite as inspired by Jane Kenyon's Otherwise...a gratitude list, varying some short sentences with long one(s); from Esther Lin's Quarantine Write-in (Hugo House, Seattle, WA), February 11, 2021. 

[Synchronicity January 1, 2024]

Book of Hours, pp 1-4 (WC)

Wendy Cabell, February 5, 2021, feast day of the (above) Seeker of (or Recovery of) the Perishing Icon of the Mother of God, the Elets- Chernigov Icon of the Mother of God, Saint Agatha of Sicely, Saint Agatha Hildegard of Carinthia, and Saint Theodula. Image from here.)

Book of Hours (pp. 1-4)

When I was a child, the windows

were open. Lots of Sun, the carpet

my field. Hum of soap operas nearby.

And Mom says "Good morning sunshine",

"Goodnight Wenny Penny".

In between, mudpies line backyard, my

kitchen. Mom pretends to taste. 'Till

wet earth's scent, 

warm with Sun,

is carried, inside.

Dolls waiting, you know. Need dressing and

decorating. They're my paper if none is

handy, for the crayons all awaiting,

in their pretty little row.

Bedtime they are still with me. Colors

swirl behind eyelids. While stillness settles

outside the window, our faithful collie Bonnie

standing guard.

*From prompt: Freewrite as spurred by Yehuda Amichai's When I was a Child, setting the scene of one's childhood by a series of sensory memories, woven together somehow with an image/theme; from Esther Lin's Quarantine Write-in (Hugo House, Seattle), February 4, 2021.

Doorkeeper's Prayer (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, February 4, 2021, feast day of Elizabeth Ann Seton, Saint Jane of Valois, Saint Cyril of White Lake, and Saint Isidore of Pelusium; also Feast of Reparation, somewhat echoed in today's Prologue homily. Image of Saint Josephine Bakhita, from here.)

Doorkeeper's Prayer*

(a short variation on the St Josephine Bakhita novena)

                     God, 

             in Your temple, 

             we ponder Your

                     love.

         - today's responsorial 

           verse, for Psalm 48

Saint Bakhita please send 

      a song from above.

Guide me to show that God is love.

Help me in my intentions this day,

and teach to me your gentle ways.

Amen.

*Saint Bakhita, as doorkeeper for her monastery, opened the literal door to sanctuary; and there is also the more internal concept of the hospitable heart. 

**Inspired by women's retreat group of Church of Saint Mary (Tulsa)'s call to see what Saint wishes one's focus right now, which I personally feel as Saint Bakhita.

In Season (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, February 1, 2021, feast day of Saint Brigid, of the Socola Icon of the Mother of God, and forefeast of Candlemass/The Meeting of the Lord. Image of Saint Hildegarde of Bingen's The Cycle of the Seasons, from here.)

In Season

(Imagined letters from Saint Hildegarde of Bingen

and her foster mother Blessed Jutta of Disibodenberg)

          You who brought harmony where there was conflict,

          you who brought light to the darkness,

          may the mantle of your peace cover us.

          Amen.

          - compiled from a traditional prayer to St Brigid

December 20, 2020

My Dear Child,

What I want you to know is, 

I am here for you. It is a quiet path. 

Remember, gentleness is wisdom.

Love,

Hildegarde

January 24, 2021

My Dear Child,

What I want you to see, is where the open places are.

Flow comes slow, as pulse. Seasons come, go. If you can gently

breathe, a weaving begins. Just settle, it covers, your cloak it is.

Frozen sound, like snow, blankets seeds. This is winter.

Cooing sound, like dew, thaws. This is Spring.

Flowing sound, like honey, nourishes. This is summer.

Circling sound, like surrounding Angels, transfigures. This is fall.

Now don't get overwhelmed. It's all here, around you. Sit in the cell of your heart, here at home as blood, as breath, as bone teach you everything.

Love,

Jutta

*From prompt: Given in two of Kayleen Asbo's classes (Wisdom of the Heart (via Bishop's Ranch, Healdsburg, CA) December 20, 2020, and The Way of The Hermit (via Abbey of the Arts), January 24, 2021) after Visio Divina with Saint Hildegarde's Cycle of the Seasons, write what feels wants to be communicated from this, beginning with the prompt "My Dear Child, What I want you to know (or see) is this...".