Bethlehem Prayer (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, day for Dedication of all Churches where the Consecration Date is Unknown, and feast day of the Philermos Icon of the Mother of God, Our Lady of Toledo, Saint Tabitha the Widow (raised from the dead by the Apostle Peter) and (above) Saint Canna verch Tewdr Marw. Image from here.)

Bethlehem Prayer 

(based on Our Lady’s revelations to Elizabeth

Kindelmann 9/15/62...may her blessing extend to us!)

Come with Saint Joseph and me. 

The Flame of Love seeks lodging... 

Move gently ahead

without any force.

Be careful

be hidden

be humble

that you may bear

the Flame of Love. 

We will guard you.

Come with us then!

We will walk the roads

of Bethlehem.  

Amen.

Homefront (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, October 22, feast day of the Interior Life of Mary, Our Lady of the Underground, Our Lady of  Talant, the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, the Andronicus Icon of the Mother of God, the "Seven Sleepers” of Ephesus, (above) Saint Mary Salome Disciple of Jesus (wife of Zebedee and Mother of Saints James and John, Apostles), Pope Saint John Paul II and Blessed Lucia Bartolini Rucellai. Jewish calendar today marks the "return to everyday activities following the spirituality of the festival-rich month of Tishrei." Image from here (and another irresistible teacherly Saint here.)

Homefront 

(a found poem)

One of my teachers always said to me 

‘In the face of great destruction, create.’

—Sue Ellen Parkinson, Iconographer

 

books papers chalk–-

a world apart, a place to dream

Light overcoming darkness

*Guest Poet Betty Fanelli’s awesome freewrite above (used with permission) is based on her childhood memories during World War II. She later became a much loved teacher herself, in Special Ed.

**From prompt: Freewrite as inspired by “Teachers” by Will Schutt. From Lisa Freedman’s BreatheReadWrite Studio Time, October 21, 2023.

Consolation Prayer (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, October 7, last day of Sukkot and feast day of (above) Our Lady of the Rosary/Our Lady of Victory and Saint Pelagia of Tarsus. On Jewish calendar is also the Return from Temple Dedication (827 BC) and the Beginning of Prayer for Rain. Image from here.)

Consolation Prayer 

(an "arrow prayer" for Our Lady, especially on Her First Saturdays)

Immaculate Virgin Mary

Mother of God

be with us your children

Amen!

*This simple prayer/Sabbath grace came about as a way to remember the 5 First Saturday consolations/reparations to Our Blessed Mother:

It is sometimes asked why Our Lady asked for Communions of reparation on five first Saturdays, instead of some other number. Our Blessed Lord answered that question when He appeared to Sr. Lucia May 29, 1930. He explained that it was because of five kinds of offenses and blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, namely:

[1.] blasphemies against her Immaculate Conception ["immaculate"],

[2.] against her perpetual virginity ["virgin"],

[3.] against the divine and spiritual maternity of Mary ["Mother of God"],

[4.] blasphemies involving the rejection and dishonoring of her images ["Mary"; having been incarnate as we are, we can honor Her image],

[5.] and the neglect of implanting in the hearts of children a knowledge and love of this Immaculate Mother ["be with us your children"].

The spirit of reparation is a loving desire to make reparation to and console the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Our Mother.--vermontcatholic.org

A Simple Rule of Life (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, October 7, 2023, last day of (above) Sukkot and feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary/Our Lady of Victory and Saint Pelagia of Tarsus. On Jewish calendar is also the Return from Temple Dedication (827 BC) and the Beginning of Prayer for Rain. Image from here. )

Simple Rule of Life

(Our Lady of Laus to Bl. Benoite Rencurel, paraphrased )

Do your duty cheerfully.

Bear no hatred towards enemies.

Be untroubled by temptations, worldly concerns.

Simply to God's presence return.

Little Day (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, October 2, 2023, feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary (Cracow; see also here), Our Lady of the Assumption (Naples), the Guardian Angels (related image above), Saint Anna of Kashin and Blessed Maria Anna Kratochwil. On Jewish calendar Sukkot continues. Note: Yesterday was the feast day of the Barsky Icon of the Mother of God, Saint Therese the Little Flower, and blessed Cecilia who “died singing a hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary”. Image from here.)

Little Day

I do like children who do not know how to read, 

I say very simply to God what I wish to say, 

without composing beautiful sentences, 

and He always understands me.  

–-Saint Therese the Little Flower 

 

Let this day be a day 

fit for children to enter

regardless of their age,

its toys that teach so 

invitingly arranged:

                     brooms and day planners

                  paintbrushes in an angel mug

             tea and cookies on the side

     nap time when it’s all too much.

Such a place once awake!--

innocence not at stake but fed

here in head-heart-soul

where linger for airflow

flutter -- note now:

all sings

*From combined prompts: free write as inspired by excerpts from “Dark Harvest” by Joseph Millar and  “In Harvest” by Sophie Jewett. From Lisa Freedman’s BreatheReadWrite Studio time, October 2, 2023.

Minimal Requirements (WC)

 

Wendy Cabell, September 14, 2023, feast day of the (above) Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, the Lesna Icon of the Mother of God, Our Lady of Einsiendeln, Our Lady of Steinbach, and Blessed María López de Rivas Martínez (confidant of Saint Teresa of Avila; body incorrupt). On Jewish calendar today is the Creation of the Sun, Moon, and Stars (3760 BC). Image from here.)

Minimal Requirements

(for Pope Francis)

–Time: to care more, not less

–Space: an ocean’s plain –- for love 

 

      t o   s w i m

  

                       a r o u n d

                              i n 

–Magic: pearls –- from grit-glide-time

  ( as in lots and lots of time ) 

          for star’s  b l o o m

*Based on a quote from Pope Francis, Love needs time and space; everything else is secondary. [Author Laura Alary looks to something similar, a trio of time, space and room (receptivity/generosity.)]

**From combined prompts: Freewrite as inspired by “homage to my hips” by Lucille Clifton (Lisa Freedman’s BreatheReadWrite Studio Time, September 14, 2023), Ana Blandiana’s “As if” (Lisa Freedman’s Type.Coalesce.Become,June 2, 2023), Ted Kooser’s “Pearl” (Marj Hahne’s Poem a la Mode, IWWG, June 2, 2023, near Our Lady of Bocco's feast), and  “blossoms at night” by Kobayashi Issa and “the old pond” by Matsuo Basho (Tresha Faye Haefner‘s Friday Editing class, The Poetry Salon, May 31, 2024).

From the Stars (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, August 29, 2023, feast day of Our Lady of Valverde (above; "With his right hand he blesses the bystanders looking at them lovingly, and with the other caress a small crane, which shyly hides in the left hand of the beautiful Virgin"), Our Lady of Clermont, Our Lady of the Guard, Our Lady of Tears, the Chortkiv Icon of the Mother of God, of Saint John the Baptist (beheading), Saint Jeanne Jugan, Blessed Teresa Bracco, and Beatrice of Nazareth. On Jewish calendar today continues the Seven [Weeks] of Consolation, and reflection for the upcoming High Holidays. Image from here.)

From the Stars

(in gratitude for the gift of movement)

desire (v.):..from Latin desiderare "long for, wish for; 

demand, expect,"...[from] de sidere "from the stars"

–etymonline.com

Around 300 BC... Chuang-tzu [wrote about] ‘walking like a bear and 

stretching their neck like a bird to achieve longevity.’... [And] it was Hua Tuo

who developed the first complete set of animal-imitating qigong exercises...

[saying] 'If you feel out of sorts, just practice one of my Frolics’.

--GeneChing, Kung Fu Magazine Forums

I want to move like owl

look right look left–-take it in

I want to move like bear

rolling lumbering, from 

this cave where all begins

I want to move like cat

stretching twisting 

uncurl, meet kin

I want to move like monkey swing slide glide give now a spin

I want to move like dragon

seacliff topping

unstoppable my swim 

I want to move says heart

whoosh-thump out 

whoosh-thump in

I want to--

*From combined prompts: Freewrite as inspired by etymology of “desire”, and by “I want” by Jordan Jace. From Lisa Freedman’s Imagination and Justice (via IWWG) BreatheReadWrite, August 29, 2023.

Homing Prayer (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, August 16, 2023, Afterfeast of the Dormition/Assumption of the Mother of God, and feast day of Our Lady of Trapani, Madonna of the Peaks (see pg. bottom there; related image here?), and (above) Saint Ugolina of Vercelli. Jewish calendar today continues the Seven [Weeks] of Consolation. Image from here.)

Homing Prayer

(a “mini” variation on the Creed, for the afterfeast of the 

Dormition/Assumption and traditional plant blessing time, 2023)

I believe in the Father, who makes me.

I believe in the Son, who shapes me. 

I believe in the Spirit, who keeps me.

I believe in Heaven (its garden now and here)

where my Home bee.

Amen.

So How Are You Today? (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, published in the Canadian Journal of Mental Health and Disability Theology, Spring 2024 issue; composed April 26, feast day of (above) Our Lady of Good Counsel, of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception (Chile), and of Saint Alda/Aldobrandesca of Siena and Saint Paschasius Radbertus. On Jewish calendar today State of Israel Proclaimed (1948), and Preparation for Shavuot Begins; Twenty-One Days to the Omer begins tonight. Image from here.)

So How Are You Today?

Sometimes as greeting.

Yet a question.

Mask I wear, it answers: “I’m good”. 

Alternatively: "About the same”. 

When I remove the mask, swirling mix. Positive spins–-God’s Angels are around us, His Saints. Most of all Our Savior, Our Blessed Mother. All true. And true this overwhelm, this will this pain ever stop, this nervous system miswired, jolted. Rerouted, confused. Never know when the monsters will roar in there, pull up carpet, can’t make plans. Open target–-CRASH, BOOM. Ground hits hardest when folks don’t see it's happening. When don’t see the monsters are here. 

And if I’m being honest, I need help. Your help. Caregivers, doctors, priests, neighbors, friends, family. I need you to see how things are for me, look the monster in the eye. Not sympathy so much as empathy, and your solid true (to feel, to do) “take my hand--and we’ll get through this”. 

“Tell me about your despair and I will tell you mine”, says Mary Oliver.

“Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air”, she continues. 

As I continue to hold both these things. And wrestle

how to say this,

how to answer

how I am today. 

[Added later as part of a journal submission's guidelines:

Author's Note 

It still happens, that queasiness in the stomach when I’m asked how I'm doing today. First the sensing, does this person actually want to know? Do they care? Then the sifting, do I share the hurt in hopes of some comprehension? Do I share the light in hopes of its expansion? So common it can be to minimize another’s pain or need, not wanting to see it, especially if it’s complicated. If it’s not an easy fix. And mine isn't. For one, I have Complex Regional Pain Syndrome [CRPS] a rare physiological and neurological disorder making pain signals both amplified and ongoing. It’s nicknamed the “suicide disease”, considered the most painful condition one can have. Terrifying then, to be alone, unseen. And one’s in danger if restrictions and accommodation needs aren’t grasped. Yet what is focused on grows, carves a path, a tendency of glance. And what I long to grow is the light. The warmth of that deep nestled spark, “Lifeforce Love” a friend calls it. Mine…and yours. 

Questions for Group Reflection

1. One thing that bridges the gap between expressing the pain and embracing the light is the simple awareness of one’s body and experience. Are there related practices you might incorporate into your daily routine? There are things like mental tracing, scanning your body upon awakening, an act of gratitude really, a prayer. There’s a nudge to mindfulness as go about day, short pauses, just looking round, settling in, breathing space. There’s infinite ways the Spirit may be whispering. What are you hearing just now?

2. A way we can honor the complexity of our disabilities, while also honoring another’s need for simplicity, is to present concrete accommodations. This takes some ground work, prioritizing what is most important to you and brainstorming the most doable ways to meet this need. Not always easy! But is there a short list you might compile of specific accommodations? For example if one is heat sensitive asking to be seated near the air conditioner—something in this vein makes such a difference to well being yet is fairly simple when it comes down to it. ]

1 Mary Oliver, “Wild Geese”, in The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1986.

2 For more on CRPS, see ComplexTruths.org, in particular “What is CRPS“ at https://complextruths.org/what-is-crps/, and “McGill Pain Index Measures CRPS Pain” at https://complextruths.org/mcgill-pain-index-where-is-crps-ranked-and-why/. ]

From combined prompts: Freewrite, giving honesty the focus and giving yourself permission to “write bad poetry”, about your mask, using above entry points (The mask I wear, When I remove the mask, And if I’m being honest); from Matthew Cuban Hernandez’s Free Verse: Removing the Mask (Hope At Hand’s Jax Poetry Fest 2023). Also using prompt of Mary Oliver’s “Wild Geese”, from Reverend Dr. Victoria Marie’s Art As Spiritual Practice group, April 26, 2023.