Thursday, September 16, 2010

Sorrowful Mother

The most commonly accepted meaning of the name Mary is bitter. In the Old Testament the Passover meal consisted of an unblemished lamb dressed with bitter herbs, and unleavened bread. The Hebrew word for bitter herbs is maror. In the Eucharist we consume the true Lamb of God under the appearance of  bread...the Bread of Life.

O captive Israel!
Unblemished lambs you slaughtered
Dressed with bitter herbs
You ate, poised for flight
While woe spilled red
From death's grim lips
Upon Egypt's firstborn sons

O sorrowful Mary!
Bitter your name cries out
The salt of your tears
Dressed the Paschal Victim
While life spilled red
From Divinity's breast
Upon Israel's sons and daughters

5 comments:

  1. Beautiful poem Mary.

    I didn't know you write poetry. With you and Anne writing poems I'd better put my thinking cap on and write one quick.

    God bless.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Victor and JBR!

    Victor,
    If you click on Two Hearts Entwined in my sidebar you can find a good portion of my poems there, though some are scattered throughout my other blogs. Abba's Way has quite a bit, too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I never knew the meaning of Mary. I always learn something from your posts.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Elizabeth,
    I don't think Mary's name was a coincidence. The Old Testament is the bud while the New Testament is the flower. The OT prefigurations of the sacrificial lamb point to Jesus, the true Lamb of God. There are so many foreshadowings of Jesus and Mary in the OT that it gives me a endless supply of materials to meditate on :)

    I'm still praying that Novena. I'm glad to hear that you found a new home for Doah. My mom is praying for all of you, too. God bless you, Elizabeth, your inner strength never ceases to amaze me.

    ReplyDelete