Seven Sorrows, Seven Joys
Seven Sorrows, Seven Joys
Seven Sorrows, Seven Joys
– Father Johann G. Roten, S.M.
Sonnets in Meditation on Mary's Life
Art and Spirituality is a series of brief monographs published by The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute. Its purpose is to promote personal meditation. In general, each issue is based on a focal image of religious character, preferably with a Marian theme.
"Seven Sorrows, Seven joys: Sonnets in Meditation on Mary's Life" departs from this schema but pursues the same goal. In this second issue of Art and Spirituality both word and image are vehicles of meditation. They both illustrate the meaning of pondering, which is a spiritual form of moving the cradle to and fro. God's own Word is cradled in the heart of the believer. It begs to be rocked and rolled and cuddled to reveal its secrets and disclose the depth of its love. This is what artist and poet set out to achieve in this booklet. They represent two different voices singing the same tune, Mary's life. Following in the footsteps of Mary of Nazareth, the poet tries to intuit and recreate in sonnets filled with noble empathy the seven sorrows and seven joys of her pilgrimage of faith. The artist captures and frames the wealth of poetic imagery in weightless drawings, beckoning the reader to enter the mysteries of Mary. Though differing in artistic expression, the two artist-sisters are of one heart as they tell us, "Mary's human discipleship becomes ours, and ours becomes hers."
This booklet owes its existence to a God-human interest story. The story is about God, two sisters, call and response. God manifests his presence in one sister (the poet) as call, and in the other sister (the artist) as response. The result is a beautiful conversion story, pointing once more to the manifold ways of God's coming among us, ink drawings and sonnets included.
Audacious angel! How do you dare
to enter here without a knock, without
a warning whir of wings, without a sound
to signal, softly, somebody about?
This is a maiden's chamber after all.
Are you, a seraph, shadowless? Or could
you not have altered light and air to let
her untouched heart beware? Can this be good
to break into a space of grace? Intrude
so suddenly, with prophecy, on her
when her reserve, her insularity
is winter-warm and passionate and pure?
Perhaps you knew she'd answer bold and free:
"I am a virgin, sir. How can this be?"
Elizabeth, were you expecting her
to stand so bright, sun-circled, on the step?
Were you prepared by prophecy for that
great joy, the word at which the Baptist leapt?
Did you anticipate her haste? Were you
half-listening to hear her sweep the stone
with her quick steps? To hear her hail you, call
your name, magnificat in every tone?
Or did surprise surge up, a buoyancy,
elation like a bubble rainbow-run
that's spun with air in darkness, in the deepest
depth of soul, and surfaces in sun?
So jubilant was your humility:
"The Mother of my Lord has come - to me!"
Joseph - what could she tell him? How explain
the body budding in her flesh, the child
he knew was not his own? He stared at her.
His fingers formed a fist, and something wild
took hold of him and seized upon his soul.
He struggled for control; he looked and left
and Mary lingered at the door; a weight
below her waist and on her heart, bereft
of all support but God's. What could she do
but trust in Him to be her Advocate?
Inviolate, a virgin still, her Son
all Spirit-sprung, what could she do but wait
for Him to send an angel in the night,
while Joseph slept, and set his thoughts aright?
Angelic odyssey! That fabled flight
across a universe expanding, star
by star, through jeweled space and shining night,
from Heaven's height to hills of Bethlehem,
where angels mounted moon-lit on the air
and met to form a constellation new,
a crown of light, resplendent, rich and rare,
suspended high above the lifted heads
of shepherds startled into fear and awe,
who trembled at the tidings that they heard
and marvelled at the symmetry they saw:
a diadem for David in the sky,
a vision pointing to a greater sign:
the Virgin Mother with her Child Divine.
Old Simeon! What drew you there that day?
What whisper wakened longing in your soul?
What impulse roused you, gave new life to your
unsteady limbs? And what imagined goal,
what sweet desired dream could seem within
the grasp of gnarled hands and ancient arms
like yours? What vision or what unheard voice
impelled your coming? Haste like this alarms
and certainty in seers like you is hard
to beat: This energy, this seizing Him,
this speaking of His destiny, this fit
of flowing tears in eyes both bright and dim -
it all electrified. The crowd was stirred.
And Mary listened, and her whole heart heard!
Must you awaken Mary now, at night,
when she is deep in dreams and her small Son
asleep beside her? Must you disturb
so sweet a slumber? Breathing two as one,
her slender arm, still soft with sleep, is wrapped
about the babe, and his dark hair is damp
against her skin. Must innocence like this
be ended? Must you shine the warning lamp
across her gentle face? If Herod's set
upon the infant's death, then she must know,
take flight for Egypt, exile, yet tonight.
May she find strength to act and pack and go
to calm her baby, keep her own heart still,
and hear the wasteland whisper of God's will.
Can this extraordinary etiquette
be God's? To grieve you, leave you, stay behind
without a word to ease your mind, to let
you know where He would be? Can this be kind?
Or does some strange uncommon courtesy
direct this deed that leads you to the throne
of God? Jesus teaching in the Temple!
Such firmness, self-assurance in His tone
as if He'd known, anticipated all
anxiety, and planned your pain to spare
you worse! What could you do, endure, or dare,
what burden bear, if He did not prepare
you through this separation, triple loss,
these three sad days foreshadowing the cross?
Reproduced with permission of Sister Ann Astell
All About Mary includes a variety of content, much of which reflects the expertise, interpretations and opinions of the individual authors and not necessarily of the Marian Library or the University of Dayton. Please share feedback or suggestions with marianlibrary@udayton.edu.