Benedict's Daughter

Poems

Kolin

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781532611483
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

These poems offer a spiritual biography of a remarkable woman of faith, a Benedictine Oblate and spiritual adviser who lived her life according to St. Benedict's Holy Rule ("ora and labora"--pray and work).Juxtaposed with poems on her life, othersreflect on Benedictine traditionssuch as praying the Liturgy of the Hours,taking vows of stability, hospitality, silence, plus engendering respect for theenvironment and all living things.This collectionincludes a variety of poetic forms, styles, and voices, even St. Benedict's.

part 1

Prologue: The Liturgy of the Hours

Lauds

Day Opens

The book of day opens with

the papery feel of dew on azure;

sun shafts sign the distant hilltops

overlooking the abbey

with heaven’s new covenant.

It’s time to shake off

the mortality of sleep;

the tomb of night is cracked, step out

and feel the infinity of light.

Dawn has resurrected the world

from the denial of darkness.

The air is inscribed with Gospels

calling us to be a part of forever:

the Angelus and Mass bells,

the canticles of rivers and oceans,

and the blessings of soft-voiced breezes—

all ring souls with delight.

God fills daybreak with himself.

Terce

St. Peter on the Eternity of Three

Everything I learned about eternity unfolded

in threes. Mary told me about the Magi

and about losing him in the temple

then finding him three days later.

James, John, but I saw her glorified son

transfigured on that holy mountain top.

Coming down, we wiped the dazzle

from our eyes; and for three years

it spread like lilies across the fields.

Then came Gethsemane

and the blood tears he shed

turning stones opalescent red.

That night the high priest’s courtyard

felt as cold as my tongue; I denied him

the three times the cock crowed.

I froze at the third hour

when unctuous Pilate

sentenced him to die.

I could not watch those three crosses

standing stark on that hill

or bear to see the temple veil

ripping apart. The darkness

that followed his death

stole three hours’ light from the sky.

The third day the women,

Salome, Joanna, Magdela,

ran back from the tomb with earth-

shaking news that he had risen,

the stone rolled away,

and his burial linens lay limp

on the floor.

On Pentecost at the third hour

the Holy Spirit descended

enflaming our tongues

to speak ea...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part 1—Prologue: The Liturgy of the Hours
• Part 2—The Journey