THE MYSTERY OF HOLY MASS / by Joe Castorino

Inspired by St. Francis de Sales

A Joyful Mystery

As I arrive at the church,

angels with beautiful

trumpet-like voices

announce to us

the coming of the Lord --

here, now, today;

He will come to visit us,

and our sleepy souls

will be wonderfully reborn;

Our Lady will joyfully

present us to Him,

and we will discover Him

in the deepest depths

of our souls.

A Luminous Mystery

Afterwards, the holy Word

is lovingly proclaimed,

and our spirits are baptized

by Divine Mercy;

we drink deeply of the

new wine of the Spirit,

and our lives are

forever transfigured

by the Light of the Word

and, very soon, by the

Most Holy Eucharist as well.

A Sorrowful Mystery

But then, after we experience

the beauty of the Last Supper,

we are saddened by

Jesus’ sorrowful Passion,

and we recognize that it is we,

and not Our Blessed Lord,

who deserve to be executed and exiled;

as the priest slowly raises the Host,

we see Him, hanging cruelly on the cross,

crowned with crooked thorns,

and crushed under the weight

of our multitudinous sins,

the sins of everyone, everywhere,

in all of human history.

A Glorious Mystery

However, we ultimately experience

Divine Mercy in the dark night:

we very humbly kneel

and wait at the communion rail,

where the good God comes to us! --

and we taste the magnificent glory

of Heaven on earth,

and our spirit resurrects,

from the grave of our pride,

from the grave of our selfishness,

and we experience divine union

with the Divine Mercy;

after returning to our places,

we offer sincere our prayers to Him,

and they ascend to the highest Heaven

on the wings of happy angels,

and then the Holy Spirit descends

silently into our souls,

freely and generously giving us

His delicious and delightful fruit:

love and joy and peace,

and all the other fruits of the Spirit;

and so, we are born again,

and the Queen of Love

sweetly smiles upon us all.