Christmas,
The night of Christ,
The breathtaking eve when the
Babe of the Incarnation
Heroically came to save us.
St. Joseph,
The Knight of Christ,
The brave, holy man that the
Babe of the Incarnation
Trusted wholeheartedly.
THE HOLY KNIGHT /
You protected the Babe of Light,
In Bethlehem’s most Holy Night.
The magi in their wise hands hold
Both sweet frankincense and gold,
But your strong courageous arms
Save Baby Jesus from all harms.
You are the knight of the Dove,
And on that Holy Night met Love.
Hellishly bloody Herod the Hater
Fears that he’s not the greater,
But you, oh most humble father,
With vainglory don’t even bother.
You protected the Babe of Light,
In Bethlehem’s most Holy Night.
TO ST. JOSEPH /
Your thick, wavy brown hair happily
Blows in the breeze of God’s will;
Your warm brown eyes twinkle with
Contentment, crinkling as you smile.
You protect the holy Babe from Herod’s
Hellish hands, which are dripping with blood;
In obedience, you help the Holy Family
Evade him and elusively escape to Egypt.
As a worker, you handle the wood of
God’s creation with gentle strength;
With industrious ingenuity, you use
God’s good gifts to serve others.
You shatter lustful temptation with your
Carpenter’s mallet of holy purity;
Then, as God’s valiant soldier, you slay
Selfishness with the sword of surrender.
In your loving example, you show little Jesus
how to be a good son to His mother;
With your humble heart, you teach Love
How to love, and the angels are amazed.
O BEHOLD OUR LADY /
Sung to the tune of “Silent Worship” by George Frideric Handel
O behold Our Lady,
Who hears the church bells ringing,
Silent, she waits and listens,
Then, hears the angels singing;
And, lo, behold Our Lady,
So beautiful and fair,
Smiling in the Sonshine,
With a glory of golden hair.
She cuddled with Baby Jesus,
In a stable in Bethlehem,
The light from the little Savior
Shone brightly like a gem.
Surely you love Our Lady,
Who joins the angels singing,
Deep in His heart of mercy,
Her prayers with ours are mingling;
And, lo, behold Our Lady,
So beautiful and fair,
Smiling in the Sonshine,
God’s love is in the air.
PRAYER FOR SINCERE CONTRITION /
Inspired by St. Francis de Sales
O Lord, I recognize
my unworthiness,
and I humbly ask pardon
for my sins.
Amen.
THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM /
She is the Star of Bethlehem.
The compassionate Lady of Love,
The powerful Virgin of Victory,
The sweet Mother of the Messiah,
Silent and holy, calm and bright,
Her dazzling beauty shines
In the dark night of unknowing,
And she points the way for the
Wise men and wise women
Of this world who wish to know
The Babe of Divine Mercy.
THE INCARNATION /
Whispered sweetly,
Santa Maria’s “yes”
Ripples and reverberates
Through the Halls of Heaven,
And the Spirit speeds through the
Atmosphere in a powerful pulse
Of gleaming, virginal white light
Into the humble House of Gold:
And, behold, The Divine Mercy is
Incarnate.
OUR LADY OF DIVINE MERCY /
Trembling, I hid in your mantle, protected
From the dark night of unknowing;
You guided me up the steep, perilous path,
Towards the sparkling, starry heavens.
The demonic winds gusted, and with
Frightful ferocity thunder shook the air;
Serpentine lightning darted in the sky, and
Lava streams slithered down the slopes.
But then the Sun of God dazzlingly dawned,
And He put an end to the dark night;
Beams of bright light, both red and white,
Streamed soothingly into my soul.
Atop the summit, you took my hand,
And together we flew into the Light;
We laughed like merry little children,
Soaking in the sunshine of pure Mercy.
THE CONVERSION OF MARY MAGDALENE /
Inspired by Paolo Veronese’s masterpiece
Our Lord looks at Mary
With sweetness and gentleness,
And she looks back at him,
Incredulous, that He could
Forgive and pardon
Her many many grave sins;
She gazes into the eyes of Love,
Her heart pierced by the lance of
Sincere heartfelt contrition, and
As He breaks the chains of her sin,
She experiences the Good,
She experiences the True,
She experiences the Beautiful —
And, lo, she is a new creation!
NIGHT PRAYER /
Prayed, in silence, while in bed
O Madonnina d’Amore,
Be with me; stay with me;
Let every beat of my heart tonight
Be an act of love for you!
O Gesù, La Divina Misericordia,
Be with me; stay with me;
Let every beat of my heart tonight
Be an act of love for you!
Amen.
MARIAN PRAYER OF OFFERING FOR A PLENARY OR PARTIAL INDULGENCE /
O Lord of Love,
Through your holy grace,
I have wholehearted contrition,
And am free from all affection for sin,
And so, with a sincere heart,
I offer you this Our Father
and also this Hail Mary,
For the Holy Father’s intentions…
And along with these prayers,
Please accept my recent confession,
And this morning’s indulgenced work,
And reception of Holy Communion.
In short, I humbly request that
Through the sweet hands of
Our Lady of Love,
You accept the little gift of
Today’s indulgence,
Offered for the benefit of _____,
Or for whomever the merciful
Mystical Rose most wishes,
In accordance with your holy will.
Amen.
LITTLE PRAYER TO OUR GUARDIAN ANGELs /
Inspired by St. Basil the Great and St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Dearest
Guardian Angels,
Be with us;
Stay with us.
Through God’s
Bountiful love,
Please protect us!
Please guard us!
Please guide us!
Please teach us!
Save us from
The dark night,
And lead us into
The Holy Light.
Jesus, I trust in You!
Amen.
SUSANNAH AND THE ELDERS /
Inspired by Pompeo Batoni’s masterpiece
The lecherous elders saw her,
with eyes wanton and wicked
they saw the lovely Susannah
as she innocently bathed in the
warm water of the silent garden,
but when she rejected the lurid
scheme of these unjust judges,
their vicious vile hearts burned
with lust and anger, and so
they perniciously plotted to
melt down her golden reputation
in the fiery furnace of calumny;
but still, she trusted,
Susannah trusted in God --
then, the Spirit of the Lord rushed
upon a youth named Daniel
who, though very humble,
spoke with the authoritative
passion of the prophets of old,
and his wondrous wisdom
amazed the people who listened --
and, lo, in the twinkle of an eye,
Justice struck down the elders
like a holy hammer from Heaven.
DAVID AND GOLIATH /
Inspired by Caravaggio’s masterpiece
David, youthful and ruddy,
God’s brave little warrior,
Bends over to see the stupefied
Expression on Goliath’s face;
The beheaded giant attempts to
Utter one last word to the victor,
But the smooth stone piercing
His bloody brain prevents him;
The future king is as calm and
Collected as a sage prophet,
Truly he is God’s holy champion,
The faithful and fearless one.
THE ISRAELITES DRINKING THE MIRACULOUS WATER /
Inspired by Jacopo Bassano’s masterpiece
Just a moment ago,
before I struck the rock,
the people used their mouths
to stone me with sarcasm,
to run me through with ridicule,
to crucify me with cruelty --
but if they would see You here,
the Holy One, the great I AM,
they would never do this to You;
yet now, with those same mouths,
they thirstily drink the water,
refreshing their parched throats,
strengthening their tired bodies --
but what they really need,
what they really and truly need,
to refresh and purify their souls,
is Your gracious gift of Living Water,
an endless ocean of Divine Mercy.
THE MULTIPLICATION OF THE FRUIT /
Inspired by Peter Paul Rubens’ masterpiece
As Jesus sits at table,
He lovingly shares with us
Clusters of nine grapes,
One for each fruit of the Spirit;
We eat them and they are
Sweeter than moscato,
And they lovingly burst forth in
Wonderful fireworks of flavor;
But then we see others in need
At the far end of the table,
And so, in Love, we share
Our delightful fruit with them too,
So that Love is all in all,
And the more we share this
Most excellent fruit with others,
The more Jesus shares it with us.
MOSES SAVED FROM THE WATERS /
Inspired by Jacopo Robusti Tintoretto’s masterpiece
A lonely little baby in a basket
floats freely in the current of
the Nile River, his brown eyes
wandering to and fro, innocently
wondering where his mother is;
the Spirit delicately leads the
young one towards his new home,
and in a short time the babe feels
his journey come to a gentle halt;
when the basket opens, he looks up
and sees a pretty face, but unlike
any that he has seen before, painted,
but with a light, elegant touch;
then the Egyptian woman’s
eyes open wide in wonder,
and her beautiful lips curve
into a warm, sweet smile,
and for the first time in
her life, she is in love.
THE CONVERSION OF MARY MAGDALENE /
Inspired by Paolo Veronese’s masterpiece
Our Lord looks at Mary
With sweetness and gentleness,
And she looks back at him,
Incredulous, that He could
Forgive and pardon
Her many many grave sins;
She gazes into the eyes of Love,
Her heart pierced by the lance of
Sincere heartfelt contrition, and
As He breaks the chains of her sin,
She experiences the Good,
She experiences the True,
She experiences the Beautiful —
And, lo, she is a new creation!
OUR LADY'S LITTLE LANTERN /
O Mystical Rose,
Surrounded by the
Dazzling and brilliant Light,
You open your little lantern
And fill it to the brim
With the Light of Love,
Then you humbly and gently
Shine it upon the whole world,
Transfiguring it,
With His glorious goodness,
With His transparent truth,
With His benevolent beauty!
JOSEPH SOLD BY HIS BROTHERS /
Inspired by Antonio Castillo Saavedra’s masterpiece
Stripped of his ornamental tunic
By his jealous, impulsive brothers,
Joseph sits cramped inside a dry well,
As if inside a cavernous dungeon,
Bewildered, like a lost lonely sheep;
Then, he’s startled by a falling rope --
He instinctively grips it and
Suddenly, he’s jerked upwards,
His eyes observing the misty clouds
That seem to be swirling in confusion
Above him in the cold dark sky;
After being yanked out of the well
And thrown roughly to the ground
By one of his very own brothers,
He wearily looks up at an
Astonished Midianite merchant,
Who carefully looks him over
With a shrewd business-like eye
Before buying him, on the spot,
For a bargain of twenty shekels;
As Joseph slowly walks alongside
This cheerful good-natured trader,
He wonders what God’s plans will be
For him in the distant land of Egypt.