OUR LADY, THE QUEEN OF ALL HEARTS

She climbed aboard the world’s carousel,

  Cuz everyone said it was cool;

She then speedily spun around and around,

  But she really just played the fool.

Before she knew what true love was,

  She thought she had found the one;

So she fell -- in love -- and broke her heart,

  Cuz all she really wanted was fun.

You patiently dressed her painful wounds,

  Pouring New Wine into her heart;

Then you gently kissed her sobbing soul,

  Making whole what was ripped apart.

St. Louis de Montfort showed her a shortcut

  That ever so quickly led to your Son;

Only then did she finally learn about love,

  Only then did she discover The One.

OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY

When I squeezed the rosary with my

  Tense fingers, my soul was bone dry;

I prayed too fast, as if trying to speed

  Through Death Valley at high noon.

I pitched my prayers with fear, and they

  Wildly eluded the spiritual strike zone;

It was as though they were frantically

  Fired from a rickety machine gun.

Then you taught me how to pray, Madonnina,

  More slowly, and more meaningfully;

I peacefully sprinkled the rosary throughout

  The morning, watering my soul’s garden.

I threw sizzling strikes with love, which you

  Crisply caught and brought to Jesus;

As God’s holy warrior, Padre Pio spoke the

  Truth: “Lord, give me my weapon.”

OUR LADY'S LITTLE CANDLE IN THE DARK NIGHT

The poetic corner of the public square

  Has grown exceedingly dark and dreary,

And the fetid fog of moral relativism

  Has made this place rather eerie,

The dingy marketplace of worldly poetry

  Weighs us down and makes us weary.

But Our Lady ignites her little candle,

  To make bright this deep dark night,

At last, beautiful sweet poetry comes to us,

  That is right in God’s glorious sight,

The candle’s flame is a spearing sword,

  Ready to fight for the one true Light.

THE HOLY ROSARY OF THE MORNING STAR

I very slowly awaken,

Still groggy from sleep,

And I feel the black enemy

Wielding his cutlass of terror,

A weapon of worry and woe,

Ready to strike me down,

But before he reaches me,

I look to wise St. Joseph,

Who gives me Our Lady’s lasso,

The Most Holy Rosary

Of the Morning Star,

A superior weapon for 

Engaging in spiritual combat:

I pray it slowly, and meaningfully,

Praying a delicious decade

Each hour throughout the morning,

Meditating on the holy mysteries,

Relishing the sweet taste of Love,

Allowing Our Lady to scatter

God’s blessings like holy seeds

Wherever she wills, for she knows

Much better than I do how to please

The Lord of Divine Mercy;

But when the enemy sneaks up

And tries to mortally wound me,

I immediately grab my weapon,

And I squeeze the strong little beads

Like a Jedi does a light saber,

And my sincere, intense prayers,

Like an angel’s trumpet blast,

Reach the ears of Almighty God,

Who with legions of angels

Comes to rescue and save me.

THE VIRGIN MOON

The Virgin moon    

shines in splendor    

in the dark night,    

but in humility she    

recognizes that the true    

glory really belongs to her

Sun, whose Divine Mercy

rays of red and white

shine in dazzling brilliance        

through all eternity.

THE STAR IN THE DARK NIGHT

O heavenly Star,

I am living in the dark night

Of unknowing,

Searching for peace in uncertainty. 

O Lighthouse in the sky,

I am living in the dark night

Of the unseen,

Trying to die slowly to myself.

With your beacon of light,

Like a laser sword from Heaven,

You strike and slay

All my enemies.

I rejoice in the source

Of your powerful light,

Christ the Courageous,

Your only Sun.

THE KISS IN THE DARK NIGHT

As I awaken in the

Dark Night,

The swirling, twirling

Tempest of menacing fear

Violently threatens to

Throttle me.

But brimming with

The Messiah’s magnificent mercy,

Our Lady appears and

Gazes at me with a

Sweet, serene smile

And sparkling aquamarine eyes;

Then, with her soft, rosy lips,

She wonderfully warms my cheek

With a pure, gentle, loving

Kiss.

Suddenly the surging

Tornado of terror

Silently ceases as

The Spirit

Blows in the breeze

And soars through

My soul.

THE TILMA

In the old mission church,

We, faithful pilgrims, are 

Packed together tightly

Much like votive candles,

Our weary wicks waiting

To be lit by Our Lady,

With the fire of the Spirit;

It wasn’t the real tilma,

Yet the good God has

No limits whatsoever, so

After mass, I approached,

Not expecting anything —

But when I touched her,

Love’s flame filled me,

And the Divine Mercy

Warmly embraced me.

THE INCARNATION

Whispered sweetly, her “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.

LA MADONNINA D'AMORE

During the deep dark night,

I open the eyes of my soul,

and I see her before me,

glittering in glorious brilliance.

She smiles at me, softly, gently,

and reminds me that she rejoices

greatly when I meditate on the

Holy Passion of her sweet Son.

I listen to the magnificent music

of her most wonderful words,

and light shines in the darkness,

burning away the folly of fear.

A CANTICLE OF CHEERFULNESS

A Tribute to Three Saints and a Venerable

My spirit rejoices in God, my savior;

He had the divine sense of humor; 

If I did not become upset, there would be joy in this;

I will serve God cheerfully,

Be cheerful, always cheerful,

One needs to have smiling faces around,

Live a happy life, full of joy!

Today you laugh and sing and carry your smile,

Optimism? Yes, always! Break into song with a Gloria,

Happiness is a consequence of self-surrender.

FEAR IS USELESS

Fear is useless,

What is needed is 

Patience,

Which drives out

All worry.

Fear is useless,

What is needed is

Trust, 

Which drives out

All anxiety.

Fear is useless,

What is needed is

Love, 

Which drives out 

All darkness.

Fear is foiled,

Worry is wounded,

Anxiety is annihilated,

Darkness is destroyed,

But by what?

By bright beams of Light,

That put evil to flight,

Oh, what a glorious sight!

Dazzling rays of red and white!

The Divine Mercy.

NINO THE LUKEWARM DONKEY

Nino goes to mass perhaps every month or two,

Since he’s so very busy, his prayers are quite few,

But he says he’s a good Catholic if you ask his view.

Nino needs to sincerely seek so that he may find,

He needs more time with the Lord, away from the grind,

Otherwise, the more he runs, the more he’ll fall behind.

NINO THE ENVIOUS DONKEY

Nino stews in envy as if he were in a

  cauldron of bubbling black oil,

When someone else gets praised,

  it really makes his blood boil,

If he isn’t recognized as special,

  It makes him radically recoil.

The loving Lord needs to gently pop

  Nino’s egotistical balloon,

Or this donkey will be despised,

  as a proud, puffed-up buffoon,

But when glad at others’ blessings,

  his soul will play a beautiful tune.

NINO THE SALESMAN

Nino the Donkey squeezes

   out every penny in sales,

His smooth, slippery power of

   persuasion never ever fails,

He legally pickpockets without

   getting thrown into jails.

Nino needs to learn how to

   sincerely serve each client,

He should give people a break

   and with pricing be more pliant,

He must make others’ lives

   easier and not be defiant.

NINO THE DONKEY

Nino the Donkey thought

   he was much better than all,

His diamond-studded saddle

   made him feel rather tall,

His pride did nothing but fill him

   with the most bitter gall.

Nino should focus so much

   more on his good deeds,

Instead of wearing the most

   fashionable fancy tweeds,

He would be better off thinking

   about other people’s needs.

TO ST. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

You are the great warrior angel,

Ready for the spiritual battle,

Always sober, vigilant, and alert,

You wait and watch for the enemy;

Then in the midst of black terror,

You slay the red dragon of fear,

Brandishing the sword of the Spirit,

The glorious golden sword of Love;

Teach us to become brave soldiers,

Soldiers of Jesus Christ the Lord,

Nourished by the holy Bread of Life,

Refreshed by His sweet new wine.

THE HOLY ROSARY OF THE MORNING STAR

I very slowly awaken,

Still groggy from sleep,

And I feel the black enemy

Wielding his cutlass of terror,

A weapon of worry and woe,

Ready to strike me down,

But before he reaches me,

I look to wise St. Joseph,

Who gives me Our Lady’s lasso,

The Most Holy Rosary

Of the Morning Star,

A superior weapon for 

Engaging in spiritual combat:

I pray it slowly, and meaningfully,

Praying a delicious decade

Each hour throughout the morning,

Meditating on the holy mysteries,

Relishing the sweet taste of Love,

Allowing Our Lady to scatter

God’s blessings like holy seeds

Wherever she wills, for she knows

Much better than I do how to please

The Lord of Divine Mercy;

But when the enemy sneaks up

And tries to mortally wound me,

I immediately grab my weapon,

And I squeeze the strong little beads

Like a Jedi does a light saber,

And my sincere, intense prayers,

Like an angel’s trumpet blast,

Reach the ears of Almighty God,

Who with legions of angels

Comes to rescue and save me.

AN ACT OF THANKSGIVING: A POETIC PROCLAMATION

A DIVINE MERCY PRAYER

All-powerful,

Most holy,

Most high,

And Supreme God,

I am so sorry for hurting you:

I impudently spat upon your sorrowful face,

I violently scourged your most blessed body,

I scornfully crowned your holy head with thorns, 

I savagely kicked you as you fell with the cross,

I cruelly crucified your flesh with stinging nails;

In short, I have bitterly tortured you

With every single one of my sins against you.

I despise and abhor

all my many sins,

Including any

I have withheld from you

in the past —

mortal sins or venial sins —

or never confessed honestly,

or forgot about;

And I accuse myself

of being guilty of

High treason

against your Majesty,

Deserving to be executed --

and exiled -- 

Because my sins offend you,

Lord God,

Who are all good,

supremely good,

Totally good,

who alone are good --

You deserve only

my heartfelt love

And blind obedience

to your holy will.

Therefore, I hereby make

this declaration and resolution:

I am absolutely and utterly

determined, through your

sweet holy graces and

Your unfathomable

Divine Mercy,

To be your humble

and obedient slave,

Through Mary,

the Queen of All Hearts,

And to be your faithful servant

who with promptitude

runs away from

The false enticements

of all sin and

The empty allure

of all temptation,

and, instead, I completely

surrender myself

Into your warm embrace,

and with a heart

bountifully overflowing with

Thanksgiving for your mercy

to me,

I receive your loving 

kiss of peace.

Amen.

THE SAINTLY COUPLE

Behold the Little Flower’s mom and dad,

They pray for parents about to go mad;

The Martin family had five sweet girls,

So their devout home was filled with French curls;

Louis and Zelie were full of great love,

They taught their daughters the path of The Dove;

With their “little queen” they had lots of fun,

And each of their girls became a young nun;

When Louis and Zelie finally died,

Heaven’s beautiful doors opened real wide;

So parents that want to pull out their hair

Should ask them for help, for they really care.