Biblical Mariology

For Fr. Stefano M. Manelli, FI

Handmaid through whom the Lord shines bright and clear,
From whose consent the grace of all ensues,
Nurse - mid-wife - in haste to the needy, whose
Christ-pregnant speech joys on reaching the ear,
Woman whose prayers warm our weddings and cheer,
Whose one novena won three thousand Jews,
Moon conquering Queen whom sun and stars suffuse,
Whose little foot the dragon's greatest fear:

In pain you many barren hills have trod;
For pierced by grim works and weary of limb,
Like Christ's Christ you from your body fed God.
He swam in you in whose Blood I would swim.
Pray that we may cherish it who, though sod,
Marylike for a moment may bear Him.

Ben Douglass
May 27, Anno Domini MMIX