Thursday, December 30, 2010

First word of the Child Jesus

The Word in your silence
has been said briefly and eternally
and it is mute in your maternal
lap...

She tells Him:
Am I to give, divine lips,
your first word?
Which one will I choose, my God,
to let lose your tongue?
Your first word
filled to the brim the star-filled skies,
by what will be filled my soul
your first word?
Will I tell it to say: Love?...
No, for saying it does not count:
It is saying in silence
with its joy and its sorrow!
Will I tell it to say: Mother?...
No, because the Father will be jealous.
Will I tell it to say: Father?
No, because the earth shudders...
I will tell it to say: Jesus,
which is the perfect word!
With which the Father smiles,
the earth is divinized,
and the Heart of his Mother
is fulfilled with eternal joy.

-- 100 sonetos de eternidad by Juan Alberto de los Cármenes, ocd
translated by ocdsister

** Fr Juan Alberto is very well known in the Spanish Carmels for his poetry. Born in Cuba, many of his poems are inspired by Carmelite writings, especially those of St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross.

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