Tender Mercy

Tender Mercy

Most tender Mother of redeemed mankind, plead mercy for our souls.

Poema I

I

We look outward to the stars and to beyond the stars,

The stars which make us feel homesick,

For a home which we never have and always have known;

Our souls as new as the grass, as ancient as the moon,

Moving above the waters that are above the waters,

To the fount of the ever-blessed Infinite.

II

O my soul, how old art thou?

You are as ancient as the yesterday;

You are as new as the beginning of time.

The prophecy of the stars speaks of the hope of the saints,

Shimmering brightly and singly amid the darkness,

With many immortal brothers.

III

So, it is true: I was baptised.

Baptised in holy Galilean waters,

Baptised into the communion of the saints.

And I remember now my original innocence,

And how the faith and the hope of my fathers lives in me:

The Holy Ghost's Charity.