Immensity

I turn today to John Donne (1573-1631) and his poem Annunciation which is the second of seven sonnets under the title La Corona – yes Corona (Crown) a term we lived with for the best part of three years and sadly some continue to live with the mark of the Corona Virus. Donne uses the last line of each of his 7 sonnets as the first line of the next sonnet and therefore ties them all together in “a crown” La Corona! The second sonnet in this series I believe is majestic. Amidst all the hurrying of this season this is an invitation to pause and ponder. Do take time to read this poem and to read it again and again, allow the words to penetrate your soul and spark your imagination. As we move closer to Christmas I will be using the third in the series and will return to the others in January and then at Easter. Take the last three lines of this sonnet and gently cradle them in your hands the way you would a baby. Feel the weight and width along with the gravity and the grace of these life giving words.

Footnote: At age 12, Donne matriculated at the University of Oxford where he studied for three years, and he then most likely continued his education at the University of Cambridge though he took no degree from either university because as a Roman Catholic he could not swear the required oath of allegiance  to the Protestant queen, Elizabeth I.  He would eventually become an Anglican and took holy orders and served as Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral 1621-23! His life story is remarkable.

Annunciation  John Donne
Salvation to all that will is nigh;
That All, which always is all every where,
Which cannot sin, and yet all sins must bear,
Which cannot die, yet cannot choose but die,
Lo, faithful Virgin, yields Himself to lie
In prison, in thy womb; and though He there
Can take no sin, nor thou give, yet He’ll wear,
Taken from thence, flesh, which death’s force may try.
Ere by the spheres time was created, thou
Wast in His mind, who is thy Son, and Brother;
Whom thou conceivest, conceived; yea, thou art now
Thy Maker’s maker, and thy Father’s mother;
Thou hast light in dark; and shutt’st in little room
Immensity, cloistered in thy dear womb.

The photograph above is from The Cathedral of The Immaculate Conception, Wichita, Kansas.

Prayer:
O Holy God
in this season of Advent
we wait, we watch, and we wonder.
Words themselves are not bendy enough
to say what cannot be said.
We struggle to comprehend,
we struggle to embrace this truth.
We look to Mary, and cannot comprehend her predicament,
We look to Mary, and marvel at her “Yes”.
Might we have the courage and the commitment
to respond to God with our own “Yes”
and so
give
birth
to
Your light,
Your love,
Your grace,
Your hope,
Your comfort,
in the here and now.
So be it God. Amen.