Tag Archives: God

Angels’ Rest

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I want to live in thanksgiving ,
Rendering praise upon praise,
Filling the world about me
With the presence of angels,
Called from the four winds
To a place where He, Who is Love,
Is honored and revered,
An oasis in the wilderness of men and beast.

Bow down, weary travelers.
Enter my tent.
Rest from your journeys among men ,
Your battles in high places..
Drink the water from the Rock
Savor the sweetness and honey
Of companionship,

Of like-minded souls,
In the bosom of our Ever Present God.

Copyright 2013 Joann Nelander

House of Prayer

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Make of me a house of prayer,
With doors wide open
To the visitation of Your Saints,
That being, in my small capacity,
Prophet, priest and king,
By virtue of Your sacred anointing,
I may set my table,
And feast upon You
In holy communion,
Listening for Your Presence
On the lips of Your Holy Ones,
To grow and go from glory to glory
As You o Lord intended as
You formed me in the womb
For Your good pleasure
And my eternal benefit.

Copyright 2013 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved

Heart’s Desire

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O, my Lord,
I enthrone You
In my heart.

Bowing before You,
I take refuge
In Your Mercy.

I clasp fast
The hand of the Virgin,
She, who bore my Savior,
Now, holds my entreaties
In her Immaculate Heart.

In Mary’s bosom,
The Fire of Your Love
Refashions my heart’s desire,
That it may reflect
The desires of Your Most Sacred Heart.

Here, I appeal to You,
In the melodic voice
Of the Mother’s purity.

Copyright 2013 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved

Known But by Grace

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Only, and far flung God,
Bursting upon the scene of Time
To start the clock
By uncreated might,
And usher forth
Your manifold good will,
In the splendor of creation,
Look on me,
In my becoming.
In this, the only now I know,
This precious fleeting instant,
Reveal Yourself evermore.

You entered Time
That Man might enter Heaven.
You, Who are Eternal Being,
Let me contemplate Thee
Wrapped in swaddling clothes,
Nursing at the Virgin’s breast,
Growing as men grow,
Yet knowing the Father Creator
As only Son.

I see Thee arrayed,
Transfigured in the Light,
Even as You are stretched
Between Heaven and Earth
On Your Holy Cross,
Becoming Sin,
And dying in my stead.
Lifted above the earth in Your divinity,
Higher than the mountains,
Yet pervading depth and breathe,
To shake and shape
The cursed land and Man anew,
In elegant Revelation of Mystery,
Rising from the dead,
To live in universal blessedness,
Across all time and space,
Known but by grace.

Copyright 2013 Joann Nelander

Mary, Undoer of Knots

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O loving Mother Mary,
Undoer of Knots,
Look upon the jumble of my life,
And work the wonder
Graced by God to thee

It is said that He Who Is
Writes straight
With crooked lines.
May He Who is the Author of Life,
And Creator
Of my all too brief story,
Allow you to edit these pages.
Untangle the chaos
With your sweet simplicity.

Place Your Child upon my breast;
So may the beating of His heart
Set the rhythm of mine,
That it be in tune
With the eternal chorus,
Singing My God’s praises,
All for the glory
Of He of Whom the angels
Serenade in a perpetual,
“Holy, Holy, Holy! ”

Copyright 2013 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved

Advent Prayer in Waiting

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The moment of our Savior’s Birth draws near and joy is on the horizon. A poetic and prayerful  meditation:

 

Advent is upon my soul.
Divine gift of season,
I listen for the cry of a First Born Son,
Begotten before Time begun,
And enfleshed in the Virgin’s womb.

I come to her,
Who is the Ark,
Your Mercy Seat.
Kneeling beside her,
In these pregnant moments,
I lay my head upon her lap.

Her wonderment, and awe,
In steadfast contemplation,
Inspire angels’ songs.

I hear their reverent voices
In my night.
Their chorus bids me come.
Come to the stable of simplicity.

Leave the noisy city for a deserted place,
The Wilderness, whose hidden way
Leads to the waiting manger,
Now, in expectant readiness,
For the Food, that will feed
The hungry world.

My Advent prayer,
Come, O Holy Infant!
Come to my straw

 

©2010 Joann Nelander