Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims,
We are delighted to share Day 6 of our Birthing the Holy Prayer Cycle with you which honors Mary as Theotokos (God-Bearer/ morning prayer) and Mystical Rose (evening prayer).
The video above is another one created by our filmmaking friends in Galway, Morgan Creative, to bring this beautiful song to life. We invite you to pause for a meditative moment. If you have any rose tea on hand (either rose hips or rose petals or both!) consider brewing a cup to inhale and sip slowly while contemplating the images.
The song itself is based on an old traditional German folk song and speaks to Mary as the rose that blooms among the thorns. Similar to Mary as the Greenest Branch from last week’s reflection (and Day 5 of the Prayer Cycle), her greening fruitfulness blossoms into the world. In herbal medicine the rose is the healer of the heart.
Here is the closing blessing for Day 6 Evening Prayer honoring Mary as Mystical Rose.*
CLOSING BLESSING
you unfold your petals slowly
revealing your mysteries one by one.
The color of passion,
the fragrance of bliss soft like a warm embrace,
reveal to us our own soul’s flowering.
Abide with us as we wait on the buds to open
a journey from holding everything
close to our hearts to the fullness
of opening and offering our gifts to the world.
Rose is medicine for the heart,
tender of traumas, healer of wounds,
a place for grief to soften.
Be our medicine, bring our hearts alive again.
Steady us as we learn to breathe
more deeply and to dance
like petals blowing in the breeze
releasing the perfume of kindness
out into the world.
The companion album Birthing the Holy: Singing with Mary and the Sacred Feminine is available for streaming or download.
With great and growing love,
Christine
Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE
*Closing Blessing written by Christine Valters Paintner from Birthing the Holy: Wisdom from Mary to Nurture Creativity and Renewal used with permission from Ave Maria Press
Video credit: Abbey of the Arts and Morgan Creative
