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| Ad Jesum per Mariam J-J Tissot. |
The Novena is offered as a gift to Our Lady praying that, through her maternal intercession, she will mediate graces so as to guide and protect the author, his family* and all the members of the Church Militant, in these disturbing times. [*E, E, K, P, T, E ,E; E, A.]
We shall be posting each day examples of Marian poetry written by St Robert Southwell who himself lived in a terrible time of trial for Catholics. Much of his poetry was written whilst he was in solitary confinement prior to his execution at Tyburn on the 21st of February, 1595.
The original spelling and punctuation has been retained; the notes which follow each poem are my own.
Our ladies Nativitye
Joye in the risinge of our orient starr
That shall bringe forth the Sunne that lent her light
Joy in the peace that shall conclude our Warr
And soon rebate the edge of Satons spight
Load starr of all engolfd in worldly waves [5]
The card and Compasse that from Shipwracke saves.
The patriacks and Prophetts were the flowres
Which time by course of ages did distill
And culld into this little cloude the showres
Whose gratious droppes the world with joy shall fill [10]
Whose moysture suppleth every soule with grace
And bringeth life to Adams dyeing race.
For god on earth she is the royal throne
The chosen cloth to make his mortal weede
The quarry to cutt out our Corner stone [15]
Soyle full of fruite yet free from mortall seed
For heavenly floure shee is the Jesse rodd
The childe of man the parent of a god.
Notes
[l 1-2]orient starr...the Sunne that lent her light: the star rising in the east. Mary is the 'Stella Matutina,' the Morning Star, appearing after the dark night but always heralding the Sun. The star's place is in the high heaven. Mary's womb was a heaven where she welcomed her Son; and He has welcomed her into Heaven. 'Mary, like the stars, abides for ever, as lustrous now as she was on the day of her Assumption; as pure and perfect, when her Son comes to judgment, as she is now.' [Newman, Meditations and Devotions]
'It is Mary’s prerogative to be the Morning Star, which heralds in the sun. She does not shine for herself, or from herself, but she is the reflection of her and our Redeemer, and she glorifies Him. When she appears in the darkness, we know that He is close at hand.' [ibid]
'Stella maris', star of the sea, is the most popular interpretation of the name Mary (Miriam), and dates back to St. Jerome AD (340-420). In Isaiah 40:15, however, Jerome renders the word 'stilla maris' (drop of the sea), instead of stella maris. Miriam occurs only once in the Old Testament, with reference to the name of Moses' sister. Some have concluded from this that it is of Egyptian origin, from the Egyptian mer or mar, 'to love', and the Hebrew Divine name Yam or Yahweh. Miriam then comes to mean 'one loving Yahweh' or 'one beloved of Yahweh'. Another fascinating suggestion is that Miriam derives not from a compound form but from a simple Hebrew noun meaning 'well-formed'. It would therefore be equivalent to 'the beautiful one'. For a fuller treatment of this subject, see 'The Name of Mary' in the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia.
[l 4] rebate: To reduce the effect or force of (a physical agent); to ward off or turn aside (a blow, stroke, etc.). To blunt a weapon; to dull the edge or point of a blade, etc.
Satons spight: Satan's spite. We are engaged in a 'warr' but we now through Mary have the hope of peace:
[12] For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. [Ephesians 6]
[l 5] Load starr: lodestar | loadstar ; a star that shows the way; esp. the pole star. A ‘guiding star’; that on which one's attention or hopes are fixed. 'If the winds of temptation arise, if you are driven upon the rocks of tribulation, look to the star, call on Mary. If you are tossed upon the waves of pride, of ambition, of envy, of rivalry, look to the star, call on Mary. Should anger, or avarice, or fleshly desire violently assail the frail vessel of your soul, look at the star, call upon Mary.' Attributed to St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153).
[l 6] The card and Compasse: The mariner's compass consists essentially of three parts, the bowl or box, containing the card on which the 32 points of the compass are marked, and the needle'.
[l 7] patriacks: patriarchs.
[l 8] distill: here used with a different sense from line 4 of The Conception of oure Ladie (above). Here the sense is: To extract the essence of (a plant, etc.) by distillation; to obtain an extract of. Cf Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream i. i. 76 'Earthlyer happy is the rose distild, Then that, which, withering on the virgin thorne, Growes, liues, and dies, in single blessednesse.'
[l 9] cull'd: Gathered, picked, plucked (flowers, fruits, etc.).
this little cloud: This may be a reference to 'Elias little cloud' : See Chapter 18 of the Third Book of Kings (1 Kings). Achab, King of Israel, had married Jezabel and together they had promoted the worship of the demon Baal throughout the land. The Lord God punished this idolatry with a drought. Elias, a prophet of the lord, challenged the priests of Baal to a trial by fire on Mount Carmel. The idolaters were unable to call down fire from their demon but Elias' prayer to the one, true God was answered. The priests of the demon Baal were all slain and Elias told Achab that rain would come. Eventually, Elias servant reported that a little cloud had appeared in the cloudless sky, coming from the direction of the sea and shaped like a foot. The cloud grew and the rain they had prayed for arrived, showered down upon the people of Israel to save them from death and suffering through the hunger and thirst caused by the drought.
[l 10] gratious: several possible layers of meaning: enjoying grace or favour; pleasing, acceptable to, popular with. Characterized by or exhibiting kindness, courtesy, or generosity of spirit; courteous, considerate, generous. Of a person or thing: characterized by, conveying, or filled with divine grace;
[l 11] suppleth: supplieth.
[l 13] the royal throne: Cf. Sedes sapientiae, Seat of wisdom (Litaniae Lauretanae, Litany of Loreto)
[l 14] weede: An article of apparel; a garment.
[l 15] our Corner stone: Christ.
[22] The stone which the builders rejected; the same is become the head of the corner. [Psalm 117, the Psalmist foretelling the coming of Christ]
[l 16] Soyle...free from mortall seed: the soyle here is Mary's womb; the blessed fruit of her womb is Jesus. Mary herself asked Gabriel how she could become a mother without the human (mortal) seed of a husband.
[34] And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man? [35] And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. [Luke 1]
[l 17] the Jesse rod: this is a reference to one of the prophecies of Isaiah foretelling the coming of the Messiah, some 700 years before Christ:
[1] And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. [Isaiah 11]
Jesse was the father of eight sons. The youngest was born in Bethlehem and was to become the King of Israel. Christ came from this royal line and was born in Bethlehem. 'rod' means here a straight, slender shoot or branch, growing on or cut from a tree or bush; by extension an offshoot, a scion. 'Rod' apparently derives from the same root as 'rood', meaning 'cross' (as in the 'rood screen' in Christian churches). The flower that rises up out of Jesse's root is Mary, the 'heavenly floure.'
[l 18] the parent of a god: Theotokos: Greek θεοτόκος adjective, < θεός God + -τοκος bringing forth, < stem τεκ-, τοκ- of τίκτειν to bear. Deipara: mother of God, < deus God + -parus, -para, bearing, parĕre to bear; a Latin representation of Greek θεοτόκος. (A dogma defined and affirmed at the Council of Ephesus, 431 AD).
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