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excerpts from poems by Denise Levertov; Latin Ordinary of the Mass |
I. Kyrie
O deep unknown, guttering candle,
beloved nugget lodged
in the obscure heart's
last recess,
have mercy upon us.
We choose from the past, tearing morsels to feed
pride or grievance.
We live in terror
of what we know:
death, death, and the world's
death we imagine
and cannot imagine,
we who may be
the first and last witness.
We live in terror
of what we do not know,
in terror of not knowing,
of the limitless, through which freefalling
forever, our dread
sinks and sinks,
or
of the violent closure of all
Yet our hope lies
in the unknown,
in our unknowing.
O deep, remote unknown,
O deep, unknown,
Have mercy upon us.
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Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison. |
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. |
II. Gloria
Praise the wet snow
falling early.
Praise the shadow
my neighbor's chimney casts on the tile roof
even this gray October day that should, they say,
have been golden.
Praise
the invisible sun burning beyond
the white cold sky, giving us
light and the chimney's shadow
Praise
god or the gods, the unknown,
that which imagined us, which stays
our hand,
our murderous hand,
and give us
still,
in the shadow of death,
our daily life,
and the dream still
of goodwill, of peace on earth.
Praise
flow and change, night and
the pulse of day.
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Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Et in terra pax
hominibus bonæ voluntatis.
Laudamus te; benedicimus te;
adoramus te; glorificamus te.
Gratias agimus tibi
propter magnam gloriam tuam.
Domine Deus, Rex coelestis,
Deus Pater omnipotens.
Domine Fili unigenite Jesu Christe.
Domine Deus, Agnus Dei,
Filius Patris.
Qui tollis peccata mundi,
miserere nobis.
Qui tollis peccata mundi,
suscipe deprecationem nostram.
Qui sedes ad dextram Patris,
O miserere nobis.
Quoniam tu solus Sanctus,
tu solus Dominus,
tu solus Altissimus, Jesu Christe.
Cum Sancto Spiritu
in gloria Dei Patris.
Amen. |
Glory be to God in the highest.
And on earth peace
to men of good will.
We praise You; we bless You;
we adore You; we glorify You.
We give You thanks for Your great glory.
Lord God, Heavenly King,
God the Father Almighty.
O Lord Jesus Christ, only begotten Son.
Lord God, Lamb of God,
Son of the Father.
You that take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
You that take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer.
You that sit at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy upon us.
For You only are the Holy One,
You alone are the Lord,
You alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ.
Together with the Holy Ghost
in the glory of God the Father.
Amen. |
III. Credo
I believe the earth
exists, and
in each minim mote
of its dust the holy
glow of thy candle.
Thou
unknown I know,
thou spirit,
giver,
lover of making, of the
wrought letter,
wrought flower,
iron, deed, dream.
Dust of the earth,
help thou my
unbelief. Drift,
gray become gold, in the beam of
vision. I believe and
interrupt my belief with
doubt. I doubt and
interrupt my doubt with belief. Be,
belovéd, threatened world.
Each minim
mote.
(.....)
the ordinary glow
of common dust in ancient sunlight.
Be, that I may believe. Amen.
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Credo in unum Deum;
Patrem omnipotentem,
factorem coeli et terrae
(.....)
Credo in unum Dominum Jesum Christum
(.....)
Crucifixus etiam pro nobis
(.....)
Credo in Spiritum Sanctum
(.....)
Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum
et vitam venturi sæculi. Amen. |
I believe in one God; the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth
(.....)
I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ
(.....)
Who was crucified for us
(.....)
I believe in the Holy Spirit
(.....)
I await the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen. |
IV. Sanctus/Benedictus
Powers and principalities–all the gods,
angels and demigods, eloquent animals, oracles,
storms of blessing and wrath–
all that Imagination
has wrought, has rendered,
striving, in throes of epiphany–
naming, forming–to give
to the Vast Loneliness
a hearth, a locus–
send forth their song towards
the harboring silence, uttering
the ecstasy of their names, the multiform
name of the Other, the known
Unknown, unknowable:
(.....)
Blesséd is that which comes in the name of the spirit,
that which bears
the spirit within it.
The name of the spirit is written
in woodgrain, windripple, crystal,
in crystals of snow, in petal, leaf,
moss and moon, fossil and feather,
blood, bone, song, silence,
very word of
very word,
flesh and
vision.
(.....)
Blesséd is that which utters
its being,
the stone of stone,
the straw of straw,
for there
spirit is.
(.....)
Blesséd
be the dust. From dust the world
utters itself. We have no other
hope, no knowledge.
The word
chose to become
flesh. In the blur of flesh
we bow, baffled.
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Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.
Osanna in excelsis.
Benedictus qui venit
in nomine Domini.
Osanna in excelsis. |
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord
Hosanna in the highest. |
V. Agnus Dei
(…..)
What terror lies concealed
in strangest words, O lamb
of God that taketh away
the Sins of the World:
(.....) God then,
encompassing all this, is
defenceless? Omnipotence
has been tossed away, reduced
to a wisp of damp wool
(.....)
we
must protect this perversely weak
animal, whose muzzle’s nudgings
suppose there is milk to be found in us?
Must hold to our icy hearts
a shivering God?
So be it.
Come, rag of pungent
quiverings,
dim star.
Let’s try
if something human still
can shield you,
spark
of remote light.
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Agnus Dei,
qui tollis peccata mundi,
miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei,
qui tollis peccata mundi, Dona nobis pacem. |
Lamb of God
who takes away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God
who takes away the sins of the world,
Grant us peace. |
“Mass for the Day of St. Thomas Didymus” by Denise Levertov, from CANDLES IN BABYLON, copyright ©1982 by Denise Levertov. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp. |
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