Friday 17 September 2010

Ode to the United Kingdom


This, could I paint my inward sight, this were Our Lady of the Night; she bears on her forehead's lunacy the starlight of her purity: For as the white rays of that star the union of all colours are, she sums all virtues that may be in her sweet light of purity. The mantle which she holds on high is the great mantle of the sky. Think, O sick toiler, when the night comes on thee, sad and infinite. Think, sometimes 'tis our own Lady spreads her blue mantle over thee, and folds the earth, a wearied thing, beneath its gentle shadowing; then rest a little; and in sleep forget to weep, forget to weep!
(Our Lady of the Night by Francis Thompson)
No, weep not, for "the Kingdom of God is very near to you." With these words, Benedict XVI began his homily in Glasgow!

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