Poem: “Mary, the Humble Daughter of Zion” By: Pope Francis

Let me see, simply see; 

Let my sight be turned only to you, 

to behold you wholly and wordlessly, 

to tell you with all reverent silence. 

Not disturbing the breeze on your forehead, 

But cradling my breached solitude 

in your eyes as loving Mother, 

I rest in your nest of transparent earth. 

The hours collapse; death and the trash of life, 

with all their noise, nip at the heels of the thoughtless. 

Let me barely hold you, 

Mother in my gaze, 

as my heart is silenced in your tenderness, 

in the chaste hush of white lilies. Amen. 

Pope Francis, Open Mind, Faithful Heart, pp. 99-100