Mass for Hard Times
by R. S. Thomas
Feast of SS Alexander, John, and Paul the New, Patriarchs of Constantinople
Anno Domini 2020, August 30
Kyrie
Because we cannot be clever and honest
and are inventors of things more intricate
than the snowflake—Lord have mercy.
Because we are full of pride
in our humility, and because we believe
in our disbelief—Lord have mercy.
Because we will protect ourselves
from ourselves to the point
of destroying ourselves—Lord have mercy.
And because on the slope to perfection,
when we should be half-way up,
we are half-way down—Lord have mercy.
Gloria
From the body at its meal’s end
and its messmate whose meal is beginning,
Goria.
From the early and late cloud, beautiful and deadly
as the mushroom we are forbidden to eat,
Gloria.
From the stars that are but as dew
and the viruses outnumbering the star clusters,
Gloria.
From those waiting at the foot of the helix
for the rope-trick performer to come down,
Gloria.
Because you are not there
When I turn, but are in the turning,
Gloria.
Because it is not I who look
but I who am being looked through,
Gloria.
Because the captive has found the liberty
that eluded him while he was free,
Gloria.
Because from belief that nothing is nothing
it follows that there must be something,
Gloria.
Because when we count we do not count
the moment between youth and age,
Gloria.
And because, when we are overcome,
we are overcome by nothing,
Gloria.
Credo
I believe in God
the Father (Is he married?)
I believe in you, the almighty,
who can do anything
you wish. (Forget that irony
of the imponderable.) Rid, therefore
(if there are not too many
of them), my intestine of the viruses against
(in accordance with? Ah, horror!)
your will are in occupation
of its defences. I call
on you, as I have done
often before (why repeat,
if he is listening?) to show
you are master of secondary
causation. (What has physics to do
with the heart’s need?) Am I too late, then, with my language?
Are symbols to be in future
the credentials of our approach?
(And how contemporary
is the Cross, that long-bow drawn
against love?) My questions
accumulate in the knowledge
it is words are the kiss of Judas
that must betray you.
(My
parentheses are exhausted.) Almighty
pseudonym, grant me at last,
as the token of my belief,
such ability to remain
silent, as is the nearest to a reflection
of your silence to which
the human looking-glass may attain.
Sanctus
The Bunsen flame burns and is not consumed,
and the scientist has not removed his shoes
because the ground is not holy.
And because the financiers’ sun
is not Blake’s sun, there is a
word missing from the dawn chorus.
Yet without subsidies poetry
sings on, celebrating the heart
and the ‘holiness of its affections’.
And one listens and must not listen
in vain for the not too clinical
sanctus that is as the halo of its transplanting.
Benedictus
Blessed be the starved womb
and the replete womb.
Blessed the slug in the dew
and the butterfly among the ash-cans.
Blessed is the mind that brings forth good and bad
and the hand that exonerates it.
Blessed be the adder among its jewels
and the child ignorant of how love must pay.
Blessed the hare who, in a round
world, keeps the tortoise in sight.
Blessed the cross warning: No through road,
and that other Cross with its arms pointing both ways.
Blessed the woman who is amused
at Adam feeling for his lost rib.
Blessed the clock with its hands over its face
pretending it is midday, when it is midnight.
Blessed be the far side of the Cross and the back
of the mirror, that they are concealed from us.
Agnus Dei
No longer the Lamb
but the idea of it.
Can an idea bleed?
On what altar
does one sacrifice an idea?
It gave its life
for the world? No,
it is we give our life
for the idea that nourishes
itself on the dust in our veins.
God is love. Where
there is no love, no God?
There is only the gap between
word and deed we try
narrowing with an idea.
*R. S. Thomas, Collected Later Poems: 1988-2000
(Tarset, Northumberland: Bloodaxe Books Ltd, 2004), 135-139.
Contribute to Cultural Renewal by Sharing on Your Preferred Platform
In an isolating secularized culture where the Church's voice is muffled through her many divisions, Christians need all the help they can get to strengthen their faith in God and love toward their neighbor. Eighth Day Institute offers hope to all Christians through our adherence to the Nicene faith, our ecumenical dialogues of love and truth, and our many events and publications to strengthen faith, grow in wisdom, and foster Christian friendships of love. Will you join us in our efforts to renew soul & city? Donate today and join the community of Eighth Day Members who are working together to renew culture through faith & learning.
An Introduction to Charles Williams by Charles Hefling Commemoration of St Hosea the Prophet Anno Domini 2025, October 17
Commemoration of St Longinus the Centurion Anno Domini 2025, October 16
by Charles Williams Commemoration of St Lucian the Martyr of Antioch Anno Domini 2025, October 15
An Introduction to Charles Williams by Charles Hefling Commemoration of St Cosmas the Hagiopolite Anno Domini 2025, October 14
by C. S. Lewis Commemoration of the Holy Prophet Zacharias, Father of St. John the Forerunner Anno Domini 2025, September 5
by Jason M. Baxter Commemoration of St Lucian the Martyr of Antioch Anno Domini 2024, October 15
by Pseudo-Dionysios Commemoration of St Malachi the Prophet Anno Domini 2024, January 3
by Evagrios the Solitary Commemoration of St Sylvester, Pope of Rome Anno Domini 2024, January 2
by Eric Peterson Commemoration of St Cosmas, Archbishop of Constantinople Anno Domini 2024, January 2
by Jaraslov Pelikan Commemoration of the Circumcision of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Anno Domini 2024, January 1