Oak Abbey

In You

oakabbey — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:59:43 +0000

In You
I am high
Lifted, elated by
Joy’s golden, dancing cry
Glowing warm, shining bright inside
Pure and Powerful as the Height
of Sweetest Summer

In You
I am low
Kneeling before
The Throne of Grace
Gazing into God’s Fairest Face
In deep humility , bathing with tears and kisses
The Feet of my One Eternal Beloved

Be Still and Know
That You have my heart,
My body, my soul, my spirit
In Your Dear Hands, as You impart
Such Gifts and Graces
Across sea and lands
In liminal spaces
We meet again and again
And yet again

My Love
You have forever
Fulfilled the woman
And heroically retrieved
The heart of the girl
Who from the Beginning
Has Believed
In Love…
In You.

c. 2012 oakabbey

I Am Blessed

oakabbey — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:54:49 +0000

I am blessed by
All the Days and Ways
You have made Yourself
Known to me~

In Word and Wine;
In Bread of Star-Strewn Night Sky,
and Flight of Imaginary Fancy;

In Public Song
and Private Dancing;
In Years and Tears
of Longing, and Silent
Soul-Romancing.

How You have Loved me~
and so I Love You…

In All Things Beautiful,
Deep, and True;
In Faces and Places;
In Voices and Choices;
In Soft Green-Gold hue
of Presence Here in my little room.

My Beloved.
My Heart.
My Own.

Everyone;
Everything
I have Known
has been You.

I am blessed.

c.2012 oakabbey

Boker Tov (Good Morning)

oakabbey — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:59:29 +0000

Your Song came
with the Morning Sun;
Melody and Light
rising sweet in me.

You exposed Your Heart;
a full-breasted cardinal,
perched and preening
in a small winter-bare tree.

How faithful You Are
while the earth lazes deep.
You Sing and You Love;
Lord, so beautifully.

c.2012 oakabbey

Rosary for The Beloved

oakabbey — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:23:35 +0000

Although I regularly pray spontaneously and free-of-form, there are times when the practice of praying the rosary, which was so dear to my heart as a child, calls to me. This is particularly the case when someone I care for is deeply in need of prayer, and due to the degree of emotion I am feeling, I find myself at a loss for words. I usually use a relatively standard form of the Roman Catholic rosary; sometimes an adaptation; and sometimes one of various prayers I have learned or composed in using my Anglican prayers beads.

The following rosary, recited for One Whom I Dearly Love, was composed using the Roman Catholic beads which belonged to my mother. My own rosary was wrapped lovingly round her wrist; crucifix in hand as she passed from this world. I, in turn, kept her rosary. In my experience, due to its meditative nature, the rosary can be a deeply moving, exceedingly powerful form of prayer.

Deep Peace and Every Blessing to those who may choose to make this Circle of Prayer their own.
~ Cheryl Anne

Crucifix: (Kiss the Crucifix)
I commit my heart and soul to prayer for my Beloved _______.
I commit my body to stillness, and my mind to attention
and intention, that I may be sensitive to all that is required
for His/Her well-being and fulfillment in mind, body, soul, and spirit.
Holy One~
Hear my prayers.
May they be effective according to Thy Love and Grace.
In Thy Name and By Thy Strength,
Amen. And so it is.

1st Bead: Our Father
Next 3 Beads: Hail Mary
5th Bead: Glory Be

Centerpiece: (Kiss the Centerpiece)
Blessed Mother of Grace, Peace, and Compassion;
Enfold my Beloved ________, I pray, in Thy Mantle
of Love and Healing.
Keep Him/Her ever in Thy Tender Care.
Protect, Defend, Guard, and Guide Him/Her
always, by virtue of Thy Unfailing Love and Infinite Wisdom.
In the Name of the Risen Christ.
Amen. And so it is.

1st Decade:
In stillness and silence, allow the needs of your Beloved One, in regard to mind, to come into your awareness. With loving intention and blessing, say 10 Hail Marys and 1 Our Father. Say a Glory Be on the spacer bead.

2nd Decade:
In stillness and silence, allow the needs of your Beloved One, in regard to body, to come into your awareness. With loving intention and blessing, say 10 Hail Marys and 1 Our Father. Say a Glory Be on the spacer bead.

3rd Decade:
In stillness and silence, allow the needs of your Beloved One, in regard to soul, to come into your awareness. With loving intention and blessing, say 10 Hail Marys and 1 Our Father. Say a Glory Be on the spacer bead.

4th Decade:
In stillness and silence, allow the needs of your Beloved One, in regard to spirit, to come into your awareness. With loving intention and blessing, say 10 Hail Marys and 1 Our Father. Say a Glory Be on the spacer bead.

5th Decade:
With deep gratitude for the life of your Beloved One, say 10 Hail Marys and 1 Our Father.

Centerpiece: (Kiss the Centerpiece)
Pure and Precious Sacred Heart,
I thank You for the Gift of Knowing and Loving ________,
and for the privilege of praying for Him/Her.
Sanctify my prayers; seal them with the Holy Spirit;
Send them with Love.
Amen. And so it is.

Next Bead: Glory Be
Next 3 Beads: Hail Mary
Last Bead: Our Father

Crucifix:
Holy One~
Thank You for hearing the humble prayers of my heart.
In Perfect Love and Perfect Trust,
I place my Beloved and Myself in Thy Hands;
Thou Who Art Life;
Thou Who Art Love;
In Eternal Light and Glory.

Amen. And so it is.
(Kiss the Crucifix)

c.2012 oakabbey

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Common Prayers Used:

Our Father, which (Who) art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth,
As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
(For thine is the kingdom,
The power, and the glory,
For ever and ever.)
Amen.

Hail Mary,
Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of death.
Amen.

Glory be
to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

Might January

oakabbey — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:17:57 +0000

Might January ever be
Loved for Its own quiet sake
For wet and for grey
For lengthening day
For cold-clouded melancholy

c.2012 oakabbey

Inescapable Grace

oakabbey — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:02:03 +0000

Across the great expanse
of sea, and spaces
vast and wide,

Love reaches
so effortlessly;
covering all distance,
filling every gap.

And You Are
as near to me
in Reality
as the membrane
holding the pieces
of my fragile heart in place.

Forever Blessed
and Held
Are We, in

Inescapable Grace.

c.2012 oakabbey

Something Beautiful

oakabbey — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:24:26 +0000

There is Something Beautiful
in Your Eyes, born of pain,
subtle hues painted by
the dubious dues
You have paid,
which You did not realize
were never required to begin with.

And it makes me wonder~
When and why do We forget
how very precious We are;
cease celebrating and sell Ourselves
sinfully…truly sinfully short
of the Divine’s Dream
of What and Who We Actually Are…

Do You know
You have come from
Love’s Brightest Star?

Do You know
Your forgetting is forgiven
and You, in Truth, are Blissfully Free?

Please, just this once,
listen to me and believe…

You Are Something Beautiful.

c.2012 oakabbey

Wordless

oakabbey — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 02:28:24 +0000

How many words
are required
that I might explain
how You have left me wordless?

Poems defiantly
settle in my fingertips;
never to be written or read,
but to touch Your cheek
and trace Your lips instead.

Prayers once spoken
refuse to leave my tongue;
they linger and burn,
then turn themselves to kisses.

Oh tell me Love,
that this is the Language awaiting.
For my heart is a silent sonnet,
and Your Name my only creed.

Hush and listen Love,
to the warm and wild wind
of this wordless passion freed.

c.2012 oakabbey

Open Gate

oakabbey — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:44:58 +0000

O Gentle Wave
of Love’s Pure Light,
born of Deep Midwinter Night,
to warm Our Hearts
and give Us Sight
of Glory beyond the grave.

O Brilliant Sun,
increasing power,
rise in Us this latent hour,
as sap in tree, nectar in flower;
so flow in Us, Golden One.

O Open Gate
of this New Year,
sweep Our humble pathways clear;
Great Strength, Soft Shelter ever near,
be the way winding or straight.

c.2012 oakabbey

A Bit of Bread

oakabbey — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 22:08:54 +0000

It is only here,
upon my knees,
that I may grow
into who I wish to be.

It is only here
that I am quiet enough
to hear beyond my own voice,
and still enough to cease tripping over myself.

It is here
I am best able
to see the Larger Reality,
which demands my attention
and the aligning of my priorities
with the Greater Heart.

It is here
I am gently reminded
to defer always to Love
and to define my wisp of a life
by peace and prayers;
a bit of bread and a sip of wine.

~Cheryl Anne
Christmas 2011