One of our own roses
Maria Walks Amid the Thorn reminds me of another poem from I Sing of a Maiden, this time a medieval Mary-song (author: Anonymous).
Rosa Mystica
There is no rose of such virtue
As is the rose that bare [bore] Jesu:
Alleluia!
For in that rose containèd was
Heaven and earth in little space:
Res Miranda!
By that rose we well may see
There be One God in Persons Three:
Pares Forma!
The angels sang, the shepherd too;
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gaudeamus!
Leave we all this worldly mirth
And follow we this joyful birth:
Transeamus!
(For those who are confused by the Latin, I here append a translation of each phrase. For reciting out-loud, remember that in Latin each vowel is pronounced — there are no silent “e”s — so “pares” is “par – ez”. Each of these final lines has four syllables. “Rose Mystica” = Mystical Rose [one of Our Lady's titles in the Litany of Loreto]; “Res Miranda” = Wonderful Thing; “Pares Forma” = Equal Natures; “Gloria in excelsis Deo” = Glory to God in the highest; “Gaudeamus” = Let us rejoice; “Transeamus” = Let us pass by.)
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