Mother of Light, do thou look down on me;
Yea, touch my lips that I may render thee
All reverend homage; and may sing of thee
And Him whose Own thou art. Life's Sun is He,
And in His Light thou shinest. Praise to thee.
Hail, by whom Heaven exults and Devils flee:
Whom Angels praise in choirs, exultantly;
By whom the Tempter is hurled back to be
In chains and darkness everlastingly;
By whom the sinner rises, trustingly.
O Sun-clothed Virgin, thou art, verily,
The Woman promised, between whom should be
And the foul Dragon endless enmity:
And with whose Seed his seed should ruthlessly
Dire warfare wage so long as time should be.
Far back in years primeval, let us see
How darkness rose; and how the mystery
Of sin and disaffection came to be;
How woven with ours that gruesome destiny
Of banished Spirits, till mercy set us free.
* * *
O Light Immortal, Uncreated: be
First imaged in creation. Praised be
The First-born Creature of benignity.
'Light of Intelligence, arise; oh, see
The Face of God and live, eternally.'
The Eternal Word had spoken: 'Let Light be;'
And the Light was. Oh, glorious verity;
Oh, thought supreme, that the Immensity,
The Inconceivable of Entity,
Should in all endless spheres reflected be.
Being was called in Action. Verily,
All beauty reigned in God's Activity,
And strength shone forth in beauty diversely;
While glory, grace and immortality
Flashed into being, simultaneously.
- text taken from Mary: The Perfect Woman, by Emily Mary Shapcote