So passed the Life in Nazareth. Yet see;
Mother of Jesus, 'twas not meant for thee
Without the Cross to live. Yea, naturally,
By thee must every suffering tasted be
Consistent with thy nature's purity.
God was thy Portion from thine infancy;
And ties of nature passed away from thee
Ere yet a Home thou lovedst. Thou shouldst be
An Orphan, and thy Heaven-wrought destiny
Was printed on thy soul indelibly.
Yea, God can inter-penetratingly
Enter the substance of an entity
By Him created; and accordingly,
An influence exercise which only He
Possesses in a soul by Nature free.
So in thy tender years, God gave to thee
A Father in thy Husband. He would be
His Viceroy and thy Guardian -secretly
God's eloquence had irresistibly
The Virgin-Spirit won, and kept for thee.
But, freedom of the Soul must always be
The point of union with authority;
And as the Soul expands in purity
The Voice of God rings clearer, and will be
The Lode-stone of responsibility.
God guided thus Saint Joseph: so did he
By willing correspondence silently
God's purposes fulfil. By clarity
Of soul, and freedom in docility
Learned he God's Secrets in a mystery.
Thus Mary's secrets were her own: and she
Left them to God's All-sovereign Majesty:
While she her Husband followed reverently,
Were each by God instructed, and would be
One heart, one soul, in perfect harmony.
- text taken from Mary: The Perfect Woman, by Emily Mary Shapcote