O Mother of my Saviour, should I see
Aught which is not thy teaching, let me be
Unable to express it. Verily,
All that is done by Jesus, here with thee,
Full seems to me of grace and harmony.
'Mine hour is not yet come.' So addeth He,
As though to deepen thy perplexity.
How couldst thou be perplexed, or will what He
Himself willed not? Thou knewest, verily,
His times were sacred, both for Him and thee.
Oh, was it not for future ages, He
Declared the work of thy Maternity,
And the Obedience which He owed to thee,
A little while suspended? Yet would He,
Even as God, no prayer refuse to thee.
Oh, as I venture, Mother, thus to be
The expounder of this gentle Mystery,
Forgive, should I mistake, and if I see
Reproof from Him could never fall on thee
With whom He wrought in union, ceaselessly.
'Woman:' behold thy title. It was He,
The Man, who first conferred it. Thou art she,
The One appointed of our Race to be
The Second Mother; yea, in truth wilt be
The Woman who shall crush the Enemy.
As God He answers thee: for now must He
By miracles assert His Deity.
Thus will the Mother of His Manhood be
Unrecognized in works of pure Divinity:
Thou art the creature - the Creator, He.
Thus teacheth He His Church. But thou wilt be
As Mother by Him recognized, when He
Goes forth to suffer: then wilt thou and He -
The Undivided Man and Woman - be
The Conquerors of Death on Calvary.
- text taken from Mary: The Perfect Woman, by Emily Mary Shapcote