Vessel of Mercy

Stabat mater dolorosa
propter omnes lacrimosa
ex calice cordis sanctis
fluitabis sangris vitis.

On the bruising stones there kneeling,
penitents in ecstasy
praying for the scourge's healing,
for the fetters' liberty.
Outer wounds can mask the woe
of wounds inside, but rare the blow
struck deep enough to break the seal
and make the fountain overflow.

Every age the quest is followed,
never one without the pain.
Few have tasted; more were swallowed,
fought through hell and back again.
All the tears and blood they spilled,
the cauldron captured and distilled.
Where passion and compassion call,
the Grail begins to be revealed.

By the moon revolving, summoning the sea,
rage and pain dissolving in an alchemy
like the distant thunder announcing mystery,
feel the well of wonder in your heart come bursting free.
Vessel of mercy!

Life unlocked within, without us;
illness, sorrow cannot stand
as elixir streams about us
flooding o'er the wasted land.
Now the labyrinth unwinds
and every grief is left behind
by those who know and never doubt
they bear the Grail in soul and mind.