Blog #7 EC
In some ways, poems are the culmination of some of the mediums we’ve previously explored in this class. Though not necessarily physically visual, poems have a capacity to invoke detailed images mentally. That, coupled with their obvious use of rhyme, rhythm, and speech, make them an interesting medium — one that attends well to the intersection of theology, worship, and the arts. Ultimately, poetry presents a reality in which we experience some new understanding of theology, particularly through worship.
O Blessidissima Gemma
This poem by Hildegard of Bingen, uses “ruminatio,” or the chewing of words, to offer a new perspective on the incarnation. The poem speaks into existence this understanding of Mary as this truly “splendid gem,” which has immeasurable light or brightness from receiving God’s will and acting on it. Mary is infused “infusus” with God’s light and, by birthing Christ, is effectively “refashioning” the world that Eve destroyed. In that sense, it offers this new perspective of Mary as a splendid vessel, possessing the ability to receive, reciprocate, and breathe God’s light into all living creatures. Mary and the incarnation is obviously a critical moment in theology and worship. This poem however, takes something that’s been discussed or defined at length, and offers up this new notion of Mary’s role with God in the incarnation. As Rahner describes, poetry possesses a unique quality to take “primordial” words, and in giving them a reality or flesh through speaking them, allude to their depth. It is within the “unfathomable depth” of these words that we can begin to understand the mystery of faith. In the case of the O Blessidissima Gemma, words like “solis” or “materiam” add an unquantifiable component to God’s love and virtue. This ultimately develops a new understanding of both God’s divine creation, as well as Mary’s part in it. As a listener, one must begin to contemplate Mary’s role as the mother of not only Jesus, but consequently the Church (ie, us).
On the Lament of the Mother of God Romanos
With Romanos, a much larger emphasis is placed on the communal aspect of poetry. Romanos centered his poems around liturgy. His hymns “termed kontakia…are chanted verse sermons, keyed to the events of the liturgical calendar and the emerging lectionary cycle” (Krueger, 30). Still, this spoken word like any other poem invites the listener to think about concepts anew (in this case the liturgy). The prelude in this poem presents the reader with the crux of the drama before letting them into the present reality of the words being spoken. The poem is decidedly participatory, and the listener or reader’s reality becomes the character’s within it. Offering different perspectives and placing the participant into those realities give a holistic understanding of the liturgical moments described. In this poem we understand both the Virgin Mary’s motherly love and Christ’s willing sacrifice through these varying perspectives. The words spoken “My son and my God” place us in the reality of the Passion and develop communal adoration. Ultimately this poem connects us to the past of the Passion, the infinite future of Christ’s sacrifice and our hopeful salvation, and the present worship.
Ash Wednesday
Perhaps due to the fact that it’s a modern work, I couldn’t help but feel this poem resonated with me a little more effortlessly. This poem in an almost narrative form illustrates how hard it can be to practice faith. There is a conflict in the narrator’s mind between what they can rationalize or what is easy, and the near absurdity of God’s love. Life as described in this poem, is bleak, depressing, and over-analyzed. There is this truly human struggle depicted in which the narrator accepts, at least momentarily, a dreadful outlook simply because it is what is known and easy. They “cannot hope to turn again” because it requires a large amount of effort and abandonment of what they think they know. I resonate with the fact that the poem is brutally transparent about life. The reality is often grim and bleak like the desert described — ”This is the time of tension between dying and birth” (66). It is painful and hard to accept the realities of this world for what they are: temporary. It takes strength and courage to have faith that our human time in this world is only transitory, and that’s the narrative you see play out in this poem. In many ways, it is our nature to sin, to doubt, to hope to never turn again. Yes, baptism absolves us of our original sin, but it doesn’t absolve us of the relativity of our lives. As humans, we can only understand through worship that our temporality isn’t the whole picture, and that as unfathomable as it sounds, we are indeed saved by Christ’s sacrifice.
