Keeping Sacred Time with Christina Rossetti :: Easter Vigil

During Holy Week, I'll be sharing a daily poem by Christina Rossetti. We often know her for her lovely poetry for children, but she wrote volumes of devotional poetry as well, including a series for the feasts and fasts of this week.  These are the poems I'll be sharing with my own children as we ready our home and our hearts and keep the Church's traditions.  Wishing you a blessed time as you prepare for Easter!

EASTER EVEN

The tempest over and gone, the calm begun,

Lo, "it is finished" and the Strong Man sleeps:

All stars keep vigil watching for the sun,

The moon her vigil keeps.

A garden full of silence and of dew

Beside a virgin cave and entrance stone:

Surely a garden full of Angels too,

Wondering, on watch, alone.

They who cry "Holy, Holy, Holy," still

Veiling their faces round God's Throne above,

May well keep vigil on this heavenly hill

And cry their cry of love,

Adoring God in His new mystery,

Of Love more deep than hell, more strong than death;

Until the day break and the shadows free,

The Shaking and the Breath.